Sikkan
| تل الفخيرية | |
 Tell Fekheriye
Shown within Syria
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| Alternate name | Sikkan |
|---|---|
| Location | Ras al-Ayn, Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria |
| Region | Upper Mesopotamia |
| Coordinates | 36°50′24″N 40°4′7″E / 36.84000°N 40.06861°ECoordinates: 36°50′24″N 40°4′7″E / 36.84000°N 40.06861°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | In ruins |
Tell Fekheriye (often spelled as Tell el-Fakhariya or Tell Fecheriye, among other variants), is an ancient site in the Khabur River basin in the Al Hasakah Governorate of northern Syria. It is securely identified as the site of Sikkan, attested since c. 2000 BC. Sikkan was part of the Aramaean kingdom of Bit Bahiani in the early 1st millennium BC. In the area several mounds, called tells, can be found in close proximity: Tell Fekheriye, Ra's al-'Ayn, and Tell Halaf, site of the Aramean and Neo-Assyrian city of Guzana. During the excavation the Tell Fekheriye bilingual inscription was discovered at the site, which provides the source of information about Hadad-yith'i.
In the early 20th century Tell Fekheriye was suggested as the site of Washukanni, the capital of Mitanni, but the claim is unconfirmed. Many scholars opposed this theory including Michael Roaf, Peter Akkermans, David Oates, Joan Oates and Edward Lipiński.
The site of Tell Fekheriye was occupied as early as the Akkadian period. The limited excavations so far conducted have shown substantial developments in the Middle Assyrian, Mitanni and Neo-Assyrian periods.
The Neo-Assyrian city Sikan at nearby Ra's al-'Ayn was identified by Dietrich Opitz as the capital of Mitanni, Washukanni. The name Sikan was then believed to be an Assyrianized version of its Hurrian, or Indo-Aryan original, becoming (Wa-)Sikan(-ni). No epigraphic, glyphic or other archaeological evidence supporting this identification has yet emerged from excavations at this or other sites. The identification thus rests on a purely etymologic basis. The etymology is challenged by Edward Lipiński, who points out that Sikan is a Semitic name (meaning stele) already attested for the site circa 2000 BC. A clay tablet sent from Washukanni to Egypt was chemically analyzed and compared with samples from Sikan; the result was "no-match".
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