Archeologists believe that the wheat, oats and barley grown at Tell Hamoukar in ancient times were not grown on irrigated fields. It therefore appears that the climate of northeastern Syria was once much wetter than it is today. The name of this city is mysterious itself. Many translations of this word can lead to many different interpretations as to the origins of the settlers of this community. In Kurdish, Hamoukar means the deaf man or more specifically the man with no ears.
Experts seem to be leaning towards the fact that there is a Sumerian word that is very similar.
This word seems to refer to an economic or business center, which would make sense for this early city. It will probably be a few years if not more before more information can be discovered and analyzed to determine where the actual name is derived from. Syria is a relatively recent destination for archaeologists. While excavations have taken place periodically during the past 150 years, it was the Gulf War and the isolation of Iraq, which led to an explosion of interest in Syria. With Iraq not being accessible for exploration, and many of its sites damaged, archaeologists have turned to its neighbor country of Syria.