It had to do with water, I would guess.
;)
I’m betting they had a balanced budget, too.
:’) Or maybe the lack thereof on other sites. It’s interesting that it has two mounds, which is similar to at least a few other sites — the larger is generally older, with occupation ending precipitously, followed by a modest recovery nearby. I don’t know if that’s the case here.
http://www.sflorg.com/sciencenews/scn040306_01.html
http://www.sflorg.com/sciencenews/images/imscn040306_01_08.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_Qarqur
http://www.archaeological.org/sites/default/files/brophey_excavating_2008.jpg
It’s worth noting that Syria’s been trying to get a lot of archaeological projects (using foreign researchers) going on its territory as part of its international PR campaign — this was years before the current uprising.
