Tall Mishrife/Qatna - The Wall Paintings of Tell el-Dab'a

The discovery of wall paintings in the palace of Qatna in Western Syria in 2000 was one of the first surprises in the history of the modern excavation of the site. Within the established archaeological categories of Western Asian iconography the depicted friezes of spirals and leaves, the miniature landscapes or representations of dolphins as well as their execution in fresco technique seem to be alien, while they display obvious relations to the material culture of the Aegean. The well-known corpus of about 3000 fragments excavated by the German Mission of the excavation has been published in a monograph in 2011 (von Rüden 2011, see link below). But within the last decade several fragments were also discovered by the Italian Mission and still await their publication. Even though less known they allow us important insights and accomplish our idea of the murals of Qatna. Sections of spirals and stone imitations have been identified up to now and with their iconographical as well as technical aspects will be dealt with within the frame of the current project.

An English summary of Constance von Rüden's book ´Die Wandmalereien von Tall Misrife/Qatna im Kontext interkultureller Kommunikation (Wiesbaden 2011).' is available under the following link.