Tell
（重定向自Huyuk）
![View of Tell Barri (northeastern Syria) from the west](/Images/godic/202501/19/Tell_Barri_15412.jpg")
![View of the Citadel of Aleppo (northern Syria), built on top of a tell occupied since at least the third millennium BC](/Images/godic/202501/19/Citadel_of_Aleppo5412.jpg")
![View of an excavation area at Tell Barri (northeastern Syria). Note the person standing in the middle for scale.](/Images/godic/202501/19/Tell_Barri_25412.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/19/Cylinder_seal_lions_Louvre_MNB1167_n25412.jpg")
A tell, or tel (from Arabic:تَل, tall, Hebrew: תֵּל,) is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides. The term is mainly used of sites in the Middle East, where it often forms part of the local place name.