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Home , Adiabene, Ashurnasirpal II, Citadel of Erbil, History of Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan

The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent Regions

Edited by Konstantinos Kopanias and John MacGinnis

Archaeopress Open Access

Archaeopress Archaeology

Copyright Archaeopress and the authors 2016 Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED www.archaeopress.com

ISBN 978 1 78491 393 9 ISBN 978 1 78491 394 6 (e-Pdf) © Archaeopress and the authors 2016

Cover illustration: Erbil Citadel, photo Jack Pascal

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List of Figures and Tables...... iv

Authors’ details...... xii

Preface...... xvii

Archaeological investigations on the Citadel of Erbil: Background, Framework and Results...... 1 Dara Al Yaqoobi, Abdullah Khorsheed Khader, Sangar Mohammed, Saber Hassan Hussein, Mary Shepperson and John MacGinnis

The site of Bazyan: historical and archaeological investigations...... 11 Narmin Amin Ali and Vincent Deroche

Short notes on Chalcolithic pottery research: The pottery sequences of Tell Nader (Erbil) and Ashur (Qal’at Sherqat)...... 19 Claudia Beuger

New Evidence of Paleolithic Occupation in the Western Zagros foothills: Preliminary report of cave and rockshelter survey in the Sar Qaleh Plain in the West of Kermanshah Province, Iran...... 29 Fereidoun Biglari and Sonia Shidrang

Activities of Sapienza-University of Rome in Iraqi Kurdistan: Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Duhok...... 49 Carlo Giovanni Cereti and Luca Colliva

The Achaemenid Period Occupation at Tell ed-Daim in Iraqi Kurdistan...... 57 John Curtis and Farouk al-Rawi

‘Inscription D’ from Sennacherib’s Aqueduct At Jerwān: Further Data and Insights...... 65 Frederick Mario Fales and Roswitha Del Fabbro

The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project: A Preliminary Overview on the Pottery and Settlement Patterns of the 3rd Millennium BC in the Northern Region of Iraqi Kurdistan...... 75 Katia Gavagnin

Animal husbandry and other human-animal interactions in Late Ubaid-Early Uruk northern Iraq: the faunal remains from the 2012 excavation season at Tell Nader...... 87 Angelos Hadjikoumis

Hawsh-KoriArchaeopress and Char-Ghapi: Why the Sassanids built twoOpen monuments in the westAccess of Kermanshah and the south of Iraqi Kurdistan...... 101 Ali Hozhabri

Across millennia of occupation: the Land of Nineveh Archaeological project in Iraqi Kurdistan: The prehistory and protohistory of the Upper Tigris rediscovered...... 125 Marco Iamoni

The Iraqi Institute: Education for Archaeological Research and Conservation...... 135 Jessica Johnson, Abdullah Khorsheed and Brian Michael Lione

Copyright Archaeopress and the authors 2016 i Two seasons of excavations at Kunara (Upper Tanjaro): An Early and Middle Bronze Age city...... 139 Christine Kepinski and Aline Tenu

Excavations of the Chalcolithic Occupations at Salat Tepe on the Upper Tigris, Southeastern Anatolia...... 147 Tatsundo Koizumi, Minoru Yoneda, Shigeru Itoh and Koichi Kobayashi

Insights into the settlement history of Iraqi Kurdistan from the Upper Greater Zab Archaeological Reconnaissance Project...... 163 Rafał Koliński

Two Ottoman Trade Buildings (Qaisariya) in the Bazaar of Erbil from Building Archaeology to Refurbishment Planning...... 173 Dietmar Kurapkat

Ninevite 5 – culture or regional pottery style?...... 181 Dorota Ławecka

Back to the Land of Muṣaṣir/Ardini: Preliminary report on fieldwork (2005-2012)...... 189 Dlshad Marf

New Researches on the Assyrian Heartland: The Bash Tapa Excavation Project...... 201 Lionel Marti and Christophe Nicolle

Materials from French Excavations in Erbil Area (2011-2013): Qasr Shemamok...... 209 Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault and Ilaria Calini

Current Investigations into the Early Neolithic of the Zagros Foothills of Iraqi Kurdistan...... 219 Roger Matthews, Wendy Matthews and Kamal Rasheed Raheem

About Bakr Awa...... 229 Peter A. Miglus

Magnetic investigations in the Shahrizor Plain: Revealing the unseen in survey prospections...... 241 Simone Mühl and Jörg Fassbinder

The Bazaar of Erbil within the Context of Islamic Trade Routes and Trade Buildings...... 249 Martina Müller-Wiener and Anne Mollenhauer

Halaf Settlement in the Iraqi Kurdistan: the Shahrizor Survey Project...... 257 Olivier Nieuwenhuyse, Takahiro Odaka and Simone Mühl

ContextualizingArchaeopress Arbīl: Medieval urbanism in Adiabene ...... Open Access267 Karel Nováček

