Qasr Shemamok

Qasr Shemamok (also Qasr Shamamuk and earlier Kasr of Shomamok) is an ancient Near East archaeological site about 30 kilometers south of modern Erbil (ancient Arbela, possibly ancient Urbilum) in Erbil Governorate, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on the west bank of the Shiwazor river. It is about 25 kilometers from the ancient site of Nimrud. Remains at the site date mainly to the Hurrian, Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian, Parthian, and Sassanian times. Under the Assyrians, it was named Kilizu (or Kakzu or even Kilizi) and was a provincial capital. It is not far from the ancient sites of Kurd Qaburstan (possibly ancient Qabra), Tell Halawa, Tell Aliawa, and Tell Baqrta (which reached 80 hectares in the Early Bronze Age). Archaeology The main tell is about 20 hectares in area and rises about 30 meters above the plain. It is cut by a gully on the northeast, which it thought to be the position of the ancient gate. A lower town, today almost completely under irrigated cultivation, extends to the south of the tell and covers about 50 hectares. The area inside the Neo-Assyrian period city wall is about 50 hectares. The area outside the main site also shows signs of occupation. The southernmost part of the site lies under a modern village. There are bomb craters on the top of the tell, in the Area A-West excavation area, from the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The site, then known as Kasr of Shomamok, was visited by Austen H. Layard in 1850, noting it was surrounded by an embankment and was divided into two parts by a ravine or ancient watercourse. He reported that a local sheik had been excavating at the site and "had opened several deep trenches and tunnels in the mound, and had discovered chambers, some with walls of plain sundried bricks, others paneled round the lower part with slabs of reddish limestone, about 3 or 4 feet high. He had also found inscribed bricks, with an inscription declaring that Sennacherib had here built a city, or rather palace. Layard examined a high point about two miles from Shemamok, which appeared to have been topped by a "castle" of Sennacherib. In 1933 an Italian team led by Giuseppe Furlani excavated in Qasr Shemamok, at the tell and the lower town. They dated the city wall to the Neo-Assyrian period and confirmed the identification as ancient Kilizu/Kilizi/Kakzu based on Neo-Assyrian brick inscriptions. A large Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian, and Parthian necropolis found west of the mound, 42 burials in all, was excavated. Excavation finds, including, cylinder seals, bead, pottery vases, iron objects, terracotta figurines and two large sarcophagi were divided between the Archaeological Museum of Florence and the Baghdad Museum. The status of the latter objects is unclear. In 2011, a University of Lyon and Harvard University team led by Olivier Rouault and Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault started working at the site, beginning with a surface survey. They then excavated a 68-meter-long by 5-meter-wide trench (Area A-East) beginning at the top of the tell (where several deposits of live machine gun ammunition were found) and bearing south through the lower town. A monumental ramp was encountered, constructed from baked bricks, some of which bore an inscription of the Neo-Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (705–681 BC). A clay nail of the Middle Assyrian ruler Arik-den-ili (c. 1317–1306 BC) was found. A second excavation, Area B, was later opened on the northeastern part of the site. Small finds included fragments of cuneiform tablets. In the northern part of the tell a palace of Middle Assyrian ruler Adad-nirari I (c. 1305–1274 BC) was found with in situ inscribed floor bearing his name. Beneath that layer, in Area A-East, were found Hurrian cuneiform tablets and a foundation document of a Hurrian ruler. From 2012 to 2020 the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey used satellite photographs, drone photogrammetry, and surface collection to establish occupation patterns at number of sites in the region, including Qasr Shemamok. Surface finds and satellite image analysis suggests that there was a 30 hectare industrial area in a northern extension to the site. The survey identified a large number of