archaeology in Iraq

This booklet has been produced to explain the history and contents
of the Slemani museum, which is the second largest museum in Iraq
and the largest in Iraqi Kurdistan. The museum has several important
missions among them the enhancement of the public knowledge and
awareness concerning the history of Kurdistan, a region
distinguished as a “crossroads” of civilizations. We hope many
people will enjoy the rich artefacts exhibited in our museum and
obtain from its displays reliable knowledge relating to the history of
the Kurdistan region. May this booklet serve as a helpful companion
during your visit.

ABSTRACT: The following 58 questions follow the documentary (no.6),  PBS: The Lost Gardens of Babylon (60 minutes) (2014; 60 min.). The question sheet aids in furnishing a summary of the documentary's coverage and sequence of specific topics. A very good documentary detailing Stephanie Dalley's theory about the later traditions concerning the "(Hanging) Gardens of Babylon " as reflecting an actual origin and location in King Sennecherib's garden at Nineveh, over 100 years earlier (ca. early 7th century BCE) and at a site much further to the north (i.e., at Sennecherib's palace at Nineveh, in Assyria, versus in Nebuchadnezzar II's palace at Babylon). WEB LINK: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/the-lost-gardens-of-babylon-watch-the-full-episode/1203/.  The documentary introduces some of the traditions and evidence concerning the location and date of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and proceeds to Dalley's research and theories for equating it with an earlier garden built by Sennacherib beside his palace at Nineveh: This earlier garden is attested from diverse evidence in the British Museum (e.g., a cuneiform prism; palace wall panels), publications on earlier excavations at Nineveh, recent visits to and assessments of key sites in Iraq (e.g., Khinis; Jerwan; Nineveh), plus consultation with other specialists (e.g., Dr. Jason Ur: using Corona satellite imagery analysis and landscape interpretation). A very enjoyable documentary showing features and issues in both Ancient and modern Iraq.

Between 1930 and 1932 C. L. Woolley and his staff investigated the so-called “archaic” levels of the Ziqqurat Terrace, namely the sanctuary of the moon-god Nanna at Ur. Two superimposed phases (Archaic II-I) of a large complex consisting of a rectangular boundary wall and domestic-like buildings were exposed. This paper aims at re-assessing the Archaic I phase evidence in the light of both the unpublished archives and the original materials of the Ur excavation kept in the British Museum (London) and in the Penn Museum (Philadelphia). The outcome of this paper is a new discussion of the use of space and the chronological framework of this phase, in order to throw more light on one of the most important sanctuaries of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia.

This paper uses Iraq as a case study via which to begin to investigate the complex inter-relationships between cultural and historical destruction on the one hand and identity politics and sectarian violence on the other. This paper argues that the unprecedented scale and magnitude of the destruction of Iraq’s cultural history has played a part in eroding the various intersecting and overlapping versions of identity politics in Iraq. In turn, this has provided fertile ground for sectarians to plant the seeds of their own narrow and deadly ideologies. This has brought about the rise of ethno-religious based violence and seen a series of bloody and protracted conflicts emerge between previously peaceful and compatible factions. What is of particular interest here is that much of the cultural and historical landscape that has been destroyed since 2003 had come to play an important role in developing the notion of a collective Iraqi identity as promulgated by the Baathist regime. For example, under the rule of Saddam Hussein, Iraq underwent an extensive nation building campaign consisting of projects as diverse as the reconstruction of key archaeological sites, a reinvigoration of traditional Iraqi folklore and festivals, and the extension of state libraries and museums. While identity politics was and remains a complex and contested field in Iraq, the nation’s cultural history was central to the formation of a variety of different identities in Iraq and garnered at least some degree of social cohesion and inclusion. The chapter begins by briefly detailing the role that Iraq’s cultural heritage has played in building national identity and social cohesion since 1968. It then catalogues some of the more significant cultural and historical destruction that has occurred in Iraq since 2003. Finally, this paper tentatively examines the extent to which this destruction has had implications for the rise of ethno-religious sectarianism and violence.

Much of our perception of Babylon in the West is filtered through the poignant echoes of loss and longing that resonate in the Hebrew Bible. The lamenting exiles of Judah craved a return to their lost homeland after the sack of Jerusalem in 587 BC and their forcible removal by Nebuchadnezzar to the alien floodlands of the Euphrates. But to see Babylon only as an adjunct to Old Testament history is misleading. A Short History of Babylon explores the ever-changing city that shaped world history for two millennia.

