Mounds In The Rania Plain And Excavations; At Tell Basmusian (1956) I. Introduction: The present writer was The ancient sites in the Rania plain, or responsible for the first of the three Dasht-i-Bitwain, were first investigated seasons of excavation at Basmusian, and officially by Sd. Sabri Shukri in this is now described briefly below. 1950, as part of the normal survey work In the years that have elapsed since our of the Directorate General of Antiquities. work in the Rania plain, some essential In September, 1955, a more detailed plans and records have been mislaid to study of the area due to be flooded by continue the search for them might delay the new Dokan Dam was made by a publication indefinitely. This article has team consisting of Sd. Muhammad Ali been written, with regret and many Mustafa, Sd. Mudhaffar Sheikh Qadir, reservations, in the belief that and the present writer. Some notes on scholarship is better served by limited this survey have been published information than by none at all. 1 already ; further details are included here. II. Mounds in the Rania Plain (pls. I The five mounds dug on our and V-VI): recommendation were Kamarian, ed- The original descriptions of these sites Dem, Shemshara, Qarashina, and are provided. The dating was based on Basmusian. Sd. Abdul Qadir Al-Tekriti collections of surface sherds, and it is 2 has produced a report on Tell ed-Dem, clear, in the light of further experience, and there have been several on that more precise criteria would have 3 Shemshara, in addition to an account of added to the value of the survey. It may 4 the Uruk pottery from all five sites. be noted that, among the terms used, Akkadian, Hurrian, and Median are likely to indicate a fairly wide range of, (1) Dr. Naji al-Asil, Sumer, 12 (1956). pp. 6-7. respectively late third millennium, early (2) Abdul Qadir 1'\1- Tikl'iti, M.A., Sumer, 16 or middle second millennium, and post- (1960), pp. 93-109 (in Arabic). Assyrian material. (3) Harold Ingholt, Sumer, 13 (1957) 1. Kirdi Bur:Two mounds, 400 m. pp. 214-215; J, Laessoee, ibid. pp. 216-218. apart, on either side of a seasonal -------, Sumer, 15 (1959), pp. 15-18. stream, the northern is roughly --------, Sumer, 16 (1960), pp. 12-19. --------, The Shemshara Tablets. A preliminary circular, some 500 m. in report (Arkaeologisk-Kunst historiske circumference and 3 m. high, and Meddelser udgivet of Det Kongelige Danske the southern, which lies on a Videnskabernes Selskab, Bind 4, nr. 3) natural hillock, is some 100 m. Copenhagen, 1959. across and 4 m. high. Pre-Uruk Peder Mortensen, Sumer, 18 (1962), pp. 76-80. (?), Uruk, Hurrian, late Assyrian. -------, Sumer, 20 (1964), pp. 28-36 2. Mullah Umar: Large circular mound on the western bank of (4) Abu AI-Soof, Sumer, 20 (1964), pp. the Zab; some 200 m. in 37-42. circumference, and 15 m. across at its top, where stone and juss at its base and 15 m. high. foundations are visible. Hurrian, Prehistoric, Hurrian, Assyrian, Late Assyrian, Median, Parthian. Median. 3. Kamarian: Conical mound, some 12. Babu Gawran (i.e. father and 70 m. in diameter and 12 m. son): Two mounds 300 m. apart high. Pre-Halaf (?), Ubaid, Uruk, the larger is some 200 m. at its Akkadian, Hurrian, Middle base and 8 m. high. Both are Assyrian, Median. Prehistoric, Assyrian, Median. 4. Butan: Large eleongated mound, beside the eastern bank of the 13. Mamand: Large mound some Zab; some 150 m. long, 70 m. 150 m. across at base and 5 m. wide, and 6-7 m. high. Pre-Halaf, high. Prehistoric, Assyrian, Halaf, painted Hurrian, Assyrian, Median. Median. 14. Tepe Gawran: Two mounds, the 5. Ed-Dem: Hemispherical mound, lower is some 150 m. long and some 70 m. in diameter and 12 50 m. wide, the other is 250 m. m. high. Many large pebbles on long and 3 m. high. The former the surface. Ubaid, Uruk, shows traces on its summit of an Akkadian, Assyrian, Hurrian, Assyrian building with baked Median. bricks. Both are Late Assyrian, 6. Kullah: Ovoid mound on eastern Median, Sassanian, and Islamic. terrace of Zab; some 100 m. long 15. Shemshara: - Conical mound, at its base, 70 m. across on its top some 50 m. across at its base, 20 and 20 m. high. Assyrian, m. across on top, and nearly 25 Hurrian, Median, Parthian and m. high (50 m. above the Zab). early Islamic. Prehistoric, Assyrian, Median, 7. Tankija: Mound on hill; some Islamic. 