Excavations in Iraq 1985-86

Excavations in Iraq 1985-86Source: Iraq, Vol. 49 (1987), pp. 231-251Published by: British Institute for the Study of IraqStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4200274 .

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231

EXCAVATIONS IN IRAQ 1985-86

During 1985 and 1986, work in the Saddam Dam Salvage Project in the Tigris valley north of Mosul continued, although by now, with the filling of the reservoir to virtually its greatest extent, almost all the sites are under water, with the exception of a handful which are unlikely to be flooded after all. A considerable amount of exciting work was carried out at research excavations in other areas of the country also.

As always, we are grateful to Dr. Mu'ayyad Sa'id Damerji, Director-General of the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage, for permission to publish in Iraq these short reports, especially those concerning sites in the rescue project sponsored by the Iraq Government. We should like to thank also Dr. Abdul-Sattar al-Azzawi, Dr. Muhammad Baqir al-Husaini, Sd. Abdul-Qadir Hassan and other members of the Department's staff for the assistance they have rendered. Our greatest debt is to the excavators, who have liberally communicated information about their discoveries in advance of their own publication. We apologise for any errors we may have made in summarising their results.

The reports from the Saddam Dam Salvage Project have been collected by Warwick Ball, and those from other areas of the country by Jeremy Black, from information supplied directly by the excavators, amplified in many cases by personal visits to the sites.

These reports are presented with the sites arranged alphabetically according to the first essential component of the name, ignoring al-, Ishan, Khirbet, Tell and Tulul. Numbers following sites in the Saddam Dam Salvage Project refer to Map 2 found here. For a description of earlier states in some of these excavations, the reader is referred to the reports in Iraq 41 (1979), 43 (1981), 45 (1983) and 47 (1985).

Index of sites by period The names of sites in the Saddam Dam Salvage Project are followed by an

asterisk.

Aceramic Neolithic T. Rijim* Qirmiz Dere T. Shelgiya* Nemrik* Siyana Ulya*

Hassuna/Halaf/Ubaid Ninevite V T. Abu Dhahir* T. Abu Dhahir* T. Gir Matbakh* T. Dhuwaij* Kh. Hatara* T. Gir Matbakh* T. al-Oueili Kh. Hatara* T. Shelgiya* T. Jessary*

T. Jigan* Uruk T. Rijim* T. Abu Dhahir* T. Shelgiya* T. Dhuwaij* Siyana Ulya* T. Gir Matbakh* Kh. Hatara* Early Dynastic T. al-Oueili* Isin



232 EXCAVATIONS IN IRAQ, 1985-86

Larsa Kh. Karhasan* Uruk Larsa

Nineveh Akkadian/Ur III T. Rijim* T. Abu Dhahir* Kh. Shireena* T. Jessary* Sippar T. Jigan*

Achaemenid/Seleuco-Parthian/Sasanian Isin/Larsa Borsippa Isin T. Abu Dhahir* Larsa 'Ain Shayi'

Kh. Deir Situn* Khabur/Kassite/Middle Babylonian T. Deir Situn* T. Abu Dhahir* T. Dhuwaij* T. Dhuwaij* T. Gir Matbakh* T. Gir Matbakh* T. Grai Darki* Isin Kh. Hatara* Kh. Karhasan T. Jessary* Nemrik* Kh. Karhasan* T. Rijim Larsa Kh. Shireena* Qasr Benat* Uruk T. Rijim*

Seh Qubba* Middle Assyrian Seleucia Kh. Hatara* Kh. Shireena* Kh. Karhasan* Siyana Ulya* Nemrik* Umm Kheshm T. Rijim*

Islamic Neo-Assyrian/Neo-Babylonian Kh. Deir Situn* T. Abu Dhahir* Kh. Hatara* Borsippa Kh. Karhasan* T. Dhuwaij* Samarra' Kh. Hatara* Seh Qubba Isin

For further information about sites in the Saddam Dam Salvage Project, in particular those excavated by the State Organisation for Antiquities and Heritage, the reader is now referred to the special volume Researches on the Antiquities of Saddam Dam Basin Salvage, and Other Researches (SOAH, Baghdad, 1987), which contains reports about the following sites:

T. Abu Dhahir T. Jigan Reha Mushrifah Kh. 'Aqar Papira Kharabok T. Rifan (Raffaan) Tulul al-Baqaq 1-4 Kh. Khatuniyeh T. Rijim Omar Dalle Deir Hal Kh. Karhasan T. Kh. Salih Kh. Derak Karhol al-Sufla T. Sa'ud T. Fisna T. Karrana 3 Seh Qubba T. Gir Matbakh T. Kutan T. Shabu Imsaifnah Kh. al-Mallali T. Sheikh Himsi T. Jaluqah Mazar Hasan al-Basri Sheikh Sibati's Tomb T. Jambur T. Mushrifah Kh. Shireena (Wadi Suwaidiya I) T. Jessary (Jaisari) Nemrik Siyana Ulya



EXCAVATIONS IN IRAQ, 1985-86 233

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Tell Abu Dhahir (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 5) The British Archaeological Expedition excavated at this site from October 1985 to

April 1986 under the direction of Warwick Ball. On the right bank of the Tigris, about 90 km north-west of Mosul, the site consists of a high mound about 20 m above the plain with a lower mound stretching several hundred metres along the river. Remains were found of the Hassuna, Ubaid, Uruk, Ninevite V, Akkadian, Khabur, Late Assyrian and Hellenistic/Parthian Periods.

A 4 m wide step-trench in the side of the mound revealed a sequence through all the periods present. Additional soundings at the edge of the main mound and in the surrounding lower mounds revealed the extent of the occupation. The Hassuna settlement probably covered most of the area of the present main mound, so was fairly large for that period. The subsequent Ubaid settlement had produced a considerable depth of deposit, up to 3 50 m, probably indicating a long period of occupation, but it is unlikely that it exceeded the Hassuna settlement in area. A minor industrial area of the Ubaid Period was excavated, which included pottery manufacture and extensive flint knapping. The settlement was expanded in the Uruk Period, which also left traces of pottery manufacture; and probably the site reached its greatest extent during the Akkadian and Old Assyrian Periods, when it may have been a small provincial town. Subsequent settlement appears to have been less extensive.

Other areas of the site had been investigated earlier, in 1977, 1978 and 1979, by an expedition from Mosul University.

'Ain Shayi' and al-Dakakin Caves The archaeological complex of 'Ain Shayi' and al-Dakakin Caves is located about

12 km north-west of Najf, along an escarpment formed of marl and sandstone strata. The sites were identified in 1972 in a survey carried out during the excavation season at al-Tar Caves by a Japanese expedition from Kokushikan University, Tokyo, headed by Professor H. Fujii. From September to December 1986 excavations were conducted at two points at 'Ain Shayi' (a small oasis named after a Najfi family).

A qanat system, 30 m in length with five wells, had been cut and tunnelled through the sandstone stratum. The tunnel just below the cliff line clearly extends further east into an area as yet unsurveyed. Pottery suggests that the qanat system was in use from the 3rd century B.C. until at least the 7th century A.D.

The Kokushikan University expedition also put two trenches into a rectangular building with a wall 3 m thick, measuring 150 m by 60 m, which lies some 250 m south-west of the qanat system. Two phases of a structure datable to the Early Islamic Period were revealed. Several types of jar with incised designs resemble specimens from Tulul al-Ukhaidhir near Ukhaidhir Palace.

Some 800 m north-west of the qanat system are located the caves known as al- Dakklin ("shops" or "booths"). These are cut into the marlstone stratum. Their character, and very likely the period of their cutting, is closely similar to the al-Tar caves in that the ceiling of the caves is horizontal, while the rise and fall of the floors is extreme; the inner structure is labyrinthine, with zigzag passages.

Between these caves and the rectangular structure referred to above, there are at least twelve graves encircled by limestone cobbles. Without exception they face north-west. Here there are also ruins of small buildings and pottery or glass kilns.




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However, possibly the most interesting discovery in this area is the ruin of a building which seems likely to be a Christian monastery or religious building. It is situated directly below the escarpment between al-Dakakin caves and the qanat system and consists of the remains of substantial walls of brick bonded with bitumen or gypsum mortar. There are traces of gypsum plaster on their surface. Slightly apart from this ruin was found an almost complete large jar bearing a letter Y on the outer surface, and coated with bitumen on the inside. Similar jars were found at Qusair near Ukhaidhir Palace and at the Umm Khasim cemetery near Najf.

Borsippa (Birs Nimrud) A fourth season of excavations was carried out at E-ur-imin-an-ki, the ziggurat

of Borsippa, in autumn 1985 by the Austrian Archaeological Expedition to Iraq under the direction of Univ. Doz. Dr. Helga Trenkwalder. Two earth-moving machines were used to open a path on the north-west slope of the mound, beginning at the south-west side near the southern corner and following the pits of Koldewey. Altogether 100,000 cubic metres of debris still cover the ruins of the ziggurat. In the course of the work it became clear that the outer, encasing wall of baked bricks is not solid but has been hollowed out, probably in Sasanian times. A system of passage- ways, subways, rooms of various sizes and stairways runs through the masonry at different levels. The rooms reach a height of 8 m, although partially collapsed. The foundation of the ziggurat's southern stairway was reached at a depth of 6 m below the level of the plain. Allowing for the fact that the foundation of the central structure has not yet been reached, the total height of the ruin currently measurable is 47-8 m. The balustrade of the staircase is completely preserved because in the course of the reconstruction of the ziggurat (probably by Nebuchadnezzar II) it was built over. Both parts have stamped bricks of Nebuchadnezzar.

The constructional principles of the ziggurat have been closely examined. The building consists of three main parts:

(1) 0-23-5 m: the substructure, with the core and encasing wall. Built of relatively soft bricks, the core has an older part (of which the dating is still uncertain), a part where Nebuchadnezzar repaired and levelled the ruined ziggurat, and an upper part built by Nebuchadnezzar. The encasing wall correspondingly consists of at least three phases.

(2) 23.5 m-25-9 m: the connecting structure ("Verbindungsbau") of 2A4 m with a criss-cross arrangement of beams, about 300 timbers 8 m long and 4 cm square laid in two layers of floors.

(3) 25-9 m-47-8 m: the superstructure, 219 m high, consisting of uniform layers of baked bricks.

Special mapping methods were developed for the superstructure, since obviously it is not possible to dig into solid brickwork and information must be deduced from the surface. The expedition made use of the so-called LAREK ("Lagen- Rekonstruktions-Verfahren") method to ascertain the brick lays used by the ancient workmen and to form a basis for a theoretical reconstruction of the upper stages of the ziggurat. Archaeomagnetic tests have now yielded a preliminary date of c. 7th century A.D. for the vitrified brickwork of the burnt section at the top of the ruin, and this corresponds with the archaeological results.




[W. Allinger-Csollich, Ausgrabungen im Vorderen Orient (Borsippa/Iraq). Hil- festellung durch Naturwissenschaft und Technik; F. Purtscheller and R. Tessadri, Untersuchungen an Gesteinen und Schmelzen des Birs Nimrud/Iraq; W. Lukas, Hilfestellung der Materialwissenschaften fiur die Archaologie am Beispiel Borsippa, Iraq; W. Ferstl, Moglichkeiten der Rekonstruktion der Ziggurrat von Borsippa/Iraq mit Hilfe der Statik all in A. Vendl, G. Banik and M. Grassbauer, eds., JNaturwis- senschaft und Technik in der Kunst (Vienna, 1984), 183-220; 'Forschungsarbeiten an der Ziqqurrat von Borsippa in Iraq', in Wiener Berichte iuber NJI/aturwissenschaft in der Kunst 2/3 (1985/6), 308-340; Interdisziplindres Gesprdch 1986: Geisteswissenschaft, Natur- wissenschaft und Technik (Innsbruck, in press).]

Khirbet Deir Situn (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 17) Two seasons of excavation were conducted at this site in the autumns of 1985 and

1986 by a British Museum team under the direction of Dr. John Curtis. It lies several kilometres north-east of the village of Deir Situn, and the ruins of a church and associated settlement were preserved there.

The remains of the church were cleared and excavated. Several building phases were distinguished, of which the earliest was Sasanian, and which produced an interesting corpus of over 100 stamped sherds, with a variety of animal and geometric designs.

During the Islamic Period a large square building was constructed with a semicircular apse at the east end, showing that the building should be interpreted as a church, or a monastic complex incorporating a church. Pottery recovered indicated a foundation date in the Ilkhanid Period, perhaps during the second half of the 13th century A.D.

Later a substantial rebuilding was characterised by the use of drafted corners and "dadoes". Niches and a possible altar were added, but it is uncertain if the building really continued in use as a church.

The final period of occupation, during which the ruined building was used for shelter and no longer for religious purposes, may be datable to the late 15th or early 16th century. Hand-made pottery vessels with crude incised decoration and small panels of green glass were found in this level.

It has not been possible to establish whether the original Sasanian building was a church or not.

[British Museum Society Bulletin 54 (March 1987), 11-13; a report is in press in Sumer.]

Tell Deir Situn (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 16) Tell Deir Situn is a low mound surrounded by a shallow wadi on three sides,

situated to the east of the old Mosul-Zakho road and north of the road to Alqosh, near the village of Deir Situn. A British Museum team, directed by Dr. John Curtis, excavated there in October and November 1985.

The mound measures about 72 by 100 m. Seventeen trenches 4 m square were opened up, exposing on the west side of the mound large stone wall-footings belonging to a substantial building preserved to a maximum height of six stone courses. The structure was rectangular, measuring 17 70 by 5*55 m, with projecting




walls on two sides and some buttresses on the exterior faces. Two building phases were identified, the earlier of which had mostly eroded away. The function of the building is not clear, but it may conceivably have been a "police-post" or something similar. The site has produced a rich corpus of Hellenistic pottery, including jars, bowls, fish-plates, stamped sherds and a pipe lamp. Small finds included a male terracotta figurine, some terracotta loom-weights, a bronze fibula and a coin which has been dated to the reign of Alexander Balas (150-145 B.C.).


Tell DhuwaU (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 8) This mound, measuring 300 m square and 26 m high, is situated at the western

extremity of the town of Zummar, some 80 km north-west of Mosul. The Japanese Archaeological Expedition of Kokushikan University, directed by Professor Hideo Fujii, excavated there from November 1985 to February 1986.

Three trenches and three test pits were opened. In one trench eleven levels of the Ninevite V Period were identified. The two lowest phases, directly above natural soil, contained Uruk Period sherds. The second trench confirmed that some "Khabur ware" levels had spread out, covering the lower Ninevite V mound. Hellenistic wares were found in the upper levels. The third trench and the test pits yielded structures and pottery of "Khabur ware" and of the Late Assyrian period.

Tell Gir Matbakh (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 2) This is a small but very steep, high mound adjacent to the right bank of the Tigris,

several kilometres upstream from Abu Dhahir. It was excavated in February and March 1986 by the British Archaeological Expedition under the direction of Warwick Ball.

A trench at the top of the mound revealed a large Sasanian/Byzantine stone wall underlying some late graves. Trenches elsewhere yielded a particularly fine range of Khabur material, overlaying a sequence of Ninevite V incised, Ninevite V painted and Late Uruk material. Some residual Ubaid sherds were found in later contexts, and some Hellenistic pottery was recovered from surface collections.

Tell Grai Darki (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 15) An expedition from the British Museum under the direction of Dr. John Curtis

excavated at this site (about 2 km north of Tell Deir Situn and to the south-west of the village of Umairi), where the remains of a settlement lie on top of a high natural mound, in the middle of the flood-plain.

Three trenches 4 m square were opened up, two of which revealed considerable depth of deposit. Each of these contained a large circular grain silo. Other structures, probably post-dating the silos, were characterised by mudbrick walls on stone foundations. The whole settlement was dated to the Hellenistic Period, and produced an extensive and interesting range of pottery, with painted sherds and some fine red- and black-glazed wares.





Khirbet Hatara (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 18) A third season of excavations was conducted at this site during October to

December 1986, sponsored by the Centro Scavi dell' Universita di Torino, under the direction of Paolo Fiorina. This is a site with many mounds and a complex stratification, attesting the following periods: Halaf (sherds only), Ubaid, Uruk, Ninevite V, Middle and Late Assyrian, Hellenistic and Islamic.

The most important result of the season was the clarification of the stratigraphy. The area was occupied without interruption from the Halaf to Ninevite V Periods. The Halaf and Ubaid settlements are attested only by an extensive sample of sherds; there are seven levels of structures from Early Uruk to Late Uruk/transitional Ninevite V. The walls of private houses were found, and of what may be an important building with niches and pilasters; also an interesting industrial area with many kilns, ovens and a variety of pits. A type of grey pottery dated to the Late Uruk Period was found, different from other pottery of the Eski Mosul area but similar to wares from Tell Brak. The daily life of the Uruk Period settlement is attested by small finds such as spindle whorls, stone implements, beads and two seals. Some graves were found, with and without furniture: two necklaces are particularly worthy of notice.

After the Late Uruk/early Ninevite V Period there is a long gap until the Middle and Late Assyrian Periods, of which traces were found only in small soundings which produced pottery and some structures, including stone walls.

The Hellenistic settlement was located near the modern cemetery. The walls are very badly preserved, but interesting black- and red-painted pots (especially bowls) were found, and a terracotta male figure with belted tunic and cloak thrown over the shoulder.

Islamic sherds and pipes were found on the surface.

Isin (Ishan Bahriyat) A ninth season of excavations was carried out at Isin in the autumn of 1986 by an

expedition sponsored by Munich University, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, under the direction of Professor Dr. B. Hrouda. The aim was to investigate further the enclosure wall discovered in 1984 to the north-east of the Temple of Gula, if possible with a view to defining the extent of the sacred area in this direction. Work began in this sector and was later extended to the south-east sector.

The technique of building with bricks laid upright on edge (known also from Larsa, where it could be dated to Burnaburias II), together with fragments of Kassite pottery in the debris on which the wall was founded, gave a clear indication of data for the upper portion of this wall.

A largish white-plastered public building, contemporary with the wall and built up against it in this south-east sector, has not yet been identified. Dug into this, and delimited by baked bricks laid upright on edge, was a grave with, among other goods, a string of carnelian and gold beads. In the building was found a fragmentary clay nail of Lipit-Estar mentioning an e-nig-si-sa "House of Justice"; and an archive of 87 fragmentary tablets of which approximately half were dated in one year of Enlil-bani. Mostly administrative (concerning deliveries to temples and a "palace"), they include also a fragment of a Sumerian royal letter.




Clay nails of Isme-Dagan found in the wall mention the building of the b ad - gal "Great Wall" of Isin. In the north-west sector, a long bitumen basin had been built later into the exterior of the wall. Here it was possible also to detect building improvements datable to Nebuchadnezzar II. Following the wall in a southerly direction, the excavators came upon the trench dug by Langdon in a few hours during a visit from his 1923/4 season at Kish. Here a possibly Neo-Babylonian entrance to the temple, with two gate-chambers, was noted.

In the Temple of Gula itself, room XXIX was investigated further. At a depth of some 2 m below previously excavated floors of the temple, a wall of plano-convex bricks was found. In room XXVIII and in a new trench directly in front of the supposed main entrance to the temple, structures were found which re-used baked bricks of the Isin Dynasty; in particular a large mud-brick staircase of which eighteen steps were preserved (but not including either the bottom or the top). It is proposed to investigate this further.

A number of fine terracotta reliefs was found, mainly in the temple area, including a richly dressed goddess with crown of horns, full-face, probably to be identified as Gula, and a contest scene with the "hero" represented as a monster with bird's claws. Two Early Dynastic cylinder seals (ED IIIa and b) with animal contest scenes deserve mention. In the temple area too was found a small number of fragmentary economic and scribal training texts, including two lexical fragments, all Old Babylonian.

Tell Jessary (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 9) An expedition from Kokushikan University, Tokyo, directed by Professor H.

Fujii, conducted two seasons of excavations, inJune-July 1985 and again in October and November of the same year, at Tell Jessary (Jaisari), which is located about 9 km south-west of the town of Zummar, itself some 80 km north-west of Mosul. The mound is about 250 m by 200 m in extent, and 11 m high.

In the first season, two trenches were opened to confirm the cultural sequence of the mound. Levels 1 and 2 was dated to the mid-second millennium B.C.; levels 3 and 4 to the early second millennium B.C., and level 5 to the Ninevite V Period. Some Akkadian sherds were found in the deposit of level 4, but no other traces of the period were found. In one trench part of an outer stone wall was revealed, which was observed to surround the north and east sides of the mound at its foot; it did not prove possible to date this wall. A Hellenistic level was identified in a third trench.

In the second season a step trench was opened. The Akkadian occupation was confirmed in level 2 of the step trench. The natural soil cutting face and remains of the outer wall were located here also, and dated to either Ninevite V or Late Uruk, although without any definite traces of occupation levels.

Tell Jigan (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 14) The Japanese Archaeological Expedition of Kokushikan Universsity, Tokyo,

directed by Professor Hideo Fujii, conducted a second season of excavations at Tell Jigan from October 1984 to February 1985. This large site had already been investigated by a number of expeditions.

During this season the Japanese team opened up a third area, Area C, with a view




of clarifying the overall stratification of the site. In Area C, three levels were assigned to the second half of the second millennium B.C., three to the first half of the second millennium, two to the Akkadian Period and the five lowest to the Ninevite V Period.

Khirbet Karhasan (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 7) On the right bank of the Tigris, on the edge of the flood plain several kilometres

downstream from Abu Dhahir, and adjacent to the site of the main pumping station for the North Jazira Project, were the remains of a settlement covering the flat area of the upper river terrace, between the edge of the terrace and the hills that border the valley. The British Archaeological Expedition, under the direction of Warwick Ball, excavated at this site during February and March 1986.

The site was densely covered in pottery, including Islamic, Hellenistic, Late Assyrian and Khabur types. A trench to determine the nature of these phases at the site was opened up, revealing a sequence stretching back to the Khabur Period. Excavations at another point revealed an Early Khabur settlement only just below the surface. Of particular interest was a hoard of faience rosettes and a large quantity of shell beads from a Middle Assyrian context. Numbers of painted Khabur figurines were also found.

Larsa (Tell al-Senkareh) The eleventh season of excavations at Larsa was conducted by the Delegation

Archeologique FranSaise en Irak under the direction of Professor J.-L. Huot in September to December 1985.

Three aims were pursued during this season. The general outline of the ziggurat, which had been known since 1976, but only from surface observation, was checked by means of several soundings. Unfortunately no inscription was found in situ to confirm the chronological hypotheses proposed (original plan by Hammurabi, largely altered by Nebuchadnezzar), which still remain likely (L. Bachelot).

Excavations were carried out in three places at the top of the E - b a b b a r mound (0. Lecomte): in the sanctuary itself, along its eastern faSade, and outside between the kisu and the wall of Nebuchadnezzar's temenos. The plan of the Neo-Babylonian sanctuary was completed. Further work was undertaken on Hellenistic houses outside the temple itself but still within the temenos. Substantial information has thus been gathered on the late periods of the site's history.

Finally, an outline of the urban structure of the site was attempted with the aid of some unpublished aerial photographs taken at the beginning of the 1970s (A. Rougeulle). In this way it was possible to locate several large buildings, and third millennium, Early Dynastic I, levels over a large part of the surface. These results will aid in the planning of aims for the season in the autumn of 1987.

Among the objects recovered from the surface, the most outstanding is one half of a broken stone vessel decorated with a carved leopard resting in front of a twisted vessel-stand, flanked by a goddess with a flowing vase.

[J.-L. Huot, L'E.Babbar de Larsa durant le ler millenaire (travaux de 1983), Akkadica 44 (sept.-oct. 1985), 14-20; J.-L. Huot, Travaux en basse Mesopotamie, les




fouilles fran,aises a Larsa et 'Oueili, CRAIBL (1985), 300-318; J.-L. Huot (ed.), Larsa et 'Oueili, Travaux de 1983 (Paris, ERC, 1987).]

Nemrik 9 (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 13) Two seasons of excavation were carried out at this site, in March 1985 and in

March to May 1986, by the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw University, under the direction of Professor S. K. Kozlowski. The site is located about 48 km north of Mosul and 4-3 km south-west of Faidah, about 1[5 km north of the Tigris. It is a multi-period site with few graves, dated to the Pre-pottery Neolithic A (several levels), and Khabur/Middle Assyrian Periods.

The PPNA site is located on a peninsula cut by two wadis, on the third terrace of the Tigris. Its stratigraphic sequence, about 1 5 m. in depth, is composed of 3 or 4 occupation levels which are built up of the remains of clay architecture, river pebbles and a gray cultural layer with a rich flint and groundstone industry, numerous animal bones and molluscs, and a few bone implements, baked clay artifacts and objets d'art. These last are a number of sculptures of bird's heads in stone, one of which has now been tentatively identified as a sculpture of the skull of the Great bustard (Otis tarda). The uppermost layer, excavated over an area of about 500 sq. m, consisted of remains of architecture (round and perhaps rectangular houses built up in tauf, as well as stone pavements and pits). The flint industry is based on the technology of regular blades and includes some rather Levantine elements (Khiam and tanged points). Some domesticated animals were discovered among the faunal remains. Radiocarbon dating indicates the eighth millennium B.C.

as a date for the latest phase. Two later periods (Khabur and Middle Assyrian) are represented at the same site,

located at the southern part of the mound. They yielded mud and stone architecture as well as typical pottery.

Nineveh In late September 1986, clearing operations on the mound of Nebi Yunus

uncovered the remains of a large human-headed winged bull, about 35 m due south- east of the Tomb ofJonah. Further exploratory work by the Northern Directorate- General of Antiquities revealed what may be the rear hoof of a second bull in mirror image to the first, fragments of glazed brick and part of a baked brick pavement.

The fully excavated bull, which stands north-south on a large stone slab (head to the north) is approximately 5-7 m in length, 1-3 m wide and 3 m high. It is constructed from carved stone blocks of varying size but mainly half-metre cubes, a number of which-those that formed the upper back and the head are absent. From the lower part of the beard, it is clear that the bull faced east. It is uninscribed.

The excavation was backfilled in May 1987, so that the bull is no longer visible. It is likely that this is (or is in the same complex as) the "human-headed bull, with a gigantic figure of a man adjoining it ... both without any inscription" seen by Rassam when he arrived in Mosul in October 1852 (Asshur and the Land of Nimrod, 5-6). In April of the following year, Capt. Felix Jones noted that in one of their two excavation areas on Nebi Yunus the Turks had found, some thirty yards south-east of the Tomb of Jonah, two colossal bulls and the "Gilgamesh" figure, all much defaced and headless (Gadd, The Stones of Assyria, 91-92).




The exact location of the Tomb ofJonah can be seen, marked '6', in the plan of the Mosque published in Sumer 10 (1954), facing p. 266 (Arabic section).

See Plate XLVII c.

Tell al-Oueili The fifth season of excavations at Tell al-Oueili was conducted during September

to December 1985 by the Delegation Archeologique FranSaise en Irak under the direction of Professor J.-L. Huot.

During this season, a new stratigraphic sounding was made to the east of the main mound (Y. Calvet) to investigate the latest phases of the site (Uruk Period). To the north-east of the same mound, the principal trenches were extended (J.-D. Forest) to investigate further the so-called "Ubaid 0" levels which had been identified during the previous season. The sounding has notably increased the stratigraphical sequence of Oueili. The excavations have revealed a large area, about 250 sq. m, of a building complex belonging to the pre-Eridu phase of the site. A picture is gradually emerging of Ubaid 0 society, revealing its originality and showing it as the clear prototype of Ubaid I society, particularly in its architecture, which can be related to Samarran buildings and which foreshadows classic Ubaid architecture.

Carbon-14 samples are still unavailable, but the long-awaited palaeobotanical analyses have been completed (R. Neef, University of Groningen). Analyses of pottery technologies and bitumen objects are in progress. Carbonised plant remains were recovered from all the Ubaid periods represented at Oueili. The main crops were Einkorn and Two-row hulled barley. Free-threshing wheat was of minor importance. Cultivated flax was probably the oil source. The occurrence of the date- palm, Phoenix dactylifera, together with a find at Ubaid Eridu, is the earliest evidence for this fruit-tree, and may suggest that southern Mesopotamia was the centre of domestication of the date-palm, which would not be surprising. The principal wood source was tamarisk, followed by poplar.

A sixth season is planned for autumn 1987.

[J.-L. Huot, Tell al-Oueili, the second season, Sumer 39 (1983), 41-48 (Arabic section); id., Tell el-Oueili, principaux resultats de la quatrieme campagne (1983), Paleorient 11/1, 119-123; J.-L. Huot (ed.), Larsa et 'Oueili, Travaux de 1983 (Paris, ERC, 1987); Y. Calvet, Le niveau Obeid 1 de Tell el 'Oueili: le sondage X 36 a Tell el 'Oueili, octobre-novembre 1983, in J.-L. Huot (ed.), Prehistoire de la Mesopotamie, La MIesopotamie prehistorique et l'exploration recente du Djebel Hamrin (Editions du CNRS, 1987), 129-151; B. Velde and L. Courtois, Observations techniques sur les ceramiques Obeid 0 et Obeid 1-3 de Tell el 'Oueili (campagne de 1983), ibid., 129-162; J.-L. Huot, Un village de basse Mesopotamie: Tell el 'Oueili a l'Obeid 4, ibid., 293-304.]

Qasr Benat (Saddam Dam Dalvage Project, no. 10) This is a largely natural mound, measuring 280 by 170 m and 90 m high, situated

about 2 km to the south-south-west of Tell Jaisari. A rectangular building, 72 m by 8-50 m, rested on the natural mound. Some

rooms were identified at the south-east and north-west ends of this stone building, with an entrance in the middle of the lorng south wall. The total deposit varied from




20 to 80 cm in depth. A gypsum floor and fire-place were uncovered in one test pit. The few objects recovered suggest a date in the Early Islamic Period.

Qirmiz Dere This is a small, Aceramic Neolithic settlement beside a deep wadi on the western

outskirts of the town of Telafar. A trial season of excavations was conducted there in September and October 1986 under the direction of Dr. Ellen McAdam, sponsored by the British Archaeological Excavation.

Three trenches were opened up to test the occupation down to virgin soil, which proved to be a depth of no more than 1 25 m. Undisturbed deposits survived in at least two areas, including the remains of a tauf and rubble stone structure, preserving traces of plastered surfaces. Some re-used grinding stones were found embedded in the wall. Among the finds were animal bones,.groundstone, and a flint assemblage of which the most diagnostic items were a series of notch-based arrowheads. Both the architecture and the lithics show links with the Levant to the west and the Zagros to the east, and suggest a date around the beginning of the eighth millennium B.C.

[A preliminary report is in press in Sumer.]

Tell Rifan (Raffaan) (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 12) An expedition from the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology, Warsaw

University, under the direction of Dr. Piotr Bielinski, excavated at Tell Raffaan for the second time in April and May 1985.

Tell Riim (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. I 1) Two further seasons of excavation, in March to May 1985 and again in September

to November 1985, were carried out at this site by the Polish Centre for Mediter- ranean Archaeology, Warsaw University, directed by Dr. Piotr Bielinski. Five metres of deposit lie on a natural mound on the right bank of the Tigris some 10 km upstream from the Dam. The immediate area is surrounded on three sides by the river and on the fourth by a line of low hills.

Three new trenches were opened up and two trenches from the 1984 season extended. The site was found to consist of six superimposed settlements: Late Uruk; Ninevite V; Khabur; Middle Assyrian/Neo-Assyrian transitional; Neo-Assyrian; Late Neo-Assyrian. The third season, in autumn 1985, concentrated on the Khabur and Ninevite V levels. The most spectacular find was the discovery of a Ninevite V grave with a rich collection of complete painted and incised vessels. A Hellenistic or post-Hellenistic cemetery was also identified at the site.

Samarra` Since the large-scale operations of the "Project for the Development of the Twin

City Sites of Samarra' and Mutawakkiliyya" wound down in 1983, the work of the State Organisation for Antiquities and Heritage at Samarra' has concentrated on two sites: the Qasr al-'Ashiq and the sunken structure in the Qagr-Khalifa (Jawsaq al-Khaqa-n), known as the Little Serdab or the Lions' Den.

Qasr al-'Ashiq: In overall terms the 'Ashiq now seems the best preserved of the




Samarra' palaces, and gives the clearest impression to the outside visitor of what the buildings had been like in their heyday. For this reason the State Organisation is conducting a continuing programme of restoration and excavation.

The interior of the 'Ashiq was excavated from 1965 to 1968 and after (Sumer 30 (1974): 183-94). A new plan has been made, and it is to be hoped that this will soon be published. This plan shows that the layout was a typical Samarran palace in miniature, including a cruciform hall complex, and a main iwan (first discovered by Herzfeld) facing onto a small courtyard. Two tunnels, one completely preserved, pass under the public rooms.

Dated by Creswell to the late period at Samarr-a' between 878 and 882, the building ought to show only traces of slight occupation before the abandonment of the city as a capital in the following decade. Surprisingly there is extensive evidence of rebuilding and long occupation. At an early stage the building began to split apart because of its hill-top site, and there are a number of different types of supporting buttress holding the building together. There was a secondary entrance on the east side. Changes to the original interior plan appear to have been quite extensive, but as the interior walls are only preserved to a maximum height of c. 1 m it is difficult to be certain how thoroughgoing these changes were. A bath excavated at the north end is now reported to be a later addition. A hoard of Late Abbasid coins was found, and there are also said to be Ottoman finds. Neither of these discoveries necessarily represents occupation proper. The fort-like, defensible aspect of the building would make it an attractive refuge. At present however the main body of later evidence points to continuation into the 4th/10th century, not far beyond.

The current programme of work has included the restoration of the spiral ramp published in Sumer 30, the consolidation of the outer walls to interior platform level, and the addition of a set of niches matching those of the north wall, around the remaining three sides.

Little Serdab or Lions' Den: The square cut of a sunken structure has always been visible at the east end of the great courtyard of the Qasr al-Khalifa (Jawsaq al- Khaqnii). This is locally known as the Lions' Den, but correctly described by Herzfeld (and Creswell) as a serdab (Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture II, 241), 21 m square and 8 m deep. This has been completely excavated and restored.

There are two staircases cut into the conglomerate. The plan is of the four-iwain pattern, each of whose units can be described as a triple aw-an, facing onto a central square basin, with a linking corridor around the outside. The iw-ans cut into the conglomerate had dadoes of Style C stuccoes, which have been restored.

The central basin is of similar dimensions to the open cut and c. 3 m deep. It is fed by a kehfzi (qanat or subterranean aqueduct), entering on the north, and with an exit on the south to maintain water flow. The excavation of one of the wells on the south side shows that the water-system (and probably the entire serda-b) is a later addition to the palace, matching the second phase of the immediately surrounding building.

It has been suggested that the serdab is the "Qasr al-Hair" referred to in Y-aq-ut and Buhturl, but this view has aroused controversy. (Information collected by Alastair Northedge.)

[A recent comprehensive bibliography of Samarra' is given by: al-Samkari, Zainab,




"Bibliiighrafiya 'an Samarr-a'", Sumer 39 (1983), 322-330 (Ar. Sect.); also al-'Ani, 'Ala' al-Din, "Istadrikat tarikhiyya 'an mawaqi' athariyya III", Sumer 39 (1983), 261-266 (Ar. Sect.); 'Abd al-Fattah, Nahda, "Dar raqm (1) wal-Shari'al-A'zam fi Samarra' ", Sumer 44. 30-49 (Ar. Sect.).]

Seh Qubba (Saddam Dan Salvage Project, no. 3) The mound called Seh Qubba is the remains of a small town dominating the

valley on a high natural bluff overlooking the Tigris on its right bank 1 km upstream from Abu Dhahir. The British Archaeological Expedition, under the direction of Warwick Ball, excavated there from January to March 1986.

A fortified town was revealed, surrounded by packed gravel ramparts dating from the Sasanian/Byzantine Period, although probably originally founded by the Romans. On the highest part of the town are the remains of a large Late Islamic administrative building. A sounding in this area exposed several building phases of the Sasanian/Byzantine Period and, underneath, part of a Roman structure with associated terracotta pipes and a fragmentary mosaic.

Seleucia ad Tigrim (Tell Omar) A twelfth season of excavation was conducted in September-November 1985 at

Seleucia, sponsored by the Centro Scavi di Torino per il Medio Oriente e l'Asia, after a break of ten years. This was followed in October-December 1986 by a study season. Excavations were resumed in the Archives "Square", on the eastern wing of which three soundings were made. Five occupation levels were found in the main trench (20 m x 16 m). Levels I and II yielded structures belonging to a block of dwellings of the second century A.D., facing the square westwards across a massive wall running north-south. The foundations and first courses of the wall are of baked brick, with a tauf core. Courtyards, alleys and storerooms are connected by doors and bent-axis entrances, with thresholds of baked brick or stone. Poor graves of saddle-roof type, and pottery coffins, were found under the courtyards. The legible coins belong to issues of Orodes and Vologases II and III.

In level III, the walls are of mudbrick and the suites or rooms are more regular. They comprise kitchens and courtyards equipped with tannurs, fireplaces, drainage systems and storage jars. The graves display skilled workmanship, both the coffins (slipper-shaped and turquoise-glazed, with decoration of engaged columns) and the superstructures (with triple saddle roofs). The pottery and glass vessels are of good quality, and the coins belong mostly to the civic coinage of Seleucia (first century B.C. to first half of first century A.D.).

The layout of levels IV and V are barely recognisable, but they are characterised by wider rooms and courtyards, with large mudbrick walls of better quality. The lowest floor is superimposed on a layer of sand. Beneath it the water-table was reached. Domestic equipment was found in the lowest levels: fireplaces, tannurs, pottery belonging to "dinner services" (saucers, dishes, fish plates).

Other finds from the excavation were bullae, terracotta figurines, architectural items (lion-head gargoyle, cornices, friezes with the motif of a bunch of laurels in level III), a red-glazed Imperial Roman lamp (level I), together with a great bulk of common, glazed and egg-shell wares.



EXCAVATIONS IN IRAQ 1985-86 247

The excavations have confirmed the inner chronology of the western wing of the Archives Square, a sequence of human deposit extending from the Seleucid to the Late Parthian Periods, with a principal occupation definitely in Parthian times. The private character of the structures in levels I-III is proved, but for levels IV and V it must still be tested along with the features and layout of the front facing the Square.

Tell Shelgiya (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 1) Tell Shelgiya is a steep, high mound with lower mounds and surface settlements

stretching several hundred metres to the south-east, on the right bank of the Tigris at the very top end of the Saddam Dam reservoir, just south of the Syrian border. A joint team, led by Warwick Ball (British Archaeological Expedition) and Dr. Trevor Watkins (Edinburgh University) excavated the site in March to May 1986.