Filling the Gap: The Upper Tigris Region from the Fall of Nineveh to the Sasanians. Archaeological and Historical Overview Through the Data of the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project...... 277 Rocco Palermo

Satu Qala: an Assessment of the Stratigraphy of the Site...... 297 Cinzia Pappi

Copyright Archaeopress and the authors 2016 ii Helawa: A New Northern Ubaid/Late Chalcolithic Site in the Erbil Plain...... 309 Luca Peyronel, Agnese Vacca and Gioia Zenoni

From the banks of the Upper Tigris River to the Zagros Highlands. The first season (2013) of the Tübingen Eastern Ḫabur Archaeological Survey...... 323 Peter Pfälzner and Paola Sconzo

Gre Amer, Batman, on the Upper Tigris: A Rescue Project in the Ilısu Dam Reservoir in Turkey...... 333 Gül Pulhan and Stuart Blaylock

In the Neo-Assyrian Border March of the Palace Herald: Geophysical Survey and Salvage Excavations at Gird-i Bazar and Qalat-i Dinka (Peshdar Plain Project 2015)...... 353 Karen Radner, Andrei Ašandulesei, Jörg Fassbinder, Tina Greenfield, Jean-Jacques Herr, Janoscha Kreppner and Andrea Squitieri

New investigations at Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan...... 369 Tim Reynolds, William Boismier, Lucy Farr, Chris Hunt, Dlshad Abdulmutalb and Graeme Barker

Materials from French excavations in the Erbil area (2010): Kilik Mishik...... 373 Olivier Rouault and Ilaria Calini

Kurd Qaburstan, A Second Millennium BC Urban Site: First Results of the Johns Hopkins Project...... 385 Glenn M. Schwartz

The Sirwan (Upper Diyala) Regional Project – First Results...... 403 Tevfik Emre Şerifoğlu, Claudia Glatz, Jesse Casana and Shwkr Muhammed Haydar

Tracking early urbanism in the hilly flanks of Mesopotamia – three years of Danish archaeological investigations on the Rania Plain...... 411 Tim Boaz Bruun Skuldbøl and Carlo Colantoni

The Activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan (MAIKI): The survey area and the new evidence from Paikuli blocks documentation...... 417 Gianfilippo Terribili and Alessandro Tilia

The Kani Shaie Archaeological Project...... 427 André Tomé, Ricardo Cabral and Steve Renette

Philological and scientific analyses of cuneiform tablets housed in ArchaeopressSulaimaniya (Slemani) Museum...... Open Access435 Chikako Watanabe

‘Carrying the glory of the great battle’. The Gaugamela battlefield: ancient sources, modern views, and topographical problems...... 437 Kleanthis Zouboulakis

