Halamata Cave is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

near Duhok in the

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 ...

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. The caves contain the

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs. The cave is located seven kilometres south-west of

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 Sto ...

, above the village of Geverke. The site is composed of "four Neo-Assyrian bas-reliefs carved into the cliff-side above the village of Malthai". The reliefs are approximately six metres long and two metres high. The reliefs all show a procession of nine figures, and were first photographed by British explorer

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highl ...

in 1909. According to ArtStor, the reliefs "depict the Assyrian king worshipping the main divinities in the Mesopotamian pantheon" and date from 704 BC to 681 BC. As with the reliefs at

Khinnis Khinnis is an Assyrian people, Assyrian archaeological site, also known as Bavian, its neighbouring village) in Dohuk Governorate, Duhok Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is notable for its rock reliefs, built by king Sennacherib ar ...

, the reliefs at Halamata Cave are "associated with the northern canal system built by the Assyrian king

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...

(r. 704-681 BCE) to carry water to his capital city of Nineveh". The reliefs are unique because "Unlike other examples of Assyrian royal art, in which the king is represented worshipping symbols of gods, these reliefs show the king gesturing in front of anthropomorphic deities, or gods in human form." In 2016 the reliefs had to be cleaned and restored after vandals spray painted a

Kurdish flag The flag of Kurdistan ( ku, ئاڵای کوردستان ,Alaya Kurdistanê) is the flag of Kurds, Kurdish Institute of Paris. and created by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan in 1920. It would later, in different variants, be adopted as th ...

on them. In February 2018, thieves removed a part of the relief carvings. "The archeological piece stolen is called Sanharib,” said Nivin Mohammed, head of legal affairs for Duhok's archeology directorate. These incidents have increased in recent years, and the Kurdistan Region authorities have been criticised for not doing enough to prevent the erasure of

Assyrian 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 ...

cultural heritage in the region.

References

{{coord, 36.8404006, 42.9450336, display=title Archaeological sites in Iraq Duhok Kurdistan Kurdistan Region (Iraq) Mesopotamian religion Monuments and memorials in Iraq Caves of Iraq