A series of trenches in the main mound revealed a well-stratified, continuous sequence from Early Uruk through to Ninevite V painted. Surface clearances on the slopes of an adjacent natural mound produced a large and varied collection of Early Uruk "Sprig Ware". It was unstratified, but appeared to be part of a dump from kilns, now vanished. In a field several hundred metres further to the south-east, several trenches exposed a sequence from Late Ubaid to Early Uruk.

Khirbet Shireena (Wadi Suwaidiya 1) (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 4) The first of a number of small mounds upstream on the Wadi Suwaidiya, the site is

situated on the left bank just before the point where the wadi debouches into the flood-plain around Seh Qubba and Tell Abu Dhahir. The mound is small, less than 200 m in diameter, and low, a maximum of c. 6 m in height above the surrounding plain, with the steepest gradient on its southern slopes. Excavations were conducted by the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq under the direction of Warwick Ball in December 1985, and in February and March 1986. These showed that the settlement area can never have been more than c. 75 x 150 m at most. A sondage was excavated from the top of the mound to a depth of c. 3a1 m, without reaching virgin soil. Six distinct building levels were encountered, while other periods of occupation were suggested by later cuts and surface material. The following periods were represented:

(1) Islamic, represented by surface sherds, pits and some relatively modern graves.

(2) Parthian/Hellenistic, represented by a large pit on the eastern slope (encountered in trenches XI and XIII) and by surface material, including a baked clay figurine fragment of a horse's head.

(3) Late Assyrian, represented by Levels 1-3, by a deep cut through second millennium levels in the trench I sounding, and by at least seven graves. Level 3 consisted of clay and mudbrick floors running up against substantial mudbrick walls. Level 2 was characterised by pebbledash paving, Level 1 by flagstone pavements, constructed largely of soft local sandstone. The pottery from these floors included a well-preserved "palace ware" dimple beaker, and fragments of another, the rim and shoulder of a typical Late Assyrian storage jar, and a large (dia. c. 80 cm), flat- bottomed vessel with cable decoration. One of the graves produced a fragmentary weaver's "beater-in", apparently made from a piece of large mammalian rib-bone, and a pair of bronze or copper blades.




(4) Middle Assyrian (?), evidenced only by a few sherds from the surface collection.

(5) Second millennium B.C. ("Khabur"), represented by Levels 4-6 of the trench I sondage, which produced quantities of potsherds with painted stripes.

The site was ideally situated for the ready supply of water and building materials, including local sandstone (from the hills on the opposite bank of the wadi and from the wadi bed) and river pebbles. The most likely interpretation of the Late Assyrian settlement is as a small farmstead, perhaps closely associated with the town at Abu Dhahir. Particularly interesting, in this respect, are the remains of former field boundaries, surviving as lines of amassed small stones and pebbles on the hills to the north and showing clearly as crop-markings across the valley surrounding the site. There is no indication, however, as to which period they belong. (Information supplied by A. R. Green.)

Sippar (Abu Habba) In 1984-7 the University of Baghdad expedition conducted its seventh, eighth and

ninth seasons of excavations at Sippar, under the direction of Dr. Walid al-Jadir, assisted by Sd. Zuhair Rajab. The expedition returned to the E - b a b bar to extend the area worked on in 1984. Debris of Scheil's and Rassam's excavations was cleared out until in January 1986 the excavators found themselves in a room beyond which Rassam had not penetrated. It seems Rassam had probably picked up one or two tablets in this room, where a few more were recently found also. Leading off this room, unsuspected by Rassam, there has now been discovered a small Neo- Babylonian library with its tablets still ranged on their shelves.

The location of this remarkable library can best be grasped by reference to plan B in L. De Meyer, ed., Tell ed-Der III (Leuven, 1980). Here Z is the ziggurrat, and S is the E - b a b b a r proper. The interior walls of the E - b a b b a r have now been shown to be decorated in white (Sumerian babbar= "white"). A is an adjacent, subsidiary temple, whose interior walls are, in sharp contrast, decorated in patterns of black. Room 155 is its principal cella. Northeast of the courtyard A lies a large room (not on Rassam's plan) with a long narrow room running southwest-northeast between it and the E-babbar. The library is in a small room leading off this long room at its southwest end, i.e. due northeast of room 162. On entering the library, whose walls are preserved up to 1 5 m or more, and whose floor is at the same level as that of the adjacent room and of stamped bricks of Nabu-na'id laid in the room next to that, one finds oneself in a small room about 15 m wide and 1 m deep. The doorway is 80 cm wide. In the two walls to left and right, and the back wall facing one, are a series of niches built out from the mud-brick walls. The niches are c. 17 cm high and c. 30 cm wide, arranged in rows one above the other. In each of the two side walls are four ranks of niches, and in the back wall six. There are three levels of niches completely preserved; and a fourth level above them, probably the top one, damaged at the left side but preserved at the right and back. This top level is more or less at the same height as the present surface. Thus it is reckoned that there were originally 56 niches in all. The lowest level of niches is c. 35 cm above the floor. Each niche is c. 70 cm deep; and shelves and partitions are mud-brick, but reeds are plastered inside as an upper lining, forming a roughly semicircular, rather than




rectangular, shape in the interior of the niche. In these the tablets were stacked on their long sides like books, two or three rows deep, up to 60 per niche. Counting from the left, niches 1, 2 and 3 of the top level (here third from bottom), and 2 of the second level, have been cleared so far, yielding 182 tablets and fragments, including some from the uppermost (fourth) level (damaged at this point). It is estimated that more than 2,000 tablets were stored in the library. Some of the tablets are badly encrusted with salt; a considerable number of fragments have been rejoined already.

Among the tablets so far examined, the vast majority are, in the broad sense, literary. Some are stated to be from "originals" from Babylon, Nippur, Sippar, Agade and other centres. Some are copies of inscriptions on stone or metal, stelae and other tablets. One list of temple property in the Nippur region, kept perhaps as a curiosity, bears a date in the 7th year of Adad-apla-iddina (1061 B.C.). One literary text has a colophon dated in the second year of Neriglissar (558 B.C.); and one small economic text bears the date of the first year of Cambyses (529 B.C.), which gives the most secure date at present for the library.