archaeological sites in the area around Qasr Shemamok. In 2015, a local turned a cuneiform tablet (QS04b), later termed the "Terjan tablet", into the Erbil Museum. Based on similar fragments found in the Late Bronze levels of the citadel, its provenance was determined to be Qasr Shemamok, dating to before the Middle Assyrian period. The tablet turned out to be a foundation tablet of the ruler Irišti-enni (a hybrid Akkadian-Hurrian name), son of Shir-enni, and marked the rebuilding of the city wall of Tu’e in the "land of Kunsihhe". It was dedicated to the storm god DINGIR.ISHKUR "who loves Tu’e". Later excavations found the earlier wall, measuring 9 meters in width and fronted by a ditch. A shabti (Egyptian funerary statue) fragment of the 'king-mother' Udjashu from the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt was found at Qasr Shemamok. A sikkatu (inscribed wall peg) of Assur-dan II (c. 934–912 BC) was found at the site. History Occupation at the site was light from the Hassuna, Halaf, Uruk, Ninivite V, Early Dynastic, Old Babylonian, through the Middle Bronze period. In the early portion of the Late Bronze period the site was under Hurrian influence, possibly as part of the Mitanni Empire. After that, in Middle Assyrian times, a 50-hectare city grew at the site and became Kilizu, capital of the Assyrian Kilizu province. Occupation continued into the Neo-Assyrian period and later during Parthian, Hellenistic, and Sassanian times (restricted to the 6-hectare citadel area, the tell). The name of a governor of Kilizi from the reign of Ninurta-apal-Ekur (c. 1191–1179 BC) was "Ibassi-ilı ̄son of Assur-musallim". The city is mentioned in the Assyrian Eponym Chronicle. In 704 it reads "T[o ...] the cities Larak, Sarrabanu, [...]; the palace of the city Kilizi was built; ... in [...]; nobles against the Kulummians.". The eponym of year 703 is "Nusha[ya, governor of the city Kilizi]". See also Cities of the ancient Near East List of archaeological sites in Erbil Governorate References Further reading Anastasio, Stefano, "Assyrian Pottery between Middle and Neo-Assyrian Periods: The Case of Qasr Shemamuk – Kilizu", in Between the Cultures: The Central Tigris Region from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC; Conference at Heidelberg, January 22–24, 2009, edited by Peter Miglus and Simone Mühl, Heidelberg: Heidelberger Orientverlag (Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient 14), 343–55, plates 18–20, 2011 Azara, Pedro, et al., "Quelques réflexions autour des fouilles à Kilizu, aujourd’hui Qasr Shemamok (Erbil, Kurdistan d’Iraq): ville et territoire", Mesopotamian Studies: 55, 2018 Calini, Ilaria, "The Early Bronze Age at Qasr Shemamok and its Close Environment: A Preliminary View of the Ceramic Evidence", Early Bronze Age in Iraqi Kurdistan, pp. 237–252, 2024 Dolce, Rita, "A Look at Kandara Qal, upstream from Qasr Shemamok (*)(Iraqi Kurdistan)", Ash-sharq: Bulletin of the Ancient Near East–Archaeological, Historical and Societal Studies 4, pp. 292–318, 2020 Rouault, Oliver, & Masetti-Rouault, M. G., "French Excavations in Qasr Shemamok, Iraqi Kurdistan (2013 and 2013 campaigns): The Assyrian Town and Beyond", Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Volume 3: Reports, pp. 107–118, 2016 [5] Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, "Recherches de la Mission francaise à Qasr Shemamok-Kilizu: premiers résultats", Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 160.4, pp. 1697–1709, 2016 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, and Rouault, Olivier, "Les Murs de Kilizu", Between Syria and the Highlands. Studies in honor of Giorgio Buccellati & Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, hrsg. v. Valentini, Stefano, Guarducci, Guido (SANEM. Studies on the Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean 3), pp. 269–278, 2019 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, and Ilaria Calini, "Materials from French excavations in Erbil area (2011–2013): Qasr Shemamok", The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent Regions, pp. 209–218, 2016 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, and Olivier Rouault. "Another town in the Northern Mesopotamia plains: excavations at Qasr Shemamok (Kurdistan, Iraq) in 2017–2018, Stories Told Around the Fountain. Papers Offered to Piotr