Rabana-Merquly is a cluster of
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 an ...
s in
Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It consists of at least two separate fortified settlements, Rabana and Merquly, and at least two
rock relief
A rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found as part of, or in conjunction with, ro ...
s, probably all dating to the
Middle Parthian period ( CE).
It has been suggested that Rabana-Merquly was the site of ancient Natounia or Natounissarokerta, a city that is otherwise only known from coins.
History of research
Excavations by the
Sulaimaniyah Directorate of Antiquities took place at Merquly in 2009. Rabana was studied in 2016-2017 by a team from
Heidelberg University
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Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
and the
Iraqi-Kurdistan Directorate of Antiquities.
In June 2022, it was announced that researchers believe a rock relief was a king of
Adiabene
Adiabene was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, corresponding to the northwestern part of ancient Assyria. The size of the kingdom varied over time; initially encompassing an area between the Zab Rivers, it eventually gained control of Ni ...
meaning a nearby fortress is the lost city of Natounia in the
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
region of
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 ...
.
According to Arab News, "researchers from the Directorate of Antiquities in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, together with Dr. Michael Brown of Germany’s Heidelberg University, say that the established fortification site of Rabana-Merquly could house the ruins of Natounia."
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
Brown, Michael, Rasheed R. Kamal, and Hama A. Hashim. "Rabana-Merquly: A Fortress in the Kingdom of Adiabene in the Zagros Mountains." Antiquity, vol. 96, no. 388, 2022, pp. 920-936
Archaeological sites in Iraq
Parthian cities
Parthian rock reliefs
Sulaymaniyah Governorate