Simpson, E., ed. The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella. Leiden: Brill, 2018.

The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, is a Festschrift celebrating the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Oscar Muscarella is a former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a formidable scholar who has excavated at sites in Turkey, Iran, and the United States. He has published eight books and nearly 200 articles, excavation reports, and reviews on topics ranging from the arts of antiquity and the importance of connoisseurship, to the difficulties of dating and the problems of forgeries, the looting of ancient sites, and the antiquities trade. The forty-seven contributors are experts in the areas of Muscarella's interests and are major scholars in their fields. This volume constitutes an unusual, important, and timely addition to the archaeological and art historical literature.

The history of the city of Amadiya goes back as far as ancient Assyria and it has probably existed even prior to that due to its strategic place on the flat top of a mountain.
It was an Assyrian city known as Amedi from the 25th century BC until the end of the 7th century BC with the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
After that, it was part of Achaemenid Assyria, Seleucid Assyria and Parthian and Sassanid-ruled Assyria until its conquest in the mid 7th century AD by the Arabs. Then, for several centuries, after the expulsion of the caliphs from Baghdad in the 7th century, it was ruled by a pasha from the royal Abbas family, reputed to be one of the richest families in the region.

The region in which the city rests is believed to have been the seat of the Magi, or high priests of Median-ruled Assyria, and the city itself is believed to be the home of some of the most significant Magi priests: the Biblical Magi or the "Three Wise Men" who made a pilgrimage to Bethlehem to see Jesus Christ shortly after his birth.

Amadiya was the seat of the semi-autonomous Badinan Emirate, which lasted from 1376 to 1843. At the turn of the 19th century, the population already numbered 6,000, of whom 2,500 were Kurds, 1,900 Jews and 1,600 Assyrians. There are ruins from the Assyrian era and ruins of a synagogue and a tomb attributed to Ezekiel and a church in the small town. The city also has mosques and a church. One of the icons of the city is the Great Mosque of Amadiya which dates back to the 12th century and the oldest and largest in the region.

The town is perched on a mesa or a plateau, formerly only accessible by a narrow stairway cut into the rock.

Although Amadiya is just 10 1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) from the Turkish border across the Beshesh Mountains, the only border crossing into Turkey is now at Ibrahim Khalil border on the road Amadiya - Dohuk - Zakho, 56 miles (90 km) away. A border crossing was once at Habur.

The region north of the mountainous region on the border with Turkey is where poplar, willow, oak, hawthorn, cherry plum, rose hips, mountain apple, pear, Sorbus, and other wild trees and meadow grasses are usually located. The town is 1,100 yards (1,000 m) long and 550 yards (500 m) wide. It houses 6,000 citizens in almost 1,200 houses

This paper examines the systematic efforts to dismantle or destroy the symbolic dimension of the Baathist regime in Iraq since 2003. It argues that while the Baath were undeniably cruel and oppressive, they did undertake one of the twentieth century’s most robust attempts to utilise the political power of historical memory to create a unified Iraqi national identity. However, while many have examined the militaristic or bureaucratic dimensions of de-Baathification, no such attempts have been made to examine the destruction of the symbols and monuments of the Baathist state and the consequences it has had for Iraqi national identity. This paper addresses this paucity and concludes that with the symbolic destruction of the Baathist state has come a near complete erosion of the Iraqi brand of nationalism that the Baath had managed to promulgate to varying degrees of success since the late 1960s.

This is the publication of a PhD thesis that was successfully submitted in 1979. The works aims to be a comprehensive study of Late Assyrian metalwork (9th-7th centuries BC) mainly from the  sites of Nimrud, Nineveh, Khorsabad and Ashur. It includes much previously unpublished Assyrian metalwork, mostly from the excavations of Sir Henry Layard (1845-51) and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (1949-1963) at Nimrud. Most of this metalwork is now either in the British Museum or in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. This study has not been updated since 1979, but it is published here in its original form in order to put a large amount of previously unpublished data into the public domain. The book has an appendix by Matthew Ponting giving the results of metallographic examination and analysis.

