Alalakh (Tell Atchana)

At the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BC), Alalakh became the capital of a region which was part of the large Amorite kingdom of Yamhad, with is central capital at Aleppo.

Woolley excavated the remains of Late Middle Bronze Age (18th century BC) and Late Bronze Age (15 - 14th centuries BC) palaces and temples (levels VII an IV), which he attributed to the kings Yarimlim and Niqmepa, respectively. The finds from the site were extraordinarily rich, producing great quantities of fine ceramic wares and numerous objects showing a high level of artistic achievement. It also yielded important archives of cuneiform clay tablets, documenting the political, administrative and economic history of the site. One of the most famous finds is that of the inscribed statue of one of Alalakh's kings, Idrimi, which bears his life story in cuneiform and is now in the British Museum.

The site itself has fallen into disrepair somewhat, but it is still possible to see the remains of the two palaces of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, although the splendour of their appearance as originally excavated has to be imagined by the modern visitor.

Equally as exciting as the site itself, is the adjacent dig-house built by Woolley in the 1930s. Today, this building is itself slowly becoming an archaeological relic, but is in temporary use as a store for tools.