Tall Maḥrā was a small city of the central Balikh River valley, in what is now northern Syria, inhabited from the Hellenistic period until about the 13th century.
[3][1] Karin Bartl did a survey of the site's ceramics in the 1990s, and the Syrian Antiquities Service also conducted excavations here by digging a few test trenches.
[2][1] This was likely prompted by Harun al-Rashid moving his court to Raqqa in 796, which created a new demand for agricultural produce and stimulated the region's economy in general.
[3] In addition to the monumental walls, Tall Mahra had a church, a small mosque, and a quadriburgium of unknown function.
[1] The 13th-century geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Tall Mahra as a fortified town with a market lying between Raqqa and Hisn Maslama.