Long before dragons were busy being the best things in Game of Thrones, the world has been telling tales about them. And guess what: they don't all end in monsters being slain and maidens being rescued.

In Iran, for instance, a dragon is chained up to this day, waiting to break free and bring the apocalypse. In Japan, another one's busy ruling the sea. The Chinese would ask why you'd even consider trying to kill such an auspicious creature, and the Vietnamese call a dragon dad. In India, a dragon stole the rains, and in Australia, one gives them back.

Almost anywhere in the world you look, in fact, there be dragons. Here's the proof.

GreeceIt's thanks to the Ancient Greeks that dragons are dragons: it was their word drakon ("serpent") that gave us the name we use today. And their specimens certainly lived up to it. They were pretty much everything you'd want from a good dragon, i.e., horrifying and nigh impossible to slay — unless you just happen to be a hero with the gods on your side.

Take Hydra, for instance, the gigantic sea serpent that breathed and bled poison, and would grow two more heads for each one cut off. (Hercules worked out he could stop the heads sprouting by sealing each stump with fire.) Or Cetus, the sea monster that Poseidon sent to eat the princess Andromeda after her mother boasted that she was more beautiful than any sea nymph. (Perseus swooped in with his flying sandals and killed it, and the gods memorialized the story in the stars.)

Or the Ismenian dragon, son of the god of war, who guarded a sacred spring. (Cadmus killed it and planted its teeth in the ground, where they turned into fearsome warriors who would help him found the city of Thebes.) Then there was the dragon at Colchis that watched over the magical Golden Fleece. The creature never slept or even closed its eyes, but the sorceress Medea helped Jason to steal the treasure by bewitching the dragon unconscious. Incidentally, some legends say that on his way back to Greece, Jason ran into and slew another dragon, in what's now Slovenia. That's why the capital Ljubljana has a dragon on its coat of arms.

Ishtar Gate of Babylon; nowadays Iraq and Syrian history.
The Dragon of Ishtar (gate)

In late antiquity and early-Islamic times al-Ḥīra was one of the major urban and cultural centres of Mesopotamia. Located at the interface of several cultural spheres, the historical site of al-Ḥīra offers a prime example to study the processes of acculturation and transfer that shaped Late Antique and early Islamic material culture, architecture, and urbanism. The present paper gives a brief outline of the research questions, preparatory investigations and methodology of the survey project and presents the first results of the field campaign conducted in October 2015.

NB: Second proofs, which differ from the published versions in small details (mainly typos). -- A key find from the 2018 excavations at the settlement mound of Gird-e Rūstam (Gird-i Rostam) in the easternmost part of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq, directly on the border with Iran, is an inscribed pottery sherd that can be assigned to the Neo-Assyrian period, more specifically the late 8th or 7th century BC. Albeit small, the sherd certainly belongs to a "carinated bowl", which is a typical wine-drinking vessel of that time, and preserves a few signs of a cuneiform inscription in Akkadian language and Neo-Assyrian script. It is suggested that the reconstructed text contains mention of the local toponym Birtu-ša-Adad-remanni "Fortress of Adad-remanni". This place is located in the border region between the Assyrian Empire and the kingdom of Mannea, which raises the possibility that Gird-e Rūstam could be identified with Birtu-ša-Adad-remanni.

Departments of Archeology in Iraqi Universities and Methods of Development of Academic Studies

