CARCHEMISH – The Remarkable House D
© 2025 Arthur Chrysler
“Unlike all the other sites of the outer town which we have excavated, that of House D shows only one building period: there are here no walls at different levels and at different angles extraneous to the simple and consistent ground plan of the existing house. This immunity from change is explained by the very solid character of the building: on such foundations a house was likely to stand for long, nor, if it was destroyed, would a later builder fail to avail himself of so excellent a substructure. Though therefore the house stood as late as 604 B.C., it need not in its origin date from very far on in the Late Hittite period.
It has been mentioned that the house was destroyed by fire. This, and the fact that it had remained undisturbed ever since, made it an ideal site for excavation, for whatever was in it at the time of its destruction, and did not perish in the fire, was waiting to be brought to light. Moreover the fire, and through it the contents of the house, could be accurately dated, and this gave to it and them a dramatic interest second only to their historical importance.
The house had been destroyed by an enemy, and the burnt ruins were littered with evidence of a desperate struggle. Everywhere, and especially in the doorways, were arrow-heads (Pl. 22 b) literally in hundreds, arrow-heads in bronze and in iron and of many types, some of them Hittite, some clearly not. Occasionally a mass would be found all fused or rusted together, the contents of a quiver; sometimes the single points would be bent or broken as if by striking on the stones or metalwork of the doors.
It has been mentioned that the house was destroyed by fire. This, and the fact that it had remained undisturbed ever since, made it an ideal site for excavation, for whatever was in it at the time of its destruction, and did not perish in the fire, was waiting to be brought to light. Moreover the fire, and through it the contents of the house, could be accurately dated, and this gave to it and them a dramatic interest second only to their historical importance.
The house had been destroyed by an enemy, and the burnt ruins were littered with evidence of a desperate struggle. Everywhere, and especially in the doorways, were arrow-heads (Pl. 22 b) literally in hundreds, arrow-heads in bronze and in iron and of many types, some of them Hittite, some clearly not. Occasionally a mass would be found all fused or rusted together, the contents of a quiver; sometimes the single points would be bent or broken as if by striking on the stones or metalwork of the doors.
Javelin heads were fairly numerous (Pl. 23 a. 7, 8, 13), a sword was found (Pl. 23 a. 14), and a remarkable bronze shield (see p. 130); and in rooms 3 and 4 there were human bones on the floor.
Even without other evidence than this, it would have been safe to argue that the fight, and the destruction of the house, took place in 604 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar (may the King burn forever!) captured and destroyed Carchemish. …But the argument is rendered unnecessary by other material evidence. A large number of objects found in the house were of Egyptian origin or showed Egyptian influence, and it is precisely towards the close of the seventh century B.C. that we should expect such to be in fashion. In room No. 5 were found clay seal-impressions bearing the cartouche of Necho, and a bronze ring with its bezel in the form of a cartouche of Psamtik I was found in room No. 4, close to the human bones.
Here then we have definite proof that the house was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s troops, that everything in the house is to be dated to 604 B.C. or to the years immediately preceding it, and incidentally that the house belonged to a wealthy Hittite sufficiently important to be in communication with the Court of Egypt. It also shows that the revolt of Carchemish and Necho’s march north did not stand alone. Egyptian intrigues had for years been busy in North Syria, and when Nebuchadnezzar totally laid waste the Hittite capital, he was punishing not a single act of rebellion but a long-continued policy which, since Egypt had regained her independence in 651 B.C., had looked to the Nile for deliverance from the Mesopotamian yolk. House D is then of peculiar interest for the light which it throws on the conditions of life in the city during its last years, and the numerous objects recovered from its ruins possess in an unusual degree an historical as well as an intrinsic importance” (C. Leonard Woolley, Carchemish, Part II, The Defences, 1921, pp. 125-126).
Jeremiah 25:1 – The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.
Jeremiah 46:1-2 - The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 B.C.) the son of Josiah king of Judah.
