Little Zab
Encyclopedia
The Little Zab originates in Iran
and joins the Tigris
in Iraq
. The river is approximately 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) long and drains an area of c. 22000 square kilometres (8,494.2 sq mi). The river is fed by rainfall and snowmelt, resulting in a peak discharge
in spring and low water in summer and early fall. Two dams have been built on the Little Zab, regulating the river flow, providing water for irrigation
and generating hydroelectricity
. The Zagros Mountains
have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic
, but the earliest archaeological site in the Little Zab basin, Barda Balka, dates to the Middle Palaeolithic
. Human occupation of the Little Zab basin has been attested for every period since then.
. In its upper reaches, the course of the Little Zab is determined by the alignment of the major mountain chains that make up the Zagros. Thus, the river flows through valleys that are predominantly aligned along a northwest–southeast axis, parallel to the major mountain chains of the Zagros, only to change its direction abruptly where it cuts through these chains in narrow gorges. The Little Zab enters the Assyrian plain south of Dukan, where it first assumes a roughly westward course before turning to the southwest upstream from the town of Altun Kopru and uniting with the Tigris near the town of Shaykh. Most tributaries join the Little Zab upstream from Dukan, with the largest being the Baneh River and the Qala Chulan. A number of smaller streams joined the Little Zab in the Ranya Plain, which is now partly inundated by Lake Dukan
.
Different estimates have been given for the length of the Little Zab: 380 kilometres (236.1 mi), 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) and 456 kilometres (283.3 mi). For a short distance, the Little Zab forms the border between Iran and Iraq, and along its lower course it also constitutes the border between Erbil Governorate and Sulaymaniyah Governorate, and Erbil and Kirkuk Governorates. The river is fed by snowmelt and rainfall, resulting in a peak discharge in the period February–May. Low water levels are recorded for the period July–October. The average discharge of the Little Zab is 197.8 cubic metres (6,985.2 cu ft) per second, whereas the maximum recorded discharge is 3420 cubic metres (120,776.2 cu ft) per second. Average annual discharge is 7.2 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi). Because of its torrential nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Little Zab, and the Great Zab
as well, as "demoniacally possessed".
of the Little Zab covers 21475 –; from the location where the Dukan Dam
has been constructed, it measures 11700 square kilometres (4,517.4 sq mi). The larger part of the basin (74%) is located within Iraqi borders; the remainder is in Iran. On the north, it is bordered by the Great Zab basin while on the south it is adjoined by the basins of the Adhaim and Diyala
rivers. The parallel mountain ranges of the Zagros consist of limestone
fold
s rising to elevations over 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft). Water erosion has filled the Little Zab valley and the foothill
zone south-west of the Zagros with layers of gravel
, conglomerate
, and sandstone
. The Ranya Plain is the largest valley in the Little Zab drainage basin, and the second-largest in the Iraqi Zagros behind the Shahrazor.
The Little Zab crosses very diverse climatic and ecological zones. Annual precipitation along the course of the river diminishes from over 1000 millimetre in the Iranian Zagros to less than 200 millimetre at the confluence with the Tigris. Average temperatures follow a similar gradient, with the mountain valleys generally experiencing colder winters than the foothill zone, while summers in the latter are hotter. In the high Zagros, three different ecozones can be distinguished. The tree line is at approximately 1800 metres (5,905.5 ft); above which herbs and shrubs predominate. The dominant vegetation between 1800 and 610 m (5,905.5 and 2,001.3 ) was an open oak forest (Quercus aegilops
), but not much of this original vegetation remains. The river valleys are characterized by water-loving plants, and marshy areas were in the past – in the absence of drainage – prone to malaria
. Although the foothill zone, especially the plain of Arbil, is heavily cultivated, patches of natural vegetation remain, with herbs in the genus Phlomis
being very common.
. The Dukan Dam was constructed between 1957 and 1961 as a multi-purpose arch dam
upstream from the town of Dukan. The dam’s crest is 116 metres (380.6 ft) above the riverbed (516 metres (1,692.9 ft) amsl) and 360 metres (1,181.1 ft) long. Its functions are to regulate the flow of the Little Zab, to store water for irrigation in its reservoir
(Lake Dukan) and to provide hydroelectric power. The maximum storage capacity of the dam’s reservoir is 6.97 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi). Because the flooding of Lake Dukan would lead to the submersion of numerous archaeological sites, an archaeological survey
and rescue excavations
were carried out in the endangered region – notably at the sites of Tell Shemshara
and Tell Bazmusian
. The Dibis Dam
is located approximately 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) upstream from the confluence with the Tigris and was constructed between 1960 and 1965. The embankment dam
is 376 metres (1,233.6 ft) long and 23.75 metres (77.9 ft) wide and provides water for the Kirkuk
Irrigation Project.
