How did the Persian King of Kings Get His Wine? The upper Tigris in antiquity (c.700 BCE to 636 CE) (Archaeopress Archaeology)

How did the Persian King of Kings Get His Wine? the upper Tigris in antiquity (c.700 BCE to 636 CE)' explores the upper valley of the Tigris during antiquity. The area is little known to scholarship, and study is currently handicapped by the security situation in southeast Turkey and by the completion during 2018 of the Ilisu dam. The reservoir being created will drown a large part of the valley and will destroy many archaeological sites, some of which have not been investigated. The course of the upper Tigris discussed here is the section from Mosul up to its source north of Diyarbakir; the monograph describes the history of the river valley from the end of the Late Assyrian empire through to the Arab conquests, thus including the conflicts between Rome and Persia. It considers the transport network by river and road and provides an assessment of the damage to cultural heritage caused both by the Saddam dam (also known as the Eski Mosul dam) in Iraq and by the Ilisu dam in south-east Turkey. A catalogue describes the sites important during the long period under review in and around the valley. During the period reviewed this area was strategically important for Assyria's relations with its northern neighbours, for the Hellenistic world's relations with Persia and for Roman relations with first the kingdom of Parthia and then with Sassanian Persia. How Did the Persian King of Kings Get his Wine? the upper Tigris in antiquity (c.700 bce to 636 CE) explores the upper valley of the Tigris during antiquity. The area is little known to scholarship, and study is currently handicapped by the security situation in south-east Turkey and by the completion during 2018 of the Ilısu dam. The reservoir being created will drown a large part of the valley and will destroy many archaeological sites, some of which have not been investigated. The course of the upper Tigris discussed here is the section from Mosul up to its source north of Diyarbakır; the monograph describes the history of the river valley from the end of the Late Assyrian empire through to the Arab conquests, thus including the conflicts between Rome and Persia. It considers the transport network by river and road and provides an assessment of the damage to cultural heritage caused both by the Saddam dam (also known as the Eski Mosul dam) in Iraq and by the Ilısu dam in south-east Turkey. A catalogue describes the sites important during the long period under review in and around the valley. During the period reviewed this area was strategically important for Assyria’s relations with its northern neighbours, for the Hellenistic world’s relations with Persia and for Roman relations with first the kingdom of Parthia and then with Sassanian Persia. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents Page 5 List of Figures 7 Introduction 9 Historical review 10 The late Assyrian period 10 The Achaemenid period 14 The Hellenistic period 20 Parthian period 22 Early Roman Period 25 Late Antiquity and the Sassanian period 30 Maps 37 A. Figure 1 39 B. Figure 2 39 D. Figure 4 40 c. Figure 3 40 E. Figure 5 41 F. Figure 6 41 Transport and the road network 42 Relief sculptures 50 Khinis (also spelt Khanes) 50 Shakh 55 Kasrik 56 Fenik 57 Inlı Çay 58 Boşat 59 Eğil 60 Hilar 61 Figure 8 Drawing of the rider relief by Layard, 1850; reproduced in Reade and Anderson 2013 © Trustees of the British Museum 51 Figure 7 Photos: Land of Nineveh project (http://www.terradininive.com – Photogallery) 51 Figure 9a and b The rider relief 52 Figure 10 Khinis 53 Figure 11 Suggested reconstruction of rider relief by Reade (fig 59) for the period 100 BCE to 100 CE 54 Figure 12 56 Figure 13 Fenik Parthian relief 57 Figure 14 Inlı Çay Parthian relief 58 Figure 15 Boşat Parthian/Sassanian relief 60 Figure 16 Eğil Late Assyrian relief Photo: Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University 61 Figure 17 Hilar Possibly Parthian or classical period relief 62 Dams on the upper Tigris and their consequences for historic monuments 63 Catalogue 67 Sites from antiquity (700 BCE to 636 CE) on and around the upper Tigris 67 From south (Mosul/Nineveh) to north (Ergani/Lake Hazar): 67 a) section in Iraq 67 Nineveh 67 Mosul, its churches and monasteries 70 Eski Mosul 73 Mosul Dam 76 Castra Maurorum 77 Crossing points of the Tigris 79 Feshkhabur and Derabun 83 Zaferan 86 Zakho 87 b) Section in Turkey 89 Basorin 89 Shakh 91 Cizre (Jezire, Jazirah ibn-Omar) 95 The Kasrik gorge 98 Fenik/Phaenica and Bezabde 103 The Tigris gorges and the valley to the north 108 Tilli/Çattepe 113 Garzan valley 115 Arzen (with Golamasya and Zercel Kale) 117 Hasankeyf/Cepha 121 Batman valley 124 Silvan/Martyropolis 126 The Tigris west of the Batman confluence 128 Amida 131 Eğil 133 Dibne Valley 135 Ergani/Maden 138 Lake Hazar 140 Figure 18 The bridge at Mosul at the end of the nineteenth century 68 Figure 19 Western Adiabene, Hatra, and the Roman frontier 70 Figure 20 Map showing the position of the monasteries around Mosul/Nineveh 72 Figure 21 Eski Mosul 74 Figure 22 Seh Qubba 79 Figure 23 Extract from anonymous hand-drawn ‘Map of Roman Limes Defences and Roads in Iraq and Syria, from surveys of Sir Aurel Stein 1939 and other sources’; used as a source by David Kennedy for the map published at end of Gregory 1985: Vol1 80 Figure 24 The road on the east bank opposite Abu Dhahir 82 Figure 25 Satellite image showing relative position of sites mentioned 84 Figure 26 Satellite image of Feshkhabur 85 Figure 27. Bell photo of castle at Zakho – extract of M_057_07 87 Figure 28 Drawing in Maunsell, 1889 88 Figure 29 Pir Delal photo: Anthony Comfort 88 Figure 30 Stein’s photo of the Kuzaf bridge on the Haizil river north of Zakho British Library Photo 392/41(12) 89 Figure 31 Basorin Zoom Earth/Bing 91 Figure 32a Shakh – situation 94 Figure 32b Detail of Fig a showing Shakh town 94 Figure 33 The bridge over the ditch 96 Figure 34 Extract from Peutinger Table 96 Figure 35a The Kazrik gorge from the north 99 Figure 35b The east bank fort at the Kasrik gorge 99 Figure 36. Kasrik gorge and Dera 100 Figure 37 Upper Dera/Zarnuqa 101 Figure 38 The ‘abandoned town’ (Lower Dera/Hlahlah?): interpretation AC 102 Figure 39 One of the peaks above Fenik 104 Figure 40 Hendek/Bezabde from Fenik 105 Figure 41 A tower in the wall of Bezabde (Hendek) 105 Figure 42 a) ‘Asurkalesi’, west of Damlarca/Fenik and b),c),d) other possible early fortresses west of Fenik Google Earth 15/04/2015, except c) 106 Figure 43 Tower south of Güclükonak 107 Figure 44 View looking SW from the road climbing to the plateau; promontory of Sulak to right 108 Figure 45 a, b, c, d Three hans and a bridge in the Tigris/Bohtan valley 110 Figure 46 Tilli/Cattepe 114 Figure 47 Redvan/Başari 116 Figure 48 Stone structure at Arzen 118 Figure 49 Zercel Kale 119 Figure 50 Extract from Google Earth (6/4/2017) to illustrate Chlomaron/Kulimmeri discussion 120 Figure 51 Artukid bridge at Hasankeyf 121 Figure 52 The ‘citadel’ of Hasankeyf 123 Figure 53 Ancient tower in the city wall, Silvan 127 Figure 54 Bridge at Köprüköy, east of Bismil 128 Figure 55 City walls of Amida 132 Figure 56a Eğil citadel 134 Figure 56b The Royal Tombs at Egil 134 Figure 57 Dibne/Solali bridge 136 Figure 58 The Dibne resurgence at Birkleyin 137 Figure 59a ‘Sunken city’ of lake Hazar 140 Figure 59b Satellite image of sunken city with enhancement; 141 Acknowledgements 142 Conclusion 142 Bibliography 143 Ancient history,geography of the ancient world,Assyria,Urartu,Rome,Parthia,Sassanian Persia,ancient roads,river transport in the ancient world,impact of dams on cultural heritage. This book explores the upper valley of the Tigris during antiquity. The area is little known to scholarship, and study is currently handicapped by the security situation in southeast Turkey and by the imminent completion of the Ilisu dam that will lead to the destruction of many archaeological sites, some of which have not been investigated.