Amik Valley

The Amuq is a low-lying marshy plain in the southernmost corner of Turkey, stretching east of ancient Antioch and modern Antakya. Its archaeological significance stems from a series of tells — artificial mounds formed by successive human settlements — that have yielded finds spanning the Neolithic through the Bronze Age, documenting thousands of years of continuous occupation in the northern Levant. Between 1995 and 2005 the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago conducted a systematic regional survey here, significantly advancing scholarship on early complex societies in the area. Today the valley appears as a quiet agricultural landscape; its ancient layers are largely invisible on the surface and best understood through the collections at the Antakya Archaeological Museum.