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, pushpin_map = Iraqi Kurdistan
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, map_caption = Location in
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
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Governorate
A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...
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Dohuk Governorate
ar, محافظة دهوك
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Districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
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Simele District
Simele District ( ku, قەزای سێمێل, Qezaya Sêmêl, ar-at, قضاء سميل, qaḍāʾ Sumail) is a district of Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The administrative centre is Simele.
Subdistricts
The district has the follow ...
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Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
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Bassetki ( ku, باستکێ, translit=Bassetkî) is a small village in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, in
Dohuk Governorate
ar, محافظة دهوك
, image_skyline = Collage_of_Dohuk_Governorate.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
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of autonomous
Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...
. The village is associated with several archaeological finds.
History
The site was occupied in the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Mittani, Middle Assyrian, Neo-Assyrian, Hellenistic, Islamic, and Modern periods.
Archaeology
In 1975 a fragment of a figure of
Naram-Sin of Akkad
Naram-Sin, also transcribed Narām-Sîn or Naram-Suen ( akk, : '' DNa-ra-am D Sîn'', meaning "Beloved of the Moon God Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine"), was a ruler of the Akkadian Empire, who reigned c. 2254–2218 BC ...
, known as
Bassetki Statue
The Bassetki Statue is a monument from the Akkadian period (2350–2100 BCE)Dates according to the so-called Middle Chronology. in Mesopotamia. It was discovered in the 1974 during road construction near the site of the village Bassetki (located n ...
, was discovered near Bassetki. The statue was stolen from the
National Museum of Iraq
The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...
during the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
, but was later retrieved by US soldiers.
Since 2016 archaeological excavations have been conducted in Bassetki by the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies team from the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
and Hasan Qasim from the Directorate of Antiquities in
Dohuk
Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate.
History
The city's origin dates back to the Ston ...
.
They revealed a large
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
city established in which flourished for more than 1,200 years.
From the city had a wall protecting the upper part of the city from invaders.
The city had an extensive road network, several residential districts and a palatial building. A contemporary cemetery was located outside the city. The city was connected to other regions of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
by an overland roadway dating from . The archeologists also discovered settlement layers dating from the
Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad (city), Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and ...
, which also encompassed the territory of modern Iraq. The finds were announced by the University of Tübingen on 3 November 2016.
In the summer of 2017, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen in Germany uncovered, on the eastern slope (Area C), a collection of 3,200 year old
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets hidden inside a collection of ceramic jugs. These tablets reveal the location of the ancient lost royal city of
Mardaman
Mardaman (modern Bassetki) was a northern Mesopotamian city that existed between ca.2200 and 1200 BC. It was uncovered in 2018 after translation of 92 cuneiform tablets. The tablets were discovered in summer 2017, near the Kurdish village of Bass ...
that may have once stood where Bassetki lies today. The tablets date back to when the area was part of the Middle
Assyrian Empire
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
. In the same room of the governor's building a number of
Faience
Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...
objects were found including bowls, ornaments, and tokens. Faience was apparently both produced and stored in the room.
Excavation continued in 2018 and 2019.
Muqable
Excavations at the nearby site of Muqable, 5 kilometers southeast of Bassetki, have revealed a Middle Assyrian rural building complex.
[Puljiz, I./H. A. Qasim (2020): The Middle Assyrian rural complex of Muqable, ZOrA 13, pp. 90-126]
See also
*
Cities of the ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Video about the current excavations - Aug 18, 2020On the Fringe of Mesopotamia - Peter PfalznerOriental Institute lecture on the excavations at Bassketi
Populated places in Dohuk Province
Archaeological sites in Iraq