el-Qitar

 place with historical importance (en), archaeological site (en)

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second millennium BC fortress dating mainly to 1400-1200 BC. It consisted of an upper and lower settlement connected by rock-cut stairs. The lower settlement of streets, buildings, River Gate and towers was destroyed and flooded by construction of the hydro-electric dam. The mountain top, now an island, had two West Gates,a North Tower, a public building with orthostats, a temple from the Late Bronze Age and stone-built tumuli of unknown date. A cuneiform tablet from the site suggest the place was called Til-Abnu. El-Qitar was excavated by an Australo-American team in the 1980s. NB: Neolithic Jerf al-Ahmar, now under water, was on the east bank of the Euphrates River about one km northeast from el-Qitar.