علم الآثار، كعلم أكاديمي، يٌّدرس في الكثير من الجامعات العراقية ‏تحت مسمى (كلية الآثار) أو قسم تابع لكليات الآداب. ولا يخفى على ‏المختص بعلم الآثار من آثاريين أو أكاديميين في الجامعات العراقية، وحتى ‏المثقفون بشكل عام، النظام التعليمي العام المتبع في دراسة وتدريس العلوم ‏والتخصصات كافة، ومنها علم الآثار على وجه الخصوص، في الجامعات ‏العراقية اليوم وما لهذا النظام وما عليه من نقاط إيجابية كانت أم سلبية تؤثر ‏بشكل كبير على دراسة وتدريس العلوم ومدى إستيعاب الطلبة لهذه العلوم ‏بتلك الطرق التدريسية المتبعة؛ وفي هذا الكُتيّب إستعراض لتاريخ بعض ‏أقسام الآثار في الجامعات العراقية ونشاطاتها لتوضيح وإستنباط الطرق ‏الدراسية المتبعة في دراسة وتدريس علم الآثار، في تلك الأقسام بشكل ‏خاص، وتبيان النقاط السلبية وتشخيصها في محاولة لتعديل وتصحيح ما ‏يمكن أن يصحح لتطوير قابلية إستيعاب الطلبة للمناهج المتبعة إنتهاءً ‏ببعض السبل أو الحلول التي يمكن أن تعمل على تطوير واقع الدراسة ‏الأكاديمية الحالي في أقسام الآثار.‏
من أجل توضيح الفكرة والغاية النهائية في هذه الدراسة المبسطة، تم ‏تناول الموضوع بثلاث خطوات فكرية، الأولى هي توضيح موجز لماهية علم ‏الآثار وأهمية وبداياته الأكاديمية في العراق. والثانية توضيح موجز لتاريخ ‏أبرز أقسام الآثار الأكاديمية التي تأسست أو أستحدثت في الجامعات العراقية ‏بدءاً من أول قسم آثار في جامعة بغداد عام 1951، إلى تطور هذا القسم ‏لكلية تحت مسمى كلية الآثار، التي تضم بدورها أقسام أكاديمية مختصة في ‏علم الآثار والحضارة واللغات والصيانة والترميم. أما الخطوة الثالثة هي ‏إجتهادات لأفكار يُظن أنها ستكون بمثابة سبل لتطوير الدراسة الأكاديمية ‏لعلم الآثار قياساً على المناهج والطرق المتبعة حالياً في بعض أقسام الآثار ‏في الجامعات العراقية.‏

Irak Türkmenleri denildiği zaman hafızamızda ilk olarak Kerkük ve Musul canlanır. Fakat Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun dağılmasından sonra maalesef Türkler için hüznün ve acının adeta merkezi haline gelmiştir. Bu acılar dokunaklı bir şekilde halk edebiyatına ve o bölgenin türkülerine de yansımıştır;

“Yıktılar kal’amızı
Sürdüler balamızı
Daha can boğazdayken
Çektiler sâlamızı
Ah Kerkük yüz ah Kerkük
Her zaman yüz ak Kerkük
Ölseydim düşmeseydim
Men senden uzak Kerkük...”
 
