165 Boekbesprekingen — Archeologie 166 Kopanias, K
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165 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ARCHEOLOGIE 166 (A) Excavation (field)/survey reports The great majority is excavation/survey reports. Most of them deal with multi period sequences but some of them are focused on single periods. Almost all of the authors offer a paragraph on the history of research of the particular site or region referencing earlier literature. Most of the papers con- tain a description of the physical-geographical, environmen- ARCHEOLOGIE tal and hydrological situation of the site or region; many projects have developed special programs for the reconstruc- KOPANIAS, K. and J. MacGINNIS (eds.) — The Archaeol- tion of the palaeo-environmental conditions. Four articles ogy of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent deal with sites outside of the region of Iraqi Kurdistan, these Regions. Archaeopress, Oxford, 2016. (29 cm, XVII, being 04 (Biglari and Shidrang), and 10 (Hozhabri), both in 455). ISBN 978-1-78491-393-9. £ 80.00. Iran, 14 (Koizumi, Yoneda, Itoh, and Kobayashi) and 31 The editors claim no less and not more than to have edited (Pulhan and Blaylock), both in Turkey. Chronologically a “the outcome of a conference” (p. XVII) ‘Archaelological line can be drawn between sites from the Common Era and Research in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region of Iraq and those from Before the Common Era. I will categorize my the Adjacent Areas’ held at the University of Athens, Novem- notes in ber 1st-3rd 2013. Well equipped with satellite images, maps, (A.1) Survey reports (including collateral soundings), plans, drawings, and photographs the book covers 41 contri- (A.2) Excavation (field) reports of sites from Common Era butions out of “… more than 100 scholars from across the (A.3) Excavation (field) reports of sites from Before Com- world participating in the first forum of its kind … .” mon Era (p. XVII). The editors draw on “the most vibrant” archaeo- logical activities in the region of North and Northwest Iraq (A.1) Survey reports (from west to east) and beyond, i.e. Turkey and Iran during the past decade. The first four surveys, the EHAS, LoNAP, UGZAR, and Rightly they emphasize that this region has been held back EPAS are cooperating in a working group entitled ‘Assyrian exploring its heritage in the past due to political factors Landscapes Research Group’ sharing common methodologi- remaining an archaeological terra incognita. However, the cal approaches (30 Pfälzner and Sconzo, 324-25). more recent political development mainly in Iraq and Syria 30 (Pfälzner and Sconzo), ‘The Eastern Habur Archaeo- shifted the region of Kurdistan to the focus of international logical Survey’ (EHAS): This project covers an area of about archaeological attention because of its fairly stable condi- 4400 km² in the northern and western parts of the province tions and the generous treatment and handling of the General of Dohuk. The authors report about the first season 2013, Directorate of Antiquities of the Kurdish Region of Iraq. which was limited to a portion of less than 80 km² in Zone The book is more than a snapshot. It should be viewed as B within the Selevani Plain south of Jebel Biḫair. The largest a first compendium, manual, guide or reader to the ongoing mound of this area is Bassetki that is considered a key ele- archaeological research in the region. It is especially reward- ment in historical topography. Much time and effort was ing to find the scope of the volume not restricted to the polit- spend on a site survey. Special attention was devoted to the ical borders but rather including related activities in neigh- Neo-Assyrian rock relief of Mila Mergi the inscription of boring countries. Due to the date of the conference in 2013, which was found to have been destroyed in large parts. At some of the contributions cover very early stages of the pro- the end of the season a total of 21 unrecorded archaeological jects. Confusingly, some papers are based on work in 2014 sites and heritage monuments had been documented. or report on projects started in 2015. It would have been 11 (Iamoni) ‘The Land of Niniveh Archaeological Project’ helpful to find some clarifying remarks on this. (LoNAP): Surveyed since 2012 the vast area of the LoNAP However, the reader’s expectations are dimmed slightly extends east of the EHAS. Explaining the targets and the because the communications are not structured, neither by applied methods the author summarizes the state of the art of type of research, nor by geography/province, or by chronol- prehistoric and protohistoric research in Upper Mesopotamia ogy. They seem to have been edited as they came in. They before reflecting the preliminary results of the 2015 season are not numbered either. The figures of each communication within the framework of his sub-project ‘Human Adaptabil- start from