Aula Orientalis 29 (2011) 267278 (ISSN: 02125730) Recibido/Received: 21/07/2011 Aceptado/Accepted: 06/09/2011 267 Tell Qubr Abu al‘Atiq: A Middle Assyrian Fort in the Gorge of Khanuqa 6 th Season Report of the Proyecto Arqueológico Medio Éufrates Sirio (2010) Juan Luis Montero Fenollós (Universidade da Coruña) Ignacio Márquez Rowe (CSIC, Madrid) Francisco Caramelo (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) Yaarob alAbdallah (DGAM, Deir ezZor) [In the sixth campaign, 2010, of the Proyecto Arqueológico Medio Éufrates Sirio, excavation was renewed in Tell Qubr Abu al‘Atiq, namely in the area of the Middle Assyrian building, our major focus of activity, and also a trench was run to determine whether or not the Early Bronze Age settlement at this very site had a city wall.]  Middle Assyrian period, administrative pottery, cuneiform tablets, Early Bronze. The sixth campaign of the SyrianSpanish archaeological mission in Deir ezZor (Syrian Middle Euphrates) took place between May 14 and June 8, 2010 1 . The main objective was to continue the excavation initiated in 2008 on the main hill of Tell Qubr Abu al‘Atiq, an archaeological site located at the entrance of the basaltic gorge called Khanuqa by the Arabs, in the province of Deir ezZor (figs. 1 and 2). Excavation works were also carried out at the eastern end of the “Lower City” of the site. 2 1. Excavations in the main hill During the 2010 campaign new diggings were carried out in the western part of the main hill. The goal was to extend the excavation area opened in the previous campaigns in order to progressively complete the identification of the plan of the Late Bronze Age brick building brought to light in 2008. 1. The authors wish to thank Dr. Michel alMaqdissi, Director of the Archaeological Excavations Service of DGAM, and to Dr. Bassam Jamous, General Director of Antiquities and Museums of Syria, for their help and support to start this Project. We also wish to thank the Osmane Aïdi Foundation, particularly to Miss Rawa Batbouta (Chamtour) for the logistic support in Deir ezZor, which contributed decisively to the success of our work. The campaign was also possible thanks to the grants by the Xunta de Galicia (Projects 07 PXIB 167 227 PR and 10 PXIB 167 197 PR), the Ministerio de Cultura (Dirección General de Bellas Artes y Bienes Culturales), the Ayuntamiento de Ferrol, the CCHSCSIC (Madrid), and the Centro de História de Além Mar (Lisbon). We are also grateful to the Embassies of Spain in Damascus and of Syria in Madrid for their kind support. During the 2010 campaign the mission received the visits of His Excellency Juan Serrat, Ambassador of Spain in Syria, Dr. Pablo Martín, Director of the Instituto Cervantes in Damascus, and Professor JeanClaude Margueron. 2. The staff during the sixth campaign included, apart from the present authors, Béatrice Muller, Eva Celdrán, María Quiñones, Víctor Rivera, Miguel Valério, and Jon Uranga.