is not well known from an archaeological point of view, the available evidence nevertheless shows that the relatively favourable ecological conditions of the Iraqi part of the Zagros attracted human groups from early prehistory onwards. Lower Palaeolithic archaeological sites have to date not been found in the Iraqi part of the Zagros Mountains, but they are known from the Iranian side where numerous cave sites have been found during archaeological surveys. Information on the early prehistory of the wider Little Zab region itself comes from the excavations carried out by the Oriental Institute at archaeological sites east of Kirkuk
and south of the Little Zab. The earliest evidence for human occupation in this region comes from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Barda Balka, where Late Acheulean
stone tools have been found. Archaeological research elsewhere in the Zagros confirms the importance of this area to early human hunter-gatherer
s – including groups of Neanderthal
s as evidenced by the finds in Shanidar Cave in the Great Zab basin. Mousterian
stone tools that were used by either Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans
have recently been excavated in Arbil
, between the Little Zab and the Great Zab. Both open-air and cave sites are attested for the Zarzian culture
, which straddles the Upper
and Epipalaeolithic
periods. After the Zarzian, the focus of human occupation shifted from cave-sites, which continue to be used as secondary or seasonal occupation sites up to today, to open-air sites and it was in this period that the trend toward domestication
of plants and animals set in. Domestication of the goat probably occurred first in this area of the Zagros. Jarmo
, a tell
east of Kirkuk, was a Neolithic
village community that practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Pottery occurs from the early occupation levels onward; in its later phases it resembles pottery from Hassuna
. The early occupation of Tell Shemshara, in the Ranya Plain, can also be dated to this period. The archaeological fieldwork in the Ranya Plain showed that this area was occupied during the Ubaid
, Uruk
and Ninevite V periods – roughly from the middle 6th to the mid-3rd millennium BCE. Evidence for these periods comes from the Citadel of Arbil
as well.
The region enters history at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE, when Arbil is mentioned as Urbilum by king Shulgi
of the Ur III dynasty
. From that time onward, the Little Zab basin became increasingly entangled in the affairs of the successive Mesopotamian empires that sought control over the Zagros Mountains. In the early second millennium BCE, king Shamshi-Adad
of Upper Mesopotamia waged war to the land of Qabra, which was probably located along the lower course of the Little Zab, and installed garrisons in the conquered towns. The archive of clay tablet
s found at Tell Shemshara (ancient Shusharra) shows that the local governor switched allegiance and became a vassal of Shamshi-Adad. During the 14th century BCE, the region was part of the Mitanni
an kingdom, with sites like Nuzi
and Tell al-Fakhar
, south of the Little Zab, yielding clay tablet
archives for this period. During the late second–early first millennia BCE, the lower Little Zab basin belonged to the heartland of the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian empires. After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, control of the Zagros shifted first to the Medes
and in 550 BCE to the Achaemenid Empire
. The last Achaemenid ruler Darius III
was defeated by Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela
in northern Iraq and after Alexander’s death in 323, the area fell to his Seleucid
successors.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and joins the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The river is approximately 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) long and drains an area of c. 22000 square kilometres (8,494.2 sq mi). The river is fed by rainfall and snowmelt, resulting in a peak discharge
Discharge (hydrology)
In hydrology, discharge is the volume rate of water flow, including any suspended solids , dissolved chemical species and/or biologic material , which is transported through a given cross-sectional area...
in spring and low water in summer and early fall. Two dams have been built on the Little Zab, regulating the river flow, providing water for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and generating hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
. The Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
The Zagros Mountains are the largest mountain range in Iran and Iraq. With a total length of 1,500 km , from northwestern Iran, and roughly correlating with Iran's western border, the Zagros range spans the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau and ends at the Strait of...
have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
, but the earliest archaeological site in the Little Zab basin, Barda Balka, dates to the Middle Palaeolithic
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
. Human occupation of the Little Zab basin has been attested for every period since then.
Course
The Little Zab rises in the Zagros Mountains in Iran at an elevation of circa 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft) amslAbove mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. In its upper reaches, the course of the Little Zab is determined by the alignment of the major mountain chains that make up the Zagros. Thus, the river flows through valleys that are predominantly aligned along a northwest–southeast axis, parallel to the major mountain chains of the Zagros, only to change its direction abruptly where it cuts through these chains in narrow gorges. The Little Zab enters the Assyrian plain south of Dukan, where it first assumes a roughly westward course before turning to the southwest upstream from the town of Altun Kopru and uniting with the Tigris near the town of Shaykh. Most tributaries join the Little Zab upstream from Dukan, with the largest being the Baneh River and the Qala Chulan. A number of smaller streams joined the Little Zab in the Ranya Plain, which is now partly inundated by Lake Dukan
Lake Dukan
Lake Dukan is the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is located close to the city of Ranya, and is a reservoir on the Little Zab created by the construction of the Dukan Dam. The Dukan Dam was built between 1954 and 1959 as a multi-purpose dam to provide water storage, irrigation and...
.
Different estimates have been given for the length of the Little Zab: 380 kilometres (236.1 mi), 400 kilometres (248.5 mi) and 456 kilometres (283.3 mi). For a short distance, the Little Zab forms the border between Iran and Iraq, and along its lower course it also constitutes the border between Erbil Governorate and Sulaymaniyah Governorate, and Erbil and Kirkuk Governorates. The river is fed by snowmelt and rainfall, resulting in a peak discharge in the period February–May. Low water levels are recorded for the period July–October. The average discharge of the Little Zab is 197.8 cubic metres (6,985.2 cu ft) per second, whereas the maximum recorded discharge is 3420 cubic metres (120,776.2 cu ft) per second. Average annual discharge is 7.2 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi). Because of its torrential nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Little Zab, and the Great Zab
Great Zab
The Great Zab , , