Exploring the Neo-Assyrian Frontier with Western Iran

The Peshdar district is part of the province of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq. In its centre lies the Peshdar Plain, surrounded by the glorious mountainscape of the Zagros and bounded in the south by the valley of the Lesser Zab, which connects the region to the Assyrian heartland and Western Iran. The international and interdisciplinary Peshdar Plain Project was inaugurated in 2015 with the goal of investigating the region in the Neo-Assyrian period (9th to 7th century BC). It formed part of the Border March of the Palace Herald which served to negotiate relations with the adjoining client kingdoms in the Zagros, most importantly Mannea (south of Lake Urmiye), Hubukia in the Sardasht Plain and Musasir in the Rowanduz Plain. Work in 2015 focused on two closely connected sites in the small Bora Plain, a sub-unit of the Peshdar Plain: the tiny single-phase site Gird-i Bazar and impressive Qalat-i Dinka, looming on a rocky outcrop high over the river, both part of the Dinka settlement complex. This book presents the results of this first season of field work. Karen Radner offers an analysis of the historical geography of the region on the basis of the textual sources, including the private contract of 725 BC found at Qalat-i Dinka. Mark Altaweel and Anke March provide a geoarchaeological assessment of the Bora Plain while Jessica Giraud presents an evaluation of the Dinka settlement complex based on the results of the survey of the Mission archeologique francaise du Gouvernorat de Soulaimaniah (MAFGS). Jorg Fassbinder and Andrei Aandulesei discuss the results of their geophysical survey at Gird-i Bazar and Qalat-i Dinka. The bulk of the volume is dedicated to the 2015 excavations at Gird-i Bazar, with contributions on the fieldwork by F. Janoscha Kreppner, Christoph Forster, Andrea Squitieri, John MacGinnis, Adam B. Stone and Peter V. Bartl. Tina Greenfield introduces the bioarchaeological sampling strategy. On the basis of the analysis of 666 diagnostic ceramic sherds from key find contexts and by drawing on parallels from the Assyrian heartland and western Iran, Jean-Jacques Herr presents a first assessment of the technical aspects, the fabrics and the shapes of the pottery excavated at Gird-i Bazar. Eleanor Barbanes Wilkinson, Andrea Squitieri and Zahra Hashemi present the small finds from the 2015 excavations. In an appendix to the volume, Jorg Fassbinder presents the promising results of the 2014 magnetometer survey in Mujeser in the Soran district of the province of Erbil, the possible site of the capital of the kingdom of Musasir, a client state of the Assyrian Empire, and its famous Haldi temple. The research presented in this book throws light on a hitherto little known eastern frontier region of the Assyrian Empire. Gird-i Bazar is the first unequivocally Neo-Assyrian site to be excavated in the region. The occupation layers beginning to be uncovered there offer the rare opportunity to explore an Assyrian non-elite settlement. Its well stratified ceramic repertoire is of special importance as it allows us for the first time to synchronise the Western Iranian pottery cultures (with the key sites Hasanlu, Godin Tepe, Nush-i Jan and Baba Jan) with the Assyrian material of the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

