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Image Title calendar2024-01-28

Archaeological work in the region is concentrated in Slemani

Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage of Slemani, currently has many contracts and partnerships with several foreign universities and institutes for (surveying, excavation, reconstruction and maintenance….. etc) in Slemani province.

Image Title calendar2024-01-28

Shakar Tapa on the Sharazor plain has revealed a new episode of the Neolithic discovery

Shakar Tapa has been known as a conspicuous archaeological site in the south of the Shahrazor Plain since the mid-20th century. It has an oval plan consisting of a low northeastern mound and a high conical southwestern mound with a flat top.

Image Title calendar2024-01-28

Gird-î Qalrakh: a small mound in the North-eastern Shahrazor Plain

The site of Gird-î Qalrakh is a small but steep settlement place in the North-eastern Shahrazor-Plain. It was excavated in three seasons (2016, 2017 and 2019), the fourth season 2023 has just started. The archaeological discovery will be carried out jointly by the Slemani Archaeological and Heritage Directorates, along with two universities (University of Erlangen and University of Frankfurt), in Gridi-Kazhaw and Qalrgh. It will continue for years.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Region has discovered a new Sassanid settlement located on Grdi-Kazhaw

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The Iraqi Kurdistan Region has discovered a new Sassanid settlement located on Grdi-Kazhaw


Gird-î Kazhaw is located at the eastern perimeter of the large spring near Bestansur. The site consists of two mounds extending across an area of 4 ha. Mound A is only 2–3 m in height and of oval shape while Mound B reaches up to 10 m in height. 
In the center of Mound a remains of a large building with limestone-pillars were exposed. The pottery found in situ and in the rubbish layers above the floor indicate a late Sasanian date. Building comparisons suggest that the excavated part represent the central nave of a church, which was integrated into a monastery. 
On the hilltop of Mound B remains of a small fortification were uncovered in two trenches. The main wall of the small fortress is in parts preserved to a height of almost 4 m. In a zone of about 50 m around the fortress, smaller structures, probably dwellings, are visible on the magnetics. Finds of glass directly above virgin soil, give proof, that the whole area around the fortification was exclusively settled in the Sasanian period. 
The archaeological discovery will be carried out jointly by the Slemani Archaeological and Heritage Directorates, along with two universities (University of Erlangen and University of Frankfurt), in Gridi-Kazhaw and Qalrgh. It will continue for years.

                                               Drone photography of the church complex in Grdi-Kazhaw.