Mound E/ET Gateway on Southern Wall 4

The structures located at the southeastern corner of Mound E consists of a complex of massive baked brick/mud brick walls and baked brick drain complex. This series of structures is set between the southeastern corner of the mud brick city wall of Mound E and a similar mudbrick city wall that runs along the southern edge of Mound ET. This complex includes an original gateway, side rooms, sewage drains, and a large corbel arch drain that was constructed within in middle of the gateway during its last phase of use.

The original mud-brick perimeter wall discovered in 1990 is approximately 5 meters in width and was constructed on natural soil (although excavations in the southeast corner of Mound E have not established the base of this structure). Although it is virtually impossible to ascertain the original height of the wall when built, it is believed to have stood more than 2 meters and was free-standing. No deposits of Period 1 (3300-2800 B.C.) were found. In some areas, this mud-brick wall cuts through deposits of Period 2 (2800-2600 B.C.) occupation. The wall is dated at the beginning of the Harappan phase occupation, or Period 3A (2600-2450 B.C.).

A second (i.e., younger) mud-brick wall was constructed during Period 3B (2450-2200 B.C.). This wall was 5 meters in width and was built directly on top of the earlier mud-brick wall, which had eroded by this time. In order to prepare a flat surface for the second wall, the earlier wall was modified by leveling or construction of a foundation trench. This wall also appears to have been free-standing.

The first major repair to the Mound E perimeter wall was accomplished to the exterior of the wall, along with parts of the interior of the wall and dates to Period 3C (2200-1900 B.C.). This repair (and other smaller repairs) to the inner and outer faces of the wall resulted in a structure chat was six to seven meters in width. At the same time, a comer bastion was constructed at the southeast comer of Mound E, where the perimeter wall tums from the east to the north. Baked brick facing appears to have been applied to the surfaces of this corner bastion, but was mostly removed by brick-robbers.

Excavations in 1994 and 1995 revealed a large and complex series of baked brick and mudbrick walls and drains connected to mud brick bastions in both the west and the east, comprising the remains of a gateway. The westem mud brick bastion was described previously. The eastern mud brick bastion appears to be part of a mud brick perimeter wall that extends around Mound ET (Meadow and others, 1994).

This reconstruction was completed and rendered using Bentley Systems MicroStation software.