Türkünün dizelerinden de anlaşılacağı gibi Türkmenler maalesef kaderine terkedilmiş ve geçen yıllar boyunca adeta bir mum gibi yavaş yavaş bölgede asimile politikaları ile erimektedirler. Bu konuya değinmeden önce bölgedeki Türk varlığını incelemekte fayda vardır. Türklerin Irak’a ilk girişleri H. 54 / M. 674 tarihlerine kadar uzanmaktadır. Emevi Halifesi Muaviye tarafından Horasan’a gönderilen Ubeydullah bin Ziyad ile Buhara prensesi Hatun emrindeki Türk kuvvetleri arasında yapılan çarpışmadan sonra bir barış yapılmıştır. Bu barıştan sonra Ubeydullah yanına aldığı Türk askerlerini Irak’a götürüp, Basra’ya yerleştirmiştir. Türklerin Irak’a gelişleri Abbasi döneminde, Halife Memun ve Halife Mutasım’ın iktidarı sırasında meydana gelen siyasi gelişmelerden dolayı daha da sıklaşmıştır. Emevi ordularında olduğu gibi Abbasi ordularında da yer alan Türkler, üstün savaşçı yetenekleri ile maharetlerinden dolayı üst mevkilere getirilmişlerdir. Ayrıca H. 211 / M. 836 ’da Halife Mutasım’ın emriyle Türk kumandanı Türk hassa askeri için Somerna şehri kurulmuştu. 25 Aralık 1055’te Bağdat’a giren Selçuklu hükümdarı Tuğrul Bey Büveyhoğulları’nın Irak’taki hakimiyetine son verilmiştir. Tuğrul Bey Bağdat ve Oğuzların yayıldığı Irak’ı Selçuklu Ülkesine katmıştır. Bu tarihten sonra Oğuz boylarına mensup birçok Türk, bu bölgeye yerleştirilmiştir. Böylece bölgede Büyük Selçuklular ile Türk hakimiyeti başlamıştır. Türklere daha önce yalnızca Etrak (Türkler) diyen Araplar, “Etrak-u Bağdat” (Bağdat Türkleri) demeye başlamışlardır.  1258 Moğol istilası ile Abbasi hilafeti son bulmuş, bölge Moğolların eline geçmiştir. Ayrıca bu bölgede Moğollarla birlikte çok sayıda Türk askeri gelmiştir. 1258 – 1336 İlhanlılar, 1338 – 1360 Celayirliler, 1360 – 1469 Karakoyunlular ve 1470 tarihinden itibaren de Akkoyunlular hakimiyetinde kalan bölge 1508 yılında Safevilerin eline geçmiştir. Safeviler’in Çaldıran’da (1515) Yavuz Sultan Selim Han’a yenilmesi ve Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Han’ın da 1534’te Bağdat’ı almasıyla bugün Irak olarak anılan bölge Osmanlı hakimiyetine geçmiştir. Osmanlılar Irak’ı, Bağdat, Basra, Musul, Şehrizor ve el-Ahsa olmak üzere beş bölgeye ayırarak idare ettirmişlerdir. 1623’te bölge tekrar Safeviler’in eline geçmiş ve Safeviler binlerce kişiyi katletmişlerdir. Sultan IV. Murad Han’ın 1638’de Bağdat’ı tekrar geri almasıyla Kasr-ı Şirin Antlaşması yapılmış ve kesin sınır çizilmişti. Böylece Musul-Kerkük bölgesi de dahil olarak I. Dünya Savaşı sonuna kadar bölge Osmanlı hakimiyetinde kalmıştır. Sonuç olarak Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Han ve Sultan IV. Murad Han zamanında Anadolu’dan getirilen çok sayıda Türk de bölgeye yerleştirilmiştir. I. Dünya Savaşından itibaren Irak’ın işgal edilmesi ve 1926 Musul Meselesi görüşmeleri sonucu Musul ve Kerkük’ün Irak’a bırakılmasıyla Musul ve Kerkük Irak’la birlikte İngiliz sömürgesi haline gelmiştir. 1920 – 1932 yılları arasında Irak’ın İngiliz Mandası altında bulunduğu dönemde Türkler baskı ve zulüm dolu bir devre yaşamışlardır. Irak’ın 1932 ’de Milletler Cemiyeti’ne kabul edilip bağımsızlığına kavuşmasından sonra da Irak Türkleri rahat yüzü görmemiş, baskı ve şiddet daha da artmıştır. Bütün bu baskı ve sindirme politikalarının Irak’ta bulunan Türk varlığını yok edemediği 1937 Sadâbâd Paktı’yla ortaya çıkmıştır. 27 Haziran 1937’de imzalanan Sadâbâd Paktı için bölgedeki Türkler büyük bir sevinç yaşasalar da pakttan sonra polis tarafından yapılan işkence ve zulme maruz kalmışlardır. II. Dünya Savaşı’nın sıkıntıları sebebiyle savaşı sakin geçiren Türkler savaştan sonra yeni bir katliamla karşılaştılar. 1946 yılında Gavurbağı’nda Kerküklü işçiler polis kuvvetleri tarafından yaylım ateşine tutulmuşlardır. Yine Bağdat Paktı’nın imzalanacağını duyan Türkler, bölgelerinde büyük bir sevinç yaşamışlardır. Fakat yine paktın imzalanmasından sonra Türklere yapılan baskılar artmıştır. Irak’ta 14 Temmuz 1959 Cumhuriyet’in birinci yılı kutlamalarında sokağa dökülen Kerkük Türkleri komünistler tarafından katliama uğramışlardır. 3 gün süren bu katliamda soydaşlarımız inanılmaz derecede zulüm ve işkenceye maruz kalmışlardır. Yaklaşık 1500 yıl kadar bu topraklarda varlığını gösteren Türkler I. Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonra batılı devletlerin bölgedeki çıkarlarından dolayı sistematik olarak çeşitli haksızlık, baskı ve katliama uğramışlardır. Emperyalist güçlerin özellikle yer altı bakımından zengin olan kuzey Irak’taki emellerinden dolayı bölgede yaşayan Türkler birçok zorlukla karşılaştıysa da bunlar karşısında Türk hükümeti ise maalesef hiç bir etkinlik göstermemiştir.

