Editing Tumulus (section)

====Near East====

=====Turkey=====
[[File:Gordion82.JPG|thumb|The "Tomb of [[Midas]]" in Gordion, dated 740 BC.]]
On the [[Anatolia]]n peninsula, there are several sites where one can find the biggest specimens of these artificial mounds throughout the world. Three of these sites are especially important. [[Bin Tepe]] (and other [[Lydia]]n mounds of the Aegean inland), [[Phrygia]]n mounds in [[Gordium]] (Central Anatolia), and the famous [[Commagene]] tumulus on Mount [[Nemrut (mountain)|Nemrut]] (Southeastern Anatolia).

This is the most important of the enumerated sites with the number of specimens it has and with the dimensions of certain among them. It is in the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] inland of Turkey. The site is called "Bintepeler" or "Bin Tepe" (a thousand mounds in Turkish) and it is in the northwest of [[Salihli]] district of [[Manisa Province|Manisa province]]. The site is very close to the southern shoreline of [[Lake Marmara]] (Lake Gyges or Gygaea). Bin Tepeler is a Lydian [[necropolis]] that dates back to 7th and 6th centuries BC. These mounds are called "the pyramids of Anatolia", as a giant specimen among them is 355&nbsp;metres in diameter, 1115&nbsp;metres in perimeter and 69&nbsp;metres high. According to [[Herodotus]], this giant tumulus belongs to the famous Lydian King [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]] who ruled between 619 and 560&nbsp;BC. There is also another mound belonging to King [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]]. The Gyges mound was excavated but the burial chamber has not been found yet. On this site, there are 75 tumuli dating back to Lydian period that belong to the nobility. A large number of smaller artificial mounds can also be observed on the site. There are other Lydian tumuli sites around [[Eşme]] district of [[Uşak Province|Uşak province]]. Certain mounds on these sites had been plundered by raiders in the late 1960s, and the Lydian treasures found in their burial chambers were smuggled to the United States, which later returned them to Turkish authorities after negotiations. These artifacts are now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Uşak.

[[File:TumMMWPintro.jpg|thumb|Tumulus MM, Gordion, at sunset]]
[[Gordium]] (Gordion) was the capital of the ancient kingdom of [[Phrygia]]. Its ruins are in the immediate vicinity of [[Polatlı]], near the Turkish capital [[Ankara]]. At this site, approximately 80–90 tumuli date back to the Phrygian, [[History of Persia|Persian]] and [[Hellenistic]] periods. Around 35 tumuli have been excavated so far, ranging in date from the 8th century BC to the 3rd or 2nd century BC. The biggest tumulus at the site is believed to have covered the burial of the famous Phrygian King [[Midas]] or that of his father. This mound, called Tumulus MM (for "Midas Mound"), was excavated in 1957 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, led by [[Rodney Young (archaeologist)|Rodney Young]] and his [[Graduate Group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World|graduate students]]. Among the many fine [[bronze]] artifacts recovered from the wooden burial chamber were 170 bronze vessels, including numerous "omphalos bowls", and more than 180 bronze "Phrygian [[fibula]]e" (ancient safety pins). The [[Gordion Furniture and Wooden Artifacts|wooden furniture]] found in the tomb is especially noteworthy, as wood seldom survives from archaeological contexts: the collection included nine tables, one of them elaborately carved and inlaid, and two ceremonial serving stands inlaid with religious symbols and geometric patterns. Important bronze and wooden artifacts were also found in other tumulus burials at the site.

Mount [[Nemrut (mountain)|Nemrut]] is 86&nbsp;km in the east of [[Adıyaman]] province of [[Turkey]]. It is very close to [[Kahta]] district of the same province. The mountain has, at its peak, 3050&nbsp;metres of height above sea level. A tumulus that dates to the 1st century BC is at the peak of the mountain. This artificial mound has 150&nbsp;metres in diameter and a height of 50&nbsp;metres, which was originally 55&nbsp;metres. It belongs to the [[Commagene]] King [[Antiochus I Theos of Commagene]] who ruled between 69 and 40&nbsp;BC. This tumulus is made of broken stone pieces, which renders excavation attempts almost impossible. The tumulus is surrounded by ceremonial terraces in the east, west, and north. The east and west terraces have tremendous statues (reaching 8 to 10&nbsp;meters in height) and bas reliefs of gods and goddesses from the Commagene [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] where divine figures used to embody the [[Persian mythology|Persian]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] perceptions together.

=====Bahrain=====
{{Main article|Dilmun Burial Mounds|Dilmun}}
[[File:Burial Mounds in Bahrain 1918.jpg|thumb|[[Dilmun Burial Mounds]] in Bahrain.]]
The Dilmun Burial Mounds comprising [[necropolis]] areas on the  main island of [[Bahrain]] dating back to the [[Dilmun|Dilmun civilization]] and the [[Umm al-Nar culture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/news/seven-cultural-sites-inscribed-unescos-world-heritage-list|title=Seven cultural sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List|website=UNESCO|date=6 July 2019}}</ref>

Each of the tumuli is composed of a central stone chamber that is enclosed by a low ring-wall and covered by earth and gravel. The 
size of the mounds varies, but the majority of them measure 15 by 30&nbsp;ft (4.5 by 9 m) in diameter and are 3–6&nbsp;ft (1–2 m) high. The smaller mounds usually contain only one chamber. The chambers are usually rectangular with one or two alcoves at the northeast end. Occasionally there are additional pairs of alcoves along the middle of the larger chambers.<ref name=dilmun2/>

Although the chambers usually contained one burial each, some contain several people and the secondary chambers often contain none. The deceased were generally laid with their heads in the alcove end of the chamber and lying on their right sides. The bodies were accompanied by few items. There were a few pieces of pottery and occasionally shell or stone stamp seals, baskets sealed with asphalt, ivory objects, stone jars, and copper weapons. The skeletons are representative of both sexes with a life expectancy of approximately 40 years. Babies were generally buried at and outside the ring-wall. The average number of children per family was 1.6 persons.<ref name=dilmun2>Crawford, 2016, [https://books.google.com/books?id=To2oDQAAQBAJ&dq=Dilmun+Burial+Mounds&pg=PT98 Dilmun Temple At Saar].</ref>

=====Palestine-Israel=====
[[File:JerusalemTumulus2.jpg|thumb|Jerusalem tumulus #2 in 2004]]
A tumulus forms the center of the ancient megalithic structure of [[Rujm el-Hiri]] in the [[Golan Heights]]. ''[[Rujm]]'' in Arabic can mean tumulus, cairn or stone heap. Near the western city limits of modern [[Jerusalem]], 19 tumuli have been documented (Amiran, 1958). Though first noticed in the 1870s by early surveyors, the first one to be formally documented was Tumulus #2 in 1923 by [[William Foxwell Albright]], and the most recent one (Tumulus #4) was excavated by [[Gabriel Barkay]] in 1983. These tumuli are sometimes associated with the [[Kings of Judah|Judean kings]] who ruled Jerusalem, but no such connection has yet been substantiated, nor have any inscriptions naming any specific Judean king been excavated from a tumulus. More than half of these [[Israelites|ancient Israelite]] structures have now been threatened or obliterated by modern construction projects, including Tumulus #4, which was excavated hastily in a salvage operation. The most noteworthy finds from this dig were two [[LMLK seal]] impressions and two other handles with associated concentric circle incisions, all of which suggests this tumulus belonged to either King [[Hezekiah]]{{sfn|Barkay|2003|p=68}} or his son [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]].{{sfn|Grena|2004|p=326}}