Preface A. Introducing the Peshdar Plain Project (Karen Radner) A1. The geographical setting and the 2015 team A2. The scope of this volume B. Approaching the Peshdar Plain B1. The Peshdar Plain in the Neo-Assyrian period: the Border March of the Palace Herald (Karen Radner) B2. Landscape and geoarchaeology of the Bora Plain (Mark Altaweel & Anke Marsh) B2.1 Methods B2.1.1 Remote sensing B2.1.2 Geomorphological survey B2.1.3 Geoarchaeological investigations B2.2 The environmental setting of the Bora Plain B2.3 Artificial irrigation by qanat (karez) B2.4 Regional geomorphological processes B2.5 Geoarchaeological investigations in the Bora Plain, 2015 B2.5.1 Trench GA40 B2.5.2 Trench GA41 B2.5.3 Trench GA42 B2.5.4 Preliminary conclusions B2.6 Future research B3. Surface survey of the Dinka settlement complex, 2013-2015 (Jessica Giraud) B3.1 Methods B3.2 History of discovery and survey at the Dinka settlement complex B3.3 The layout of the Dinka settlement complex B3.4 Continuity in occupation from the Chalcolithic to the modern period B3.5 Hydrological structures around the Dinka settlement complex B3.6 The connection with the settlement at Gawr Miran B3.7 Conclusions B4. The magnetometer survey of Qalat-i Dinka and Gird-i Bazar, 2015 (Jorg Fassbinder & Andrei Aandulesei) B4.1 Methods B4.2 The magnetometer survey at Gird-i Bazar B4.3 The magnetometer survey at Qalat-i Dinka C. Excavating Gird-i Bazar: the 2015 season C1. Introducing the excavation methodology (F. Janoscha Kreppner, Christoph Foster & Andrea Squitieri) C1.1 A digital documentation system C1.2 A locus/collection registration system C1.3 The layout of the excavation at Gird-i Bazar, 2015 C2. Dating the occupation of Gird-i Bazar C2.1 Absolute chronology and ¹⁴C dating (Karen Radner) C2.2 Relative stratigraphy (F. Janoscha Kreppner & Andrea Squitieri) C3. The Eastern Trench (John MacGinnis & F. Janoscha Kreppner) C3.1 The excavation squares C3.1.1 Square 271927 C3.1.2 Square 271928 C3.1.3 Square 271929 C3.2 The architectural units C3.2.1 Outdoor Area 1 with the pit C3.2.2 Courtyard 2 C3.2.3 Building A = Room 3 C3.2.4 Alley 4 C3.2.5 Alley 5 C3.2.6 Building B = Room 6 C3.3 Summary C4. The Connecting Trench (Adam B. Stone) C4.1 Method C4.2 Square 270928 C4.3 Square 270929 C4.4 Square 269929 with the kiln C4.5 Square 269930 C4.6 Square 268930 C4.7 Square 268931 C4.8 Summary C5. The Western Trench: Square 267931 (Peter V. Bartl) C5.1 Method C5.2 General stratigraphy C5.3 The architectural units C5.3.1 Building F = Room 15 C5.3.2 Building G = Room 16 C5.3.3 Building H = Room 17 C5.3.3.1 First phase C5.3.3.2 Second phase C5.3.4 Building I = Room 18 C5.3.5 Building E C5.3.6 Alleys 12, 13 and 14 C5.4 The period of abandonment and degradation C5.5 Summary D. Samples and finds from Gird-i Bazar, 2015 D1. The bioarchaeological sampling strategy (Tina Greenfield) D1.1 Research objectives D1.2 Bioarchaeological data collected D1.3 Bioarchaeological methodology: sampling procedures and protocols D1.3.1 Plant and animal remains D1.3.1.1 Zooarchaeological samples D1.3.1.2 Palaeobotanical remains D1.3.2 Human remains D1.4 Bioarchaeological analytical themes D1.5 Preliminary results D1.5.1 Plants and animals D1.5.2 Human remains D1.6 Future analyses D2. The pottery from Gird-i Bazar, 2015: a preliminary study (Jean-Jacques Herr) D2.1 Research questions D2.2 Periodisation and its terminology D2.2.1 The chronological classification of pottery as "Neo-Assyrian" D2.2.2 The archaeological phases of the Neo-Assyrian period D2.2.3 The designation "Iron Age IV" in the Iranian Zagros region D2.3 Method D2.4 The ceramic corpus of the 2015 excavations at Gird-i Bazar D2.4.1 Technical aspects D2.4.1.1 Burnishing technique D2.4.1.2 Red slip D2.4.1.3 Firing process D2.4.2 Preliminary fabric classification based on macroscopic characteristics D2.4.2.1 Fabric class A: "Very Coarse Ware" D2.4.2.2 Fabric class B: "Coarse Ware" D2.4.2.3 Fabric class C: "Medium Coarse Ware" D2.4.2.4 Fabric class D: "Medium Fine Ware" D2.4.2.5 Fabric class E: "Fine Ware" D2.4.3 Morpho-stylistic groups D2.4.3.1 Open shapes D2.4.3.1.1 Hemispherical bowls D2.4.3.1.2 Hemispherical bowls with triangular rims D2.4.3.1.3 Carinated bowls D2.4.3.1.4 Coarse plates (or lids ?) and trays D2.4.3.2 Closed shapes D2.4.3.2.1 Jars D2.4.3.2.2 Pots D2.4.3.2.3 Pots with handles D2.4.3.3 Miscellanea D2.5 Preliminary conclusions D2.5.1 Chronological range of the ceramic assemblage from Gird-i Bazar D2.5.2 The Eastern frontier of the Assyrian Empire D3. Small finds (Eleanor Barbanes Wilkinson, Andrea Squitieri & Zahra Hashemi) D3.1 Introduction D3.2 Catalogue of selected small finds D3.2.1 Zoomorphic clay figurine D3.2.2 Brick fragment D3.2.3 Iron arrowhead ("bodkin") D3.2.4 Perforated metal object D3.2.5 Limestone jar stopper D3.2.6 Three limestone pounders D3.2.7 Two pebble mortars with two depressions D3.2.8 Two basalt polishers D3.2.9 Perforated stone D3.2.10 Stone pendant or weight D3.3 Concluding remarks E. Conclusions and prospects (F. Janoscha Kreppner & Karen Radner) F. Appendix: Looking for Musasir: the 2014 magnetometer survey at Mujeser (Jorg Fassbinder) F1. Methods F2. The magnetometer survey at Qalat Mujeser: an Iron Age fortress F3. The magnetometer survey near the modern road to Mujeser: the temple of Haldi? F4. Conclusions Bibliography

• Contributions by Andrei Aandulesei
• Contributions by Mark Altaweel
• Contributions by Peter V. Bartl
• Contributions by Jorg Fassbinder
• Contributions by Christoph Forster
• Contributions by Jessica Giraud
• Contributions by Tina Greenfield
• Contributions by Zahra Hashmi
• Contributions by Jean-Jacques Herr
• Contributions by F. Janoscha Kreppner
• Contributions by John MacGinnis
• Contributions by Anke Marsh
• Contributions by Karen Radner
• Contributions by Andrea Squitieri
• Contributions by Adam B. Stone
• Contributions by Eleanor Barbanes Wilkinson
• Edited by F. Janoscha Kreppner
• Edited by Karen Radner
• Edited by Andrea Squitieri