The University of Tübingen and the Directorate of Antiquities Dohuk launched excavations in the frame of a joint project at the Bronze Age urban site of Bassetki, which is famous for the accidental discovery of the copper basis of the Akkadian ruler Naram-Sin. The major aim of the excavations is to investigate the importance and urban development of the site from the Early through the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. During the first two seasons of 2015 and 2016 the stratigraphy and chronology of the upper town were explored, as well as the settlement organisation of the extended lower town, and an extra-urban area to the south of the city, where a street and several cremation burials of the Middle Bronze Age were found.

This chapter and the larger body of work on which it builds focuses on what I characterize as the environmental, spatial, and visual bases of Iranian iden- tity and royal power: that is, landscape, architecture, the built environment, and the ritual activities they hosted. These, I argue, played a complementary, and no less central role in establishing and changing Iranian identity as that of textual or oral discourse. I have argued in several places that royal engage- ment with natural, urban and architectonic space was not merely a reflection or trapping of imperial power, but a fundamental tool by which sovereigns created and transformed royal identity and continually instantiated it with ritual practice.

One highly prominent aspect of ISIS’s program of destruction in Syria and Iraq that has come to the media attention recently is their program of cultural heritage destruction that took the form of smashing artifacts in archaeological museums, iconoclastic breaking and bulldozing of archaeological sites, dynamiting of shrines, tombs, and other holy sites of local communities, and burning of libraries and archives. In this paper, I focus on ISIS’s destruction of archaeological heritage. I argue that this destruction can be seen as a form of place-based violence that aims to annihilate the local sense of belonging, and the collective sense of memory among local communities to whom the heritage belongs. Therefore, heritage destruction can be seen as part and parcel of this scorched-earth strategy described above. I also argue that the Islamic State coordinates and choreographs these destructions as mediatic spectacles of violence aimed at objects and sites of heritage, and these spectacles take place as re-enactments or historical performances that are continuously and carefully communicated to us through ISIS’s own image-making and dissemination apparatus that increasingly utilizes the most advanced technologies of visualization and communication. I will also pose questions about the relatively weak responses from the archaeological community around the world that rarely went beyond the stereotypical expression of “dismay” to ISIS’s heritage destruction. At the same time, I will try to answer the why and how of ISIS’s dislike of archaeological heritage in the context of late capitalism.

Over the past several years, we have been thinking of publishing a book about the Sulaymaniyah Museum’s masterpieces in order to address our visitors' needs. Eventually, in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, we have been able to produce this trilingual guidebook, in Kurdish, Arabic, and English. The Slemani Museum is an archaeological museum located within the heart of the city of Sulaymaniyah’s Salim Street. The Museum houses, preserves, and displays the cultural heritage of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, as well as the Republic of Iraq, from the prehistorical eras to the late Islamic period. It is the largest museum in Iraqi Kurdistan and the second largest museum in Iraq (after the Iraq Museum in Baghdad). The Museum’s content and collections have been gradually and steadily increasing over the past six period. It was somewhat challenging mission for our curators to select objects for this guidebook. After careful consideration, we have chosen twenty-four masterpieces to highlight. The objective of this guidebook is to draw our visitors’ attention to the most important objects reflecting the long history of the region and to educate the public about our cultural heritage.

This book is the first-ever comprehensive study of the history and culture of these three little-known countries of Northern Mesopotamia (3rd century BCE – 7th century CE). The book gives an overview of the historical geography, material culture, and political history of each of these countries. Furthermore, the summary offers a regional perspective by describing the history of this area as a subject of the political and cultural competition of great powers.
This book answers both a recent growth of interest in ancient Mesopotamia as the frontier area, as well as the urgent need for documentation of the cultural heritage of a region that has recently become subject to the destructive influence of sectarian violence.

This paper focuses on the impact of the war and subsequent occupation (2003–2011) on Iraq’s heritage, documenting the most significant and devastating instances of heritage damage and destruction that occurred. Moving forward, this chapter continues with a discussion of the grave challenges facing Iraqi heritage beyond the withdrawal of US military forces in the form of various groups - from jihadist networks such as the 'Islamic State' through to various sectarian actors. It also discusses the threat to heritage sites from development, neglect, and inexpert and haphazard excavation, preservation, protection, and restoration. Despite this troubling scenario, this chapter also examines the extent to which the Iraq conflict was a turning point for major Western military operations and the development of CPP programs which aim to better prepare military personnel for protecting cultural property in future conflicts.