150 m. long, 100 m. wide, 3 m. 16. Kullak: Hemispherical mound, high. Prehistoric, Assyrian, 100 m. across at its base and 8 m. Median. high. Prehistoric, Assyrian, 8. Kullah Kawi: Elongated (west- Median, Islamic. east) mound in the Si-Najian 17. Parah Post: Two small mounds, valley; some 200 m. long, 70 m. altogether 200 m. long, 70 m. wide and 7 m. high. Ubaid, Uruk, wide, and 2-3 m. high. Assyrian, Hurrian, Median. Prehistoric, Late Assyrian, 9. Qara Qaj: Large low mound Sassanian, Median. south of Kullah Kawi; some 250 18. Basmusian: See below; the m. long and 100 m. wide. Late surface sherds were described as Assyrian, Median, local wares. prehistoric, Assyrian, Hurrian, 10. Mullah Shell: Two mounds on a Median, Sassanian, and Islamic. high cliff, overlooking Zab on its 19. Qarashina: Some 70 m. across at eastern bank; the northern mound its base and 20 m. high. is some 150 m. across and the Prehistoric (especially Uruk), southern 200 m. Prehistoric, Assyrian, Median. Assyrian, Median. 20-27. No details available. 11. Haiz: Large mound, some 150 m. 28. Serkhomah: Large mound in Baslan valley, some 200 m. m. high Ubaid, Uruk, Assyrian, across at its base, 100 m. across Median. on top, and 20 m. high. 40. Qabr es-Sahabah: Mound near Prehistoric Assyrian. Merzah Rustam. Prehistoric, 29. Buskain: Large mound, some Assyrian, Median. 200 m. at its base and 15 m. high. Prehistoric, Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk, III. Basmusian: Assyrian, Median. 30. Kullan: Large mound some 150 Tell Basmusian, the 1argest site m. long, 100 m. wide, and 10 m. in the Rania plain, lies about 12 km. high. Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid, south of Rania. It covers an area some Late Assyrian, Median. 1500 m. in circumference, and is 23 m. 31. Kamam: Large hemispherical high; there is a projection on its north- mound on hill; some 250 m. long western side (Pl. II). The river Zab is at its base, and 15 m. high. 800 m. due east. Prehistoric, Assyrian, Median, A village, half a century old, and Sassanian, early Islamic. consisting of some forty houses, 32. Kundu: Hemispherical mound occupied part of the south-eastern flank some 300 m. in circumference of the mound (Pl. IV, 1), It may be of and 12 m. high. Hassuna, interest to note that the houses, all of Samarra, Ubaid, Assyrian, which had stone footings to their walls, Hurrian, Median. were usually built of tof, with mud-brick 33. Qurralla (north): Ovoid mound and juss plaster in the finest dwellings, some 200 m. long, 50 m. wide, They were roofed with earth, which and 10 m. high. Ubaid, Uruk, rested on beams and small branches of Assyrian, Median. wood. Some were two-storeyed with 34. Qurralla (south): Large ovoid livestock sometimes on the lower mound, some 250 m. long, 100 floor, though most animals were m. wide, and 20 m. high. Ubaid, norrnal1y kept in the courtyards. The Uruk, Late Assyrian, Median. main crops, irrigated from perennial 35. Mahmud Habbas: Large mound stream were cotton and tobacco; some some 200 m. long and 10 m. wheat, barley, rice, and summer high. Late Assyrian, Median, vegetables were grown for local early Islamic. consumption. Fish from the Zab was 36. Ghaznah: Large mound, some another staple food. 200 m. long and 21 m. high. The first season of excavation Assyrian, Median, early Islamic. lasted from 10th. July to 15th October, 37. Araban: Some 250 m. long and 1956. It was directed by the present 20 m. high. Assyrian, Median, writer, with Sd. Borhan Chelmiran as Islamic. field assistant and registerar; Sd. Sha'lan 38. Qara Tepe Kun (in Qaratepe Hussein acted as camp-manager and Sd. village): Some 300 m. long and Hassan Azam as accountant. Sd. 15 m. high. Prehistoric, Middle Muhammad Hamidha helped with the and Late Assyrian, Sassanian, surveying and Sd. Isa Toma was early Islamic. foreman. I am greatly indebted to all my 39. Kirdel: Some 200 m. long and 10 colleagues for their assistance and ingenuity. could be recovered. The foundations of level II had sometimes cut into level III, The Excavations: and Islamic sherds where mixed with a high proportion of much earlier material. Two trenches 20 m. wide were Level III contained, apart from originally opened: (A) stretched 40 m. the temple described below, no building eastwards from the summit of the mound remains at all. The sherds suggested a on its northern side, and (B) 25 m. date towards the middle or end of the westwards. The area between the second millennium B.C., and this level trenches proved to contain a temple, and (or possibly level II) may be the source work was eventually concentrated here, of some fragments of Middle Assyrian with slight extensions to north and south. tablets5 which were found in a pit cut There were five levels (I-V Starting from into level IV just south of the temple. the top), only strips 5 m. wide were Level IV incorporated two excavated below level II in trenches (A) phases of an earlier version of the and (B).