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Image Title calendar2024-01-28

NEW INVESTIGATIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENT, HISTORY, AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE IRAQI HILLY FLANKS: SHAHRIZOR SURVEY PROJECT 2009–2011

Recent palaeoenvironmental, historical, and archaeological investigations, primarily consisting of site reconnaissance, in the Shahrizor region within the province of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan are bringing to light new information on the region’s social and socio-ecological development.

Image Title calendar2024-01-29

Excavations at Shaikh Marif, Iraqi Kurdistan Preliminary Report of the First Season (2022)

Grdi-Shaikh Marif The archaeological site of Shaikh Marif, located in the Shahrizor Plain ca. 500 m south of Gird Shamlu along the Wadi Shamlu, was registered by the Iraq Museum in 1943. In November 2012, the Shahrizor Survey Project additionally identified several new artificial mounds near Shaikh Marif. Among them, a cluster of two tiny mounds is called, together with Shaikh Marif itself, “Se Tapanسێ تەپان ” by the local people, and thus all three mounds were designated “Shaikh Marif”: Shaikh Marif I (the original northern mound), Shaikh Marif II (a western mound also called “Ash Shaikh Marif” by the locals), and Shaikh Marif III (an eastern mound). The land is seasonally cultivated today, and the water of the Darband-i Khan Dam Lake occasionally covers almost entire areas of the mounds. Owing to modern cultivation and the erosion by flowing water, a large amount of archaeological materials were easily observed on the surface. While no prehistoric material was identified at Shaikh Marif III, numerous Late Neolithic potsherds were scattered across the other two mounds as well as the materials dated to the younger periods. The date of these Late Neolithic sherds was estimated to be ca. 6400 6000 BC. A Japanese archaeological team (directed by Takahiro Odaka, Kanazawa University) excavated Shaikh Marif II in 2022 and revealed the Late Neolithic layers, which directly accumulated on the virgin soil. Most of the finds were dated to ca. 6100-6000 BC, although a small amount of the artefacts from the historical periods indicate human activities in the middle Medieval and the Ottoman Periods.

Image Title calendar2024-07-25

Memorandum of Understanding Between Slemani antiquities and heritage Directorate and Kurdistan Geological Society Slemani Branch

Slemani antiquties and heritage Directorate signed a memorandum of understanding between our directorate as a government entity and Kurdistan Geologists Association Slemani Branch to further coordinate and serve these two fields in Kurdistan in general and Sulaimani in particular.

New exhibition of the archaeological investigations at Gird-i Yasin Tepe

Article Name

Yasin Tepe (Gird-i Yasin Tepe)

The site is one of the largest tell-type sites in the Slemani Governorate and contains rich archaeological remains from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods. Yasin Tepe Archaeological Project led by Chubu University has been conducting the archaeological investigation of the site since 2015 and the excavations continues since 2016. So far, we have identified intensive Iron Age (Assyrian period) occupations in the lower town area containing an elite residence and un-looted brick tomb.

Yasin Tepe is located in the western part of the Shahrizor Plain, ca. 30 km south of Sulaymaniyah. The site is one of the largest tell-type sites in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It measures ca. 700 × 600 m (40 ha) with 20 m in height. The consist of acropolis mound and the lower town.

Chubu University (Japan) expedition started the excavation of the site in 2016. Since then, we have identified extensive Iron Age (8th-7th centuries BCE) settlement in the lower town. Yasin Tepe was probably an important military and commercial city when the Assyrian Empire controlled Iraqi Kurdistan. The excavations continue to reveal the Iron Age history of Sulaymaniyah Governorate.

 

 

The Yasin Tepe exhibition was setup in the Slemani Museum in November 2023. It was carried out by Chubu University funded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. It is a part of the training program for the enhancement of the Slemani Museum. It is also intended to inform the public people about the importance of cultural heritage in the Slemani Governorate. 

 

The exhibition shows a bathtub coffin which was excavated from the un-looted brick tomb dated to the 8th-7th centuries BCE. The coffin was placed inside a tomb camber built with baked bricks and had a vaulted ceiling.

Next to the bathtub coffin, a showcase contains some selected finds which are stored in the Slemani Museum. Noteworthy is a bronze necklet with cuneiform inscription which was found in a room of the elite residence, southeast of the lower town. It shows the possibility that the temple of Nabû was erected at Yasin Tepe. Other major finds included the bronze lamp, pottery, and stamp seals excavated from the un-looted tomb. These objects inform us that there was a strong Assyrian cultural influence was present during the Iron Age at Yasin Tepe. (Shin Nishiyama: Chubu University, Japan).