Bieliński on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, pp. 417-432, 2019 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, "Rethinking Assyrian history: new archaeological research at Qasr Shemamok, Iraqi Kurdistan (2011–2013)", Études Mésopotamiennes/Mesopotamian Studies I, pp. 47–53, 2018 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, "Religions du monde syro-mésopotamien", Annuaire de l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Section des sciences religieuses. Résumé des conférences et travaux 125, pp. 113–137, 2018 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, "Religions du monde syro-mésopotamien: histoire et archéologie", Annuaire de l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Section des sciences religieuses. Résumé des conférences et travaux 127, pp. 21–48, 2020 Postgate, J. N., "Kilizu", Reallexicon der Assyriologie 5/7–8, pp. 591–593, 1980 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, Olivier Rouault, and Omar Mahmoud, "Late Bronze and Iron I–II Levels in Qasr Shemamok", in Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientific Conference “Archaeology and Heritage of Hawler-Erbil,” May 8 & 9, 2018 Erbil, edited by Zidan R. Bradosty and Dlshad A. Marf Zamua, Erbil: Salahaddin University-Erbil and Governorate of Hawler, 2018 Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, et al., "La dernière campagne (2018) de fouilles à Qasr Shemamok (Kurdistan, Irak): quelques données nouvelles sur la transition âge du Bronze Récent/âge du Fer." La dernière campagne (2018) de fouilles à Qasr Shemamok (Kurdistan, Irak): quelques données nouvelles sur la transition âge du Bronze Récent/âge du Fer, 2018 Rouault, Olivier and Masetti-Rouault, Maria Grazia, "Les briques inscrites de Qasr Shemamok migrations, réutilisations et valeur documentaire", Parcours d'Orient. Recueil de textes offert à Christine Kepinski, hrsg. v. Bérengère Perello, Aline Tenu, pp. 346–66, 2016 Rouault, O., M. G. Masetti-Rouault, I. Calini, J. Macginnis, J. Ur and Q. Vitale, "Qasr Shemamok-Kilizu (Kurdistan d’Irak), les campagnes de 2011 (9 avril-15 mai et 16 octobre-5 novembre)", in V. Déroche, M. G. Masetti-Rouault and C. Nicolle, eds., Études Mésopotamiennes – Mesopotamian Studies No. 1. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 212–253, 2018 Rouault, O., M. G. Masetti-Rouault, I. Calini and F. Defendenti, "La Mission Archéologique Francaise à Qasr Shemamok/Kilizu, Kurdistan d’Irak. Première et Seconde Campagnes (2011–2012)", Routes de l’Orient, pp. 20–28, 2014 Rouault, O., "Qasr Shemamok (ancient Kilizu), a Provincial Capital East of the Tigris: Recent Excavations and New Perspectives", in J. MacGinnis, D. Wicke and T. Greenfield, eds., The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, pp. 151–162, 2016 Rouault, Olivier, "Recent Researches in the Erbil Region: 2010 Excavations in Kilik Mishik (Iraqi Kurdistan)", Time and History in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 56th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Barcelona, July 26–30, 2010, edited by Lluis Feliu, J. Llop, A. Millet Albà and Joaquin Sanmartín, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 809–822, 2013 Rova, Elena, "Fragments of a Hidden History: The Third Millenium BC at Qasr Shemamok", P. Abrahami et L. Battini (eds), Ina dmarri u qan tuppi. Par la bêche et le stylet, pp. 245–255, 2019 [6] Tomczyk, Jacek, "Preliminary report on human remains from Qasr Shemamok (Erbil, Federal region of Iraqi Kurdystan). Season 2012", Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae 11.3, pp. 173–178, 2013 [7] Tomczyk, Jacek, "Preliminary report on human remains from Qasr Shemamok (Erbil): Season 2013 and concept of anthropological project", Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae 11.4, pp. 143–152, 2013 Zoltán Niederreiter, "A Neo-Assyrian Storage Jar Fragment with Measures of Capacity from Kilizu (Qaṣr Šemāmok), the Capital of an Assyrian Province", Mesopotamia 51, pp. 55–58, 2016 External links Rouault, O. and Masetti Rouault, M. G.2013La mission 2013 à Qasr Shemamok — Kilizu (Kurdistan irakien), ArchéOrient-Le Blog Penn Museum Update from Iraqi Kurdistan Archived 2023-08-17 at the Wayback Machine Before the Assyrians, After the Assyrians : News from Qasr Shemamok Brick of Sennacherib found at Qasr Shemamok - CDLI