Cinzia Pappi*

The view of historical developments within the area of epigraphic and archaeological evidence gained from the Idu, identified with Sâtu Qalâ on the Lower Zāb in Iraqi fieldwork at Satu Qala revealed that Idu served not only Kurdistan (Van Soldt 2008), and its hinterland have so as a Middle Assyrian provincial capital, but also as the far been closely connected to available information on seat of a local dynasty ruling between the end of the 11th the imperial expansion of Assyria in the region. Through and the beginning of the 9th century BC. The seven local the support of the Directorate of Antiquities of the kings of this dynasty (Van Soldt et al. 2013, 210-3) built Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq,1 an international upon the political and economic collapse of the Middle team consisting of the universities of Leiden (2010-12), Assyrian Empire at the end of the reign of Tiglath- Leipzig (2010-14), the Salahaddin University of Erbil pileser I. A royal inscription of Adad-nērārī II refers to (2010-12), and the University of Pennsylvania (2013) the Assyrian reoccupation of Idu in the early phase of the was able to conduct several seasons of fieldwork at Sâtu Neo-Assyrian period at the beginning of the 9th century Qalâ.2 Data from this fieldwork can now provide a much BC (RIMA 2.0.99.2:34), suggesting a terminus ante quem wider historical sequence for the settlement. for the end of the dynasty. A fragmentary inscription on a wall plaque, found reused in a later domestic context The historical data can be correlated with the (SQ 1064.301=SQ 11-T14 cf. Van Soldt et al. 2013, 204 archeological evidence for Middle Assyrian settlements fig. 14), confirms the Assyrian institutional presence at along the river: Tall Māḥūẓ, identified with the provincial the site, consisting of a royal building constructed by capital Turša; Tall ‘Alī; identified with Atmannu; and the Ashurnasirpal II. The most recent Assyrian reference still unidentified settlement of Tall Bāzmusiyān in the (RIMA 3.0.102.6 ii 10-12) attests to the conquest of a Rāniya plain. These have revealed that Assyria controlled number of cities belonging to Idu, but located in the land the valley of the Lower Zāb at least as far as the Raniya of Zamua during the reign of Shalmaneser III. (Van Soldt plain from the reign of Tukultī-Ninurta I to Tiglath- et al. 2013, 216-21) pileser I (Pappi 2012). The extension of Idu’s catchment area still remains unknown. However, according to The evidence sketched above is related primarily to the Middle Assyrian records, the provincial center of Idu history of Idu in connection with Assyria. The evidence played an active role in political and economic relations from primary contexts excavated at Satu Qala provides between Assyria and this region as a central hub for additional insights into the historical episodes dating the redistribution of agricultural products.3 Both the before and after the episodes known by the Assyrian records. This study will assess the stratigraphic data * University of Leipzig (Germany) until 2015. from excavations and organize the excavated materials 1 I here take the opportunity to thank the General Directorate of into occupational levels. These data, combined with Antiquities of the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq and the Directorate of Antiquities of Erbil for their generous support. the preliminary results of the analysis of the ceramic Specifically, I would like to thank Mr. Abubaker Othman Zendin collections and with those of the radiocarbon datings of (Mala’awat), General Director of the Kurdish Regional Government, some of the organic samples, collected during season Mr. Haydar Hussein, former Director of the Directorate of Erbil (2010-13), and Mr. Nader Babakr Mohammad, current Director of 2011 and taken to Europe in 2013, will suggest a more the Directorate of Erbil. I would also like to thank Mr. Ahmad Yodat, precise dating for the occupational sequence of the site. director of the Museum of Ancient Civilizations of Erbil, and all In particular, I will discuss the urban layout of the site his staff for having hosted our work in 2013, and Mr. Sarkawt Sofy, and its occupational processes during the Late and Post- manager of the Department of Antiquities of Koya, as well as Mr. ArchaeopressAssyrian Open periods within Accessa wider archaeological and Hemin Naman for having generously given us the permission to access the materials stored in the Qishla of Koya during our several visits. political context. Thanks are also due to Lauren Ristvet for sharing preliminary data on the ceramic typology and to Janoscha Kreppner and Rocco Palermo for bibliographical references. Description of the Site and Excavation Areas 2 The project, supervised initially by W. H. Van Soldt (2010-12) and later by C. Pappi (since 2012), was mainly supported by the Netherlands The site of Satu Qala is located 70 km south-east of Erbil Organization for Scientific Research NWO in 2010-11, by the Fritz (Fig. 1). It consists of an oval tell, heavily eroded on its Thyssen Foundation from 2010-13. In 2013 L. Ristvet with her team of the University of Pennsylvania joined the project as co-director. The study season in 2013 was also supported by the University of the provincial center. For an overview of Idu in the Middle Assyrian Pennsylvania and by the American Schools of Oriental Research. administrative records cf. Van Soldt et al. 2013, 217-8. A study on the 3 The systematic delivery of offerings to the temple in Assur most reconstruction of a model of the economic network of Satu Qala based likely denotes a regular economic exchange between the capital and on the textual sources and the spatial analysis is in preparation.

Figure 1. Map of the region. (Copyright: The Satu Qala Project).

southeastern side by a branch of the Lower Zāb (Fig. 2), Surface investigations in Operation D, located on the while the northeastern slope is visibly worn by rivulets southwestern slope of the mound, revealed that the caused by the winter rain and by regular digging. The earliest occupational phase of Satu Qala dates back to latter serves mostly to supply building materials for the the Neolithic (Van Soldt et al. 2013, 207-8). However, seasonal upkeep of the nearby mud-brick houses. The the archaeological evidence obtained from Operations main mound, covering an area of two hectares, is almost A and B, located on the northern and northeastern completely covered by a modern village of mud-brick upper part of the mound (Van Soldt et al. 2013, 201-7), structures, which continues at the foot of the mound along indicates a sequence of functional changes of both areas the northern and northeastern slopes. Since 2011 the of the site. This evidence consists mainly of stratified systematic construction of concrete buildings and, more Late and Post-Assyrian domestic contexts, followed by recently,Archaeopress of fish ponds has almost completely covered the alternating Open levels of graveyards Access and defensive structures area of the lower town. Inspection of satellite imagery which can most likely be dated from the Post-Assyrian suggests the presence of two different landscape features to the Achaemenid Periods. Unfortunately, both areas surrounding the main tell which might be interpreted are also characterized by systematic extensive digging, as the outline of a lower town. Confirmation of this modern pits, leveling, and rebuilding activities. hypothesis is made difficult by the increasing urbanism. However, the existence of an extensive lower town is A Stratigraphic Assessment already suggested by the sporadic discovery of pottery and other archaeological finds, now stored at the local Operation A has provided the best overview of the Directorate of Antiquities in Koya, by the inhabitants stratigraphic sequence of the latest occupational phases during modern construction. so far, with a sequence of eight occupational levels (A0

Figure 2. Satellite image of Satu Qala (GeoEye 2005, OrbView-3 scene, Level OrbView Basic Enhanced, GeoEye, Dulles, Virginia, 1/30/2005).