The article presents the preliminary results of the
Italian-Kurdish excavation project carried out by the
University of Udine and the Directorate of Antiquities
of Duhok at the site of Gir-e Gomel (Kurdistan
Region of Iraq). From at least the mid-3rd millennium
BC onwards, Gomel was the central site of the entire
Navkur Plain, a very fertile and well-watered region
on the route linking Arbail and the Greater Zab Valley
with the Upper Tigris region to the north of Nineveh.
The Eastern Tigris plains between the modern
city of Duhok and the Greater Zab have never been
the object of a target-oriented archaeological excavation
aimed at establishing a stratigraphic reference
sequence for this still under-explored archaeological
landscape and investigating diachronically the development
of the region’s material culture. With this
purpose – and the aim of exploring the character and
function of this important site on a local and regional
scale, investigating the role it played in the region’s
cultural and socio-economic processes – Gir-e Gomel
has become the subject of extensive archaeological
excavations as from 2017 and 2018. The main results
of the first excavation seasons are discussed in the
following article.

The theft of Iraqi antiquities in the nineteenth century

يعد العراق موطناً لكبريات الحضارات العريقة والاصيلة والتي كان لها شأن كبير ومسير للكثير من الاحداث في التاريخ القديم ومنها السومرية والاكدية والاشورية والبابلية والاسلامية، ولكثرة الاطماع الأجنبية في ارض العراق وما تحتويه تلك الأرض الغراء من ثروات وكنوز متنوعة ومختلفة ومنها الآثار ومواقعها، فقد تنبه الغرب المسيطر سياسياً بشكل مباشر أو غير مباشر إلى اهمية تلك الكنوز الأثرية المنتشرة في ارجاء الأرض العراقية دونما حراسة أو قوانين رادعة للاحتكاك بها أو نقلها، لذا بدأت الايادي الغربية الأجنبية تطال تلك الآثار ومواقعها وتنقل ما يحلو لها من الآثار دون أي وجه حق للعائدية الحضارية لبلدها، مستغلين القوانين الضعيفة والغافلة عن القيمة الحقيقية للآثار في حينها، لنقل تلك الآثار إلى المتاحف الأجنبية وكسب كنوز تجني الكنوز لتلك المتاحف، عبر بعثات حملت الطابع الآثاري غطاءً لطابعها السياسي في حقيقتها وبأعمال حفريات مقصودة التنظيم والهدف المسبق توالت بتوالي سنين القرن التاسع عشر للميلاد، وهذا ما سنتناوله في دراستنا هذه، لحالة اصبحت اليوم هي القضية الثقافية الابرز في الشارع العراقي والعربي وحتى العالمي وهي المطالبة بإعادة تلك الآثار موروث العراق الحضاري من المتاحف الأجنبية والافراد المالكين لها .

Ancient canals, marshes and proximity of the sea heavily characterised the landscape and environment of the ancient State of Lagash in southern Iraq, from the mid-fifth to the second millennium BC: indeed the diachronic changes that can be analysed thanks to geological and archaeological observation and investigation show how this waterscape definitely influenced the shapes of settlement and the organisation of ancient societies from a cultural, economic and biological point of view.

Recent excavations at Tell Zurghul in southern Iraq are giving the possibility to test, in the field, the presence of water: ancient cuneiform sources, from the mid-third millennium BC, show the intense programme of the rulers of the State of Lagash in managing water through the construction of canals and the regulation of marshes characterised by marine water due to the proximity of the sea. In this respect, human actions (such as the digging of canals) and natural conditions (such as the reduction in the fifth millennium and the progressive growth in the fourth millennium BC of water level) are recognisable in the field, and they of course explain the morphology of the site in the past and the changes it suffered even in the present: water in fact is doubtless a fundamental resource for suitable conditions of formation and growth of a urban centre, but it also limits the possibility of extending occupation on the entire surface (as, e.g. the exploitation of lands for agricultural purposes).