Yorgan Tepe

(also Yorghan Tepe), a hill in northern Mesopotamia (13 km southwest of the city of Kirkuk, Iraq) with the remains of an ancient settlement. Yorgan Tepe contains levels from the Aeneolithic period (the second half of the fourth millennium b.c.). Next follow the remains of a Sumero-Akkadian settlement (the city of Gasur), in which a considerable number of tablets were found (from the second half of the third millennium b.c.) containing information on commercial transactions, inventories of handicraft articles, and so forth. Scholars have studied the acropolis of the Human city of Nuzi (also Nuzu; first half of the second millennium b.c.) with its palace (more than 100 rooms, some decorated with wall paintings) and temple. The city was surrounded by a wall, beyond which were situated the houses of the suburbs. The inhabitants engaged in farming and stock raising. Copper implements and several thousand tablets from official and private archives have been found. The city was destroyed by the Assyrians in the middle of the second millennium B.C.