to A7, Fig. 3), while operation B has provided five (B0 to the Neo-Assyrian Period. In operation A, phase A7b (cf. B4, Fig. 4). Occupational levels have been differentiated Van Soldt et al. 2013, 233 fig. 12) consists of two separate according to the functional use of the area. Correlations domestic structures, named Buildings 2 and 3, connected between both operations can be suggested, but not by a sloping surface. This surface is paved with pebbles confirmed. They provided non-continuous coverage of different sizes mixed with fragments of baked bricks, for the diachronic gap from the 7th BC to the most mostly reused from earlier contexts.5 Building 2 originally recent episodes of the history of the region. The earliest had two rooms, named A and B. This internal layout, phases in both operations include materials dating to the belonging to a sub-phase A7a, does not persist into a later Late andArchaeopress Post-Assyrian periods. A closer typological reuse Open of the building, here Access assigned to a sub-phase A7b. investigation, including data from the petrographic The latter is characterized by a domestic unit without analysis of the different fabric types, is still in progress.4 partition. Here, an almost complete globular storage jar standing in the north-western corner of the room and Late and Post-Assyrian Levels: A7 and B4 a domestic installation made of four baked bricks forming a squared platform lying on the floor were The earliest excavated evidence in both operations, found in situ. The latter can most likely be identified designated as A7 and B4, dates back to the final phase of 5 Some of the fragmentary bricks bear possession inscriptions assigned 4 A study of the ceramic typology is in preparation. L. Ristvet to various kings of Idu, including Bā’ilānu (SQ11-23=SQ11T13; (University of Pennsylvania) generously shared preliminary data on SQ11-24=SQ 11T12 cf. Van Soldt et al. 2013: 211) and Edima (SQ11- typological developments in the ceramic collections of Sâtu Qalâ. 19 =SQ11T9 cf. Van Soldt et al. 2013, 212 and 238 fig. 25).

Level Archaeological Feature Primary Evidence for Dating Date A 0 Modern village after the Anfal Campaign After 1989 Material culture. Personal A 1 Modern village before the Anfal Campaign Before 1989 interview with villagers A 2 Modern village before the Anfal Campaign – siloes 20th Century AD A 3a Domestic Structure – Building 1 6th-4th Centuries BC (?) 750 BC (10.2%) 680 AMS radiocarbon dating of bone A 3b Burials 670BC (3.1%) 640 BC sample from Burial 1017 560 BC (82.1%) 370 BC Domestic Structure – paved floor related to A 4 6th-4th Centuries BC (?) pyrotechnic structures AMS radiocarbon dating of bone A 5 Burials 790BC (95.4%) 390 BC sample from Burial 1045 Late and Post-Assyrian A 6 Monumental Structure Ceramic collection Period (7th-6th Century BC) A 7a Domestic Structure – Building 2 Late and Post-Assyrian Ceramic collection A 7b Domestic Structure – Building 2 and 3 Period (7th-6th Century BC)

Figure 3. Occupational levels of operation A.

Level Archaeological Feature Primary Evidence for Dating Date Modern village after the Anfal B 0 After 1989 Campaign – Domestic structures Material culture. Personal interviews Modern village before the Anfal with villagers B 1 Before 1989 Campaign – bakery shop Monumental structure related to B 2a-d trodden floors 760 BC (18%) 680 BC AMS radiocarbon dating of bone B 3a 670 BC (9.9%) 610 BC sample from Burial 3127 Burials 600 BC (67.1%) 390 BC AMS radiocarbon dating of bone B 3b 770 BC (95.4%) 410 BC sample from Burial 3139 Ceramic collection 820BC (62.6%) 730 BC B 4 Domestic Structure – Storage room AMS radiocarbon dating of 690 BC (8%) 660 BC charcoal sample 650 BC (24.8%) 540 BC

Figure 4. Occupational levels of operation B. Archaeopress Open Access

as a hearth.6 The masonry of both structures reveals of the dynasty of Idu and to the palace of Ashurnasirpal evidence for the re-use of construction materials, II.7 The ceramic materials found in buildings 2 and 3 including decorated tiles originally belonging to the architectural decoration systems of the royal buildings 7 These consist of oblong and crenallated bricks glazed in blue and yellow (SQ11-15, 16, 17, 18); and a fragmentary wall-plague bearing an inscription of Ashurnasirpal II (SQ11-05=SQ11T14). For photographs 6 A contemporary parallel was found at Tall Abū Ḏāhir, Phase 11.5; cf. of SQ 11-16 (=1047.303) and SQ 11-05 (=1064.301) see Van Soldt et Simpson 2007, 84-5 with previous bibliography. al. 2013, 233-4 fig. 13-4.

