Tell Beydar stricto sensu, i.e. Beydar I, the crown city of the 3rd millennium BC, is an urban site extending on a surface of 25 ha. It is located 35km NNW of Hassake at the cross point of two major roads: the E-W road leading from the Tigris to the Euphrates, and the N-S road that leads to the Diyarbekir plain and to the region of Altinova.
The topography of the site consists of a circular city, protected by perimetral fortifications with seven gates. This site clearly dates to the 3rd millennium BC and was partially reoccupied in the Hellenistic period.
At the base of this circular site there is a lower city of more than 50 ha, built during the Mitannian period, probably in the 14th century BC, which was abandoned and later rebuilt in the neo-Assyrian period (this part of the site is called Beydar II). Antoine Suleiman also identified a third settlement, called Beydar III, about 1km S of the 3rd millennium tell. A sounding was opened there in 1996. The virgin soil has been reached and Late Chalcolithic 1 and 2 levels were recognized (c. 4300–3700 BC).

Aerial view of Tell Beydar (from A. Poidebard)