Tell Taya

Tell Taya

Shown within Iraq
Location	Nineveh Province, Iraq
Region	Mesopotamia
Coordinates	36°19′57.34″N 42°29′37.36″E / 36.3325944°N 42.4937111°E / 36.3325944; 42.4937111Coordinates: 36°19′57.34″N 42°29′37.36″E / 36.3325944°N 42.4937111°E / 36.3325944; 42.4937111
Type	tell
Area	20 km2 (7.7 sq mi)
Site notes
Excavation dates	1967–1969, 1972–1973
Archaeologists	J.E. Reade

Tell Taya is an archaeological site in Nineveh Province (Iraq). It was occupied from the third to the first millennia BCE.

The site was first recorded by Seton Lloyd in 1938 during his survey of the region. Tell Taya was excavated by a team from the British School of Archaeology in Iraq led by J. E. Reade in 1967–1969 and 1972–1973. Numerous stone structures were investigated, and pottery, along with a few tablets and cylinder seals, were recovered in the 9 layers.

Tell Taya lies about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Mosul and Nineveh. The location controls a formerly rich agricultural area and an important trade route. It covers about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) and the central mound is around 9 metres (30 ft) high.

The site was heavily occupied on and off during the second half of the 3rd millennium, with some re-use in the Old Babylonian period and the Neo-Assyrian period. There is some evidence of Early Dynastic occupation, but major building at Tell Taya began around the time that the Akkadian Empire emerges.