Figure 5. Selection of bowls found in buildings 2 and 3 of Level A7a. (Copyright: The Satu Qala Project).

represent a homogenous collection dating to the Late materials, consisting of mudbricks, baked bricks, stones, and Post-Assyrian Periods. The collections consist and burnt remains of bulk, covered an assemblage of mainly of open shapes, with some examples of storage storage and cooking vessels, most likely leaning on a jars of different sizes with beaded and squared rims, well poorly preserved pisé wall running northeast-southwest attested elsewhere in the Late Assyrian repertoire (e.g. along the southern section of the excavation area. The Hausleiter 2010, fig. 103, FG 3.3-6). Common shapes radiocarbon analysis of a charcoal sample provided include wide-neck ridged jars, for which the closest a dating between the 8th and the 6th centuries BC.8 parallels are known from the materials of Khirbet Qasrij The pottery assemblage (Fig. 6) consists mainly of (Curtis 1989, fig. 35-6, 210 and 218). Globular and closed shapes, including storage jars of different sizes, squat cooking pots with simple (Hausleiter 2010, fig. 19, e.g. tall straight-sided jars with knob-shaped base (cf. TK 1R1) or folded rims (Curtis 1989, fig. 41, 287) are Curtis and Green 1997, 90 and fig. 42; Hausleiter attested as well. Open shapes such as bowls (Fig. 5) were 2010, 324), medium-sized jars with rounded body and found in some quantity in the inner spaces of Buildings base (cf. Curtis and Green 1997, 90 and fig. 41), ovoid 2 and 3. ArchaeopressThese find parallels in the plain pottery tradition and Open globular body pots, ridgedAccess on the short neck, with of Assyria in later periods. A good example is provided beaded (cf. Curtis and Green 1997, fig. 47, 218-21; by bowls with inverted and thickened rims, with close Hausleiter 2010, 327 and fig. 117, TG1 R1) or folded parallels among the materials of both levels 3 and 4 rims (Hausleiter 2010, 327 and fig. 117, TG1 R4). Both of Khirbet Khatuniyeh and in the pottery collection of of the latter types also occur within the collections of Khirbet Qasrij (Curtis and Green 1997, 88; Curtis 1989, Khirbet Qasrij (Curtis 1989, fig. 35, 207 and 209). 47). 8 The radiocarbon age was obtained through Accelerator Mass In Operation B, phase B4 yielded a domestic space as Spectometry (AMS) of a charcoal sample from L. 3138. The analysis, conducted by the Center of Radiocarbon Dating of the University of well, almost contemporary to A7. The architectural Salento (Italy), refers to 2574±40, calibrated: 820 BC (62.6%) 730 BC, context is, however, almost entirely absent. Collapsed 650 BC (24.8%) 740 BC, 690 BC (8%) 540 BC.

Figure 6. Selection of closed shapes found in Level B4. (Copyright: The Satu Qala Project).

Historical Transitions and Urban Change Erištienni.9 It was later dismantled and leveled already in antiquity. Unfortunately, the ceramic materials Although the pottery materials does not present consistent belonging to this level reveal no particular innovations. changes, later occupational levels reveal a functional The area next underwent a further functional change. change in both areas denoting a reconfiguration of the Phase A5 consists of a graveyard, with three burials cut urban landscape of the site. Alternating fortification directly into A6. Two of the bodies, identified as two structures and graveyards replaced both domestic female adults and a child,10 were buried in crouched contexts.Archaeopressposition Open without goods. TheAccess radiocarbon analysis of a bone sample, indicating a date between the 8th and the Levels A6 and A5 5th centuries BC,11 is too imprecise to provide a more accurate chronological sequence for the area. A monumental structure, most likely a wall, almost 3m wide, was built to follow the general plan of the earlier 9 SQ 11-09; SQ 11-07; SQ 11-13 (Van Soldt et al. 2013: 203). structures of phase A7 and seals the whole area (cf. 10 A report of the osteological evidence of all the burials of Satu Qala is Van Soldt et al. 2013, 233 fig. 11). This structure was in preparation by Megan Luthern (Temple University) for the final again roughly built through the re-use of materials, publication. 11 The radiocarbon age was obtained through Accelerator Mass including both baked bricks with incised lines and bricks Spectometry (AMS) of a bone sample from L. 1045.2. The analysis, bearing inscriptions of the local kings Bā’ilānu and conducted by the Center of Radiocarbon Dating of the University of