So far identified are a copy of a long new historical inscription of Manistusu, a copy of a bronze tablet with a dedicatory inscription of Zabaya (presumably Zambiya), a copy of the prologue of the Hammurabi Law Code, a copy of a Hammurabi inscription commemorating the building of the walls of Sippar and a historical text of Ammiditana all Neo-Babylonian. A complete chronicle largely duplicates and extends the Weidner Chronicle: the obverse is different from the preserved first part of the Weidner text, and the reverse continues the account from the reign of Sulgi down to the end of the text in the reign of Sumu-la-El.

There is one Neo-Babylonian letter; a hymn to Samas, Akkadian prayers, incantations, liver omens, tablet 24 of Summa alu, tablet 6 of Summa izbu, a list of gods, a tablet of the series Multabiltum, a tablet of a balag composition, mathematical texts, eclipse omens and a unique circular "astrolabe" text giving stellar distances and indicating by sketches the disposition of stars in the constellations.

Among lexical texts there are three tablets of E a = naqu and one, possibly two of Diri. There are tablets 1, 2, 3 and one other of the Standard Babylonian recension (as it must now be called) of Atra-hasis. There are tablets 1, 3, 9 and 10 at least of Lugale, restoring some damaged parts of the text.

The Lugale tablets are all written by the same scribe, Nabium-etir-napsati (written variously syllabically and dAK.KAK.ZI.ME) of the family of Pahharu (A LU

pah-ha-ri), whose name appears on several other tablets of the collection also. Elsewhere he is called son of Marduk-suma-usur. Other scribes are Marduk-bel-zeri son of Ile'i-Marduk; Samas-etir, and one other scribe who is an aiiipu.

Work on the collection is continuing.

See Plate XLVII a and b, reproduced by courtesy of the Department of Archaeology, Baghdad University.

Siyana Ulya (Saddam Dam Salvage Project, no. 6) From October to December 1985 a season of excavation was carried out by the

British Archaeological Expedition at this small, low mound on the right bank of the Tigris about 7 km south-east of Abu Dhahir, under the direction of Warwick Ball.

A section was cut 3 50 m through the edge of the mound, down to virgin soil.




Principally this revealed an unbroken transition from Late Uruk through to Ninevite V, the latter producing a considerable amount of fine incised wares. The only significant structure was a mudbrick granary or drying rack of the Late Uruk Period. Some Hellenistic pottery was found on the surface.

Umm Kheshm The site of Umm Kheshm is located approximately 25 km south of Kufa, 3 km

south of Abu Skhair, near the Euphrates. It is marked by a low sandy ridge covering an approximate area of 14-15 dunams (35-37 sq. km), bordered by irrigated fields. Two seasons of excavations have been carried out under the direction of Sd. Abdul- majid Mohammed Abdul-rahman al-Hadithi, for the State Organisation of Anti- quities and Heritage.

At this remarkable cemetery site, over 500 graves have been found, in clusters in different parts of the site and often with different grave types in different areas. None of the graves is cut by any of the others. None was visible prior to excavation. The following grave types were distinguished:

(1) Simple ditch graves containing pottery, glass, metal and beads. Burial posture varied.

(2) Ditch graves, later sealed by flat areas of mud-brick. These contained flexed skeletons, of varying orientation, occasionally with traces of wooden coffins. They were usually poor in grave-goods. However, one contained a collection of six glass vessels, a finely woven textile with chequer pattern, and two baskets, one of which contained a large number of broken beads, including a possibly Early Dynastic lapis lazuli cylinder seal. Rare examples of graves of the same type were found to cut the brickwork.

(3) Vertical shafts with an undercut side-chamber, usually containing an extended burial with pottery, and sealed off by a row of pitched bricks, potsherds or stones. None seemed to be robbed.

(4) Ditch graves containing a mud- or baked-brick cist with saddle roof. Some of the baked bricks bore roughly incised crosses or rows of parallel squares. The skeletons were either flexed or extended, with head towards the east or west; grave- goods were usually poor.

(5) A row of between two and six large pottery "torpedo" jars laid flat, head to foot, over the burial. A number of bitumen and incised marks were found on these vessels. The skeletons were fully extended with hands by the sides and head usually to the west. Glass, beads, copper and iron but no pottery--were found.

(6) A two-part, lightly baked, undecorated coffin upside-down over the burial. Both rich and poor assemblages were associated.

(7) Three blue-glazed pottery coffins were found at the site, each covered with a plain, unglazed, two-part lid. A small fragment of sheet gold was found by the skull of one of these burials. Pottery was found inside and outside the coffins.

Generally grave-goods were frequent. Glazed vessels were common, and included small two-handled amphorae, bowls and "pilgrim flasks"; plain vessels included fine-ware bowls. An incantation bowl was found upside down over one grave. Above another grave a jar was found containing approximately fifteen small lead rolls, at least some containing a small organic object possibly sealed in with bitumen plugs.




Small glass vessels were abundant; 40 types were distinguished closed forms with globular bodies being predominant. Many contained traces of organic substances. Painted plaster-set mirrors were numerous. Beads were common with child burials. Other finds included a small gold cross and two simple Sasanian stamp-seals. No coins were found with any of the graves.

The name of the site (kheshm, "nose") seems to be derived from a low mound at one end. When this was excavated, a mud-brick construction 1 80 m high and approximately 18 m square was revealed. The function is unclear. A cluster, apparently of all grave-types, was found nearby.

Elsewhere on the site, some shallow rock-cut fire-installations were excavated. Kiln-debris was not recognised. A pair of incantation bowls was found in the uppermost fill of one, placed upside down one over the other, and on top of at least one inscribed bird's egg. The only other structure identified consisted of a badly disturbed building with baked-brick footings; the plan and stratigraphy remain unclear. Complete overturned and fragmentary incantation bowls, "bird bones", isolated human crania and potsherds of Late Sasanian type were found.

The site dates to the Parthian and Sasanian Periods. An associated settlement has not been firmly identified. (Information collected by St. J. H. Simpson.)

Uruk (Warka) The 38th season at Uruk was conducted by the Deutsches Archaologisches

Institut, Abteilung Baghdad, under the direction of Professor Dr. R. M. Boehmer, in the autumn of 1985. The aim was to obtain a perspective on the Kassite Period, of which so far very little is known from Uruk. The area chosen for excavation was located west of the Irigal in squaresJ and K/23 and H/24 and 25. Close beneath the surface were revealed the remains of a building together with burials which had clearly been set in an almost completely abandoned area of the city. Beneath these were found remains of the Early Dynastic Period, mixed with some Uruk Period sherds.

The final report is in press and should appear in Autumn 1987.



PLATE XLVII

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Q . __

b. ~' C.

a. Sippar: left (south-east) wall of library. b. Sippar: tablets stored in niche.

c. Nineveh: winged bull on Tell Nebi Yunus.



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Excavations in Iraq 1985-86

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