All posts tagged: Neo_Assyrian

Rock-reliefs of Mountain Merquli, Rabana and their near by settlements, Iraqi Kurdistan.

Published by Osama S. M. Amin

When you enter the main hall of the Sulaymaniyah Museum of Iraqi Kurdistan, you will encounter two large replicas of the rock-reliefs from the Mountains Merquli and Rabana. I was interested to know how to reach the originals and asked one of the Museum’s employees about it. He said they lie on two mountains outside the city of Sulaymaniyah and that you need someone to take you there because there are no clues on their precise location.

New Discovery: Unearthing a Neo-Assyrian Grave in Erbil, Iraq

Published by Osama S. M. Amin

An archaeologist friend of mine once told me: “Less than 5% of the Mesopotamian history has been found, and wherever you dig, anywhere in the land of Mesopotamia, you will discover something.” This story comes from Erbil (Hawler) Governorate. About 100-200 m away from the Citadel of Erbil (Arabic: قلعة أربيل; Kurdish: قه‌ڵای هه‌ولێر), an old house with a large garden was sold to an investment company. The company demolished the house and started to dig the foundation of a large building in late April 2015. In response to my questions, Architectural Engineer Sarbast Mahmood Ahmed replied: We were working 24/7. It was around 10 PM when we were digging the foundation of the building. The caterpillar excavator had reached 6 m in depth. Suddenly, one of the workers noticed that the machine had removed earth in addition to bricks. We stopped digging. After sunrise, we saw that we had unearthed what appeared to be a grave. Part of the grave was damaged while we were digging. Immediately, we informed the General Directorate of Antiquities. A …