Levels B3 and B2 Levels A4-A3

In operation B, a small group of three burials, here Operation A again changes its functional use in the designated B3, was cut into the collapsed structure, here upper levels. The main archaeological features of level designated B4. The graveyard consists of two different A4 include evidence of a floor, partly paved with baked sub-phases, named B3a and B3b, respectively. The bricks. This has unfortunately been highly disturbed older burial, here named under sub-phase B3b, was cut by modern pits, but can still be securely connected to directly into the collapse in a shallow pit marked by a few domestic installations, including an oven, a fire place, boulders (Van Soldt et al. 2013, fig. 19). Unfortunately, and a number of pits, indicating an outdoor area. the fragmentary preservation of pelvis and cranium do Biconical spindle whorls and loom weights found on the not allow for an estimate of sex or age. However, the surface of the level suggest that the area was associated analysis of the teeth, combined with the presence of an with the small-scale, domestic production of textiles. iron blade (SQ 11-04) laid across the pelvis as burial gift, Although the following occupational phase, designated suggests that the body should belong to a male adult. A3, is also associated with domestic production, the Radiocarbon analysis of bone samples suggest, as for layout changed drastically. The area was again leveled A5, a date range between the 8th and the 5th centuries with mudbricks. A new building, designated Building 1, BC.12 A similar deposition habit, the same posture, consisted of at least two rooms and most likely extended and the same gift can be noticed in the record of Late for at least 10 m southwards. A group of three graves Assyrian burials of Khirbet Shireena in the Eski Mosul belongs to this phase. These were cut into the surface area,13 while similar burials at Assur, presenting a similar outside the building and bear no gifts. Although modern posture, usually include a wider range of funerary goods disturbances have led to a very poor state of preservation, (Haller 1954, 12-5; Hauser 2012, 144-7). Two further the radiocarbon analysis on a sample dates the grave to 16 burials, here assigned to a different sub-phase, B3a, were a period between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC. cut into a later surface. This most likely resulted from Unfortunately, due to a lack of documentation of the the continuing degradation of the structures of Level fieldwork in 2010, the data to be gained by the analysis B4. Each burial contained the body of a child found of the ceramic collections is currently not available. in flexed position. The body belonging to burial 3124 was contained by two large jar fragments belonging to The Recent History of the Village different jars, closed by a baked brick. Grave gifts include a bronze bracelet and earrings (Van Soldt et al. 2013, 206 Finally, the three most recent levels are dated to the and fig. 18). The radiocarbon analysis suggests a date modern history of the village. Phase A2 is characterized for grave 3127 between the 7th and the beginning of the by an open yard with the several siloes, while A1 and A0 4th century BC.14 A similar child burial is attested below represent levels dating to the last decades and directly the earliest Hellenistic level at Nimrud.15 A massive reflect urban changes connected to episodes in the recent history of Iraq. A destruction level is also well attested mudbrick structure, related to a sequence of four trodden in Operation B, clearly marking the transition between floors corresponding to four sub-phases, named B2a-d, B1, which consisted of a traditional bakery dating to the was built on the small graveyard of Level B3. The 1980s. related surfaces are not associated with any particular archaeological features. However, a preliminary analysis of the pottery collections provided several examples of New Data and Perspectives for a Historical jars and pots with rolled over rims, finding parallels in the Reconstruction materials of Khirbet Qasrij (Curtis 1989, 48-48 and fig. The data, collected in the two field-seasons 2010 and 37, 227-33) as well as in Level 2 of Khirbet Khatuniyeh 2011, provide a wealth of evidence for the reconstruction (Curtis and Green 1997, fig. 63, 451-3). of historical developments of the site and its region. Both had been almost completely unknown until 2008. This Salento (Italy), refers to 2489±45 BP, calibrated: 770 BC (62.2%) 540 BC, 790 BC (95.4%) 420 BC. evidence contributed in particular to two largely obscure 12 Archaeopress Open Access The radiocarbon age was obtained with Accelerator Mass topics of the first millennium BC in the region between Spectometry (AMS) of a bone sample of L. 3139.2, conducted by the Erbil and the Zagros chain: (1) the international policy Center of Radiocarbon Dating of the University of Salento (Italy), of the early phase of the history of the Neo-Assyrian refers to 2473±45 BP, calibrated: 760 BC (68.2%) 520 BC, 770 BC (95.4%) 410 BC. Empire; and (2) the historical developments during the 13 Phase 11, Grave 6 (Ball 2003: 49 and fig. 16). Late and Post-Assyrian periods, the main focus of this 14 The radiocarbon age obtained with Accelerator Mass Spectometry study. (AMS) of a bone sample of L. 3127.2, conducted by the Center of Radiocarbon Dating of the University of Salento (Italy), refers to 2418±45 BP, calibrated: 550 BC (68.2%) 400 BC, 600 BC (95.4%) 16 The radiocarbon dates were obtained with Accelerator Mass 390 BC. Spectometry (AMS) of a bone sample of L. 1017.2, conducted by the 15 Grave PG 3, Level 6 dating to end of the 3rd century BC (Oates and Center of Radiocarbon Dating of the University of Salento (Italy). The Oates 1957, 135) consists of a deposition of a child in a jar, supported calibrated age of 2377±45 reveals a date included between 560 BC and by two baked bricks, cf. Oates and Oates 1957, 153-4 and pl. 30 c). 370 BC (82.1%).