cipher one and can be quoted accurately only by ity and the Formation of Urban Societies’ (HAFUS) con- citing the full title of the article. Preparing this review, I have cerned with the settlement dynamics in the 7th to the 4th mill. numbered the communications from 1 to 41 for clear refer- BC. Out of more than 830 registered sites about 150 are ence and to avoid quoting lengthy titles. May I ask anyone occupied in the Neolithic – Chalcolithic periods. He rises to do the same before starting to read the following notes? awareness to the promising site of Tell Asingrian in the The type of research consists of excavation/survey field Navkur Plain rising to about 10 meters and covering about reports (A), case studies (B), and reports on heritage projects five hectares. (C). Chronologically the communications cover the whole Please note that the contributions 07, 08, and 27 are related range of human civilization in the region, from the Palaeo- to the LoNAP. They are considered case studies (B, see lithic to actual problems of safeguarding the heritage. Geo- below). graphically the focus of research lies on the provinces of 15 (Kolinski), ‘The Upper Greater Zab Archaeological Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Reconnaissance Project’ (UGZAR): The survey area covers 3058 km². This communication reports on the survey results of the 2012 and 2013 seasons in which 99 sites were registered out of which 92 were fully documented. Two 167 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXXV N° 1-2, januari-april 2018 168 histograms illustrate the distribution of sites in four environ- it very likely that this must have been a significant witness mental zones according to periods Hassuna to Late Islamic of Christianity in the first Mill. AD. (Fig. 5). Special attention is drawn to the Gunduk rock relief 10 (Hozhabri), Char-Ghapi (Iran): This study discusses (of the 3rd mill. BC) parts of which were found to be the question whether the ruins of Char-Gapi in the province destroyed by treasure hunters. Two fragments of panel 2 of Kermanschah, Iran, close to the border of Iraq and the were recovered from the scree though allowing for a new town of Kalar, represent a Sasanian fire temple or a Christian reconstruction (Fig. 8). The resolution of the quotation Reade church. Arguing by the orientation of the architecture and the and Anderson 2013 is missing in the bibliography. position of the mithraeum the author concludes that it should There is no report on the ‘Erbil Plain Archaeological Sur- be considered a church. Two new thermoluminescence sam- vey (EPAS, J. Ur, Harvard) proper. ples (1350+/-75 and 1370+/-70 years BP) and historical 26 (Nováček), Medieval urbanism in Adiabene: However, arguments date the complex to the Late Sasanidian period, the Survey of Medieval Urban Sites in Adiabene was carried most likely to the reign of Chosroe II (590-628). out in cooperation with EPAS in 2013 and 2014. The author 24 (Müller-Wiener and Mollenhauer), 16 (Kurapkat), investigated five medieval towns/centers south of the focal Bazaar of Erbil: These two communications report on the point of Erbil in the former Parthian province of Adiabene same research project conducted in 2012 and 2013 that is for “a case study for regionally defined archaeological concerned with the planning of refurbishment of the Bazaar research of ‘Islamic’ cities.” (p. 269). of Erbil. Presenting a broader general view on the history and 23 (Mühl and Fassbinder) Shahrizor Plain survey: Located structure of the Bazaar of Erbil and comparing it with southeast of Sulaimaniyah between Arbat and Halabja (for a Bazaars in Koysinjaq, Kifri, Sulaimaniyah, and Kirkuk Mül- description of the Shahrizor Project see no. 25, p. 258) the ler-Wiener and Mollenhauer (24) should be read first. Kurap- survey activities of large and middle sized sites was run in kat gives a detailed insight in the history and layout of the 2009 and 2011. After 2011 the focus shifted to small flat two trade buildings (Qaisariaya) of the Bazaar of Erbil. He sites. One of these small tell sites is Gird-I Shatwan, north- ends up with a brief damage evaluation and a structural anal- west of Tell Begum. The mound is dated to the Ubaid period ysis proposing a master plan for conservation. but carries on top Parthian remains, which were documented well by the application of magnetometry. Related to this (A.3) Excavation (field) reports of sites from Before Com- report is the paper 25 by Nieuwenhuyse, Odaka and Mühl. mon Era 36 (Şerifoǧlu et al.), The Sirwan (Upper Diyala) Regional Project: The research area is situated south of the Shahrizor 04 (Biglari and Shidrang), palaeolithic rock shelters, Iran: plain between Darband-i Khan in the north and Khanaqin in Intensive surveys conducted in 2009 and 2010 by the Ker- the south bordered in the east by the Iraq-Iranian frontier, manshah office of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts covering some 4000 km².