Developments in the Political Landscape of Assyria historical events can be summazized in the following three points. The domestic architecture of levels A7 and B4 and 1. The increasing Assyrian control of the regions their related materials mainly attest to activities linked located beyond the land of Idu, i.e. Tummê and to the consumption, preparation, and storage of food, Ḫabrūrī (Radner 2006: 51), led to the gradual in addition to small-scale textile production, within the annexation of the region included between the context of a locally based subsistence economy. These chain of the Ḥabb as-Sulṭān Dāġ and the Chain can most likely be dated to the late 7th and 6th centuries Magistrale (Levine 1974: 6 Fig. 1), corresponding BC. The economic frame hardly matches the economic mainly to the Rāniya Plain, into the imperial picture suggested by the earlier Assyrian records in the territories. This process, initiated after the first Late Bronze Age. Furthermore, the rich architectural campaign of Ashurnasirpal II (e.g. RIMA 2, A.0. elements belonging to institutional buildings of older 101.1 i 43-58; campaign Ia cf. Liverani 1992: 19- settlement phases, dating to the 10th and 9th century BC, 28 and 87), shifted the Assyrian frontier further were consistently found decontextualized in the masonry east. A recently discovered Neo-Assyrian text, of domestic buildings of later levels. In combination found in the region east of the Raniya plain and with the lack of evidence for an Assyrian institutional dating to the end of the 8th Century BC (Radner presence in the 7th Century BC, their re-use highlights 2015), refers to the Palace Herald. The text thus the discontinuity of Idu within the Assyrian institutional supports Liverani’s suggestion for the location of and economic developments in the flourishing phase of the Province of the Herald in the region of the the Empire. upper valley of the Lower Zab (Liverani 2004: 218; Radner 2015: 195-6) and demonstrates The data from the earliest excavated levels at Satu Qala Assyrian institutional presence close to the border thus raise questions about the changing urban landscape with the territories controlled by the West Iranian along the middle valley of the Lower Zāb in the Iron states. Furthermore, the archaeological evidence Age and, secondly, about the role of Idu within the Neo- gained by the investigations conducted before the Assyrian provincial system. construction of the Dokān dam (as-Soof 1970: 66- 7) reveals a widespread Neo-Assyrian presence in The drastic change of the urban layout at Satu Qala at the Rāniya plain. As a consequence, the territorial least partly reflects the settlement patterns suggested shift of the political and strategic interests of for the Neo-Assyrian periphery: a dense rural hinterland Assyria towards the Zagros, which developed composed of small centers. This pattern finds several gradually after the campaigns of Ashurnasirpal II parallels in case studies conducted in the Syrian and and which were likely meant to establish greater Iraqi Jezirah, as well in the sample areas recently control of the pass through the Zagros between investigated in the plain of Erbil (Ur et al. 2013: 102 Qala Dizeh and Sar Dašt, would explain the with previous bibliography). The economic and political simultaneous decline of Idu/Satu Qala. developments of Satu Qala in the late phase of the 2. The subsequent Assyrian conquest of the pass of Assyrian empire can be better explained within this Bābītu, the modern Bazyan (RIMA 2, A.0.101 wider historical and archaeological context. The lack of ii 23-31; cf. Liverani 1992: 90), also opened Assyrian institutional presence both led to and reflected the route towards the heartland of Zamua, the decline of Idu’s political role. It also confirms the representing an insidious enemy which has been dissolution of the infrastructure system related to both annexed into Assyria only under Shalmaneser III the provincial center, which had existed until the 11th (Radner 2006: 52), and towards the southwestern century BC, and to the peripheral royal ‘palace’ built in Iranian plateau (Altaweel et al. 2012: 14). The the 9th century BC. Both can be ascribed to the location pass is easily accessible from the Eastern Tigris of Satu Qala as a communicative node along the Lower regions located south of the Lower Zāb, e.g. Zāb. Similarly, later changes can be ascribed to a combi- Arrapḫa and Arzuḫīna, both directly connected nation of political and military events, including: to the Assyrian capitals though the ford of Altın (1) the Archaeopressfirst campaign of Ashurnasirpal II; (2) the OpenKöprü. Access Assyrian control of the pass of Babītu; and (3) the 3. Finally, the relocation of the imperial capital, in foundation of the new capital at Kalḫu. All of these particular to Kalḫu, combined with subsequent represent policies initiated by Ashurnasirpal II and changes in the political and economic landscape consolidated by Shalmaneser III. The combination of of heartland Assyria (cf. Harmanşah 2012: 65- these events served to shift Assyrian focus from the region 8; Morandi and Iamoni 2015: 24-5), was partly of Idu and the northern bank of the middle valley of the meant to revitalize the urban landscape of the Lower Zab to regions closer to the imperial frontiers, for region located north of the main Assyrian centers. example the region close to the pass between Qala Dizeh This in turn should have improved the economic and Sar Dašt to the East and the region of Zamua to the and military exchange along the valley of the Southeast. The consequences of the above mentioned Tigris, and in particular along Upper Zab.

Assyria after Assyria Assur (BM 63283 cf. MacGinnis 2000: 335; Jursa 2003: 173) as well as Neo-Babylonian stamp seals found at The radiocarbon dating showed that the areas investigated Nimrud (Parker 1955: pl. XIX 6-7; Curtis 2003: 160). underwent several functional changes within a relatively Archaeological traces of an Achaemenid presence in short period of time. Unfortunately, the different levels the region are more common (Curtis 2005). The case of occupation cannot be situated more precisely within of Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad in the valley of the Ḫabūr is crucial the historical timeline of Northern Mesopotamia. for the western provinces. The site shows a homogenous However, the evidence gained can be used to locate the continuity in the use of the Neo-Assyrian pottery until latest occupational phases within absolute chronology the beginning of the 5th century BC (Kreppner 2015: and thus lead to a better understanding of the historical 229-30; Röllig 2003), while Late-Babylonian influence developments of the immediate surroundings of the is noticeable in the administration of the site since site. the beginning of the 6th century BC (Postgate 1993; Brinkman 1993). The functional changes in the stratigraphic sequence from A6, A5, A4, to A3 for Operation A (Fig. 3) and The relevant levels at Satu Qala shows neither traces B3 and B2 for Operation B (Fig. 4) appear at present to of wide-spread destruction nor traces of any kind of have taken place within a span of two to three centuries. administrative or institutional infrastructure. Similar This chronological analysis is based on a terminus post to the case of Tall Šēḫ Ḥamad, however, the ceramic quem for the levels A7 and B4 at the end of the 7th or assemblage seems to be relatively homogenous. The beginning of the 6th centuries BC, according both to evidence of fortification activities combined with the the radiocarbon analysis and to the ceramic assemblage, site’s strategic position on the Lower Zāb indicates a and on a terminus ante quem, based on the youngest defensive function. The site had been already used as calibrated radio carbon date for the burials in levels A3b a defensive center during the conflicts between Assyria and B3a-b, corresponding to the last decades of the 4th and Babylonia at the end of the 2nd millennium BC (Van century BC. In particular, the archaeological features Soldt et al. 2013: 218-9; Pappi forthcoming). This would of levels A6 reveal evidence for fortification activities confirm the persistence of the site as a strategic center on the top of the tell. The ceramic assemblage does along the valley of the Lower Zāb. This functional change not reveal any remarkable changes. As a consequence, can be compared to the Achaemenid fortified palace at few insights into a relative or absolute date could be Tall ad-Dēm, located further upstream in the Rāniya provided. Furthermore, the absence of grave gifts, plain (al-Tekriti 1960), which has been interpreted to combined with a variety of depositional processes, reflect a strategic defensive policy of the Achaemenid likely reflecting a hybrid social context, likewise yields power within the region. little data on chronology. It seems certain, however, that the drastic functional changes of the area from a Conclusions sequence of fortification to structures to graveyards, to domestic buildings dating roughly to the time span The discontinuous settlement sequence from the included between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC, Neolithic to at least the end of the 1st millennium BC closely reflect the political changes occurring in the at Sâtu Qalâ can be correlated with historical shifts. region. However, the persistence of the settlement as a strategic stronghold and as an agricultural center indicates that This period is characterized by the fall of the major Sâtu Qalâ remained strongly tied to its environment. The centers of the Assyrian heartland under the attacks of flourishing phase of Idu as an Assyrian provincial center Median and Babylonian troops and the subsequent and, later, as an independent kingdom embedded the Achaemenid occupation of the region. Archaeological site into a wide political and economic network which investigations of the main Assyrian centers, e.g. connected Assyria, Babylonia, and the region beyond Nineveh, Assur, and in particular Kalḫu, have provided the Zagros. Subsequent political shifts also influenced evidence for destruction and resettlements (e.g. Curtis the economy of Idu and its catchment area both during 2003: 160;Archaeopress Miglus 2000; Oates and Oates 2001: 125 and the Open great expansion phase Access of the Neo-Assyrian Empire 257-8). The Babylonian Chronicle and later classical and after the fall of the central powers of Assyria. authors provide most of the data for the historical Developments in the urban layout of the site mirror the reconstruction of this specific period, indicating several functional roles of Satu Qala within this network. The military campaigns by Medes and Babylonians (e.g. shape of this regional network, the degree to which the Dalley 1993; Reade 2003; Rollinger 2010). However, roles of the site of Satu Qala extended on a regional evidence for the Median and Babylonian presence scale, and what effects its role as an economic hub or within the political landscape of northern Mesopotamia defensive stronghold exerted onto the infrastructural remains scant. What little evidence of Babylonian systems in its immediate hinterland, remain unclear. All institutional infrastructures in northern Mesopotamia of these questions can only be answered through further has been observed includes the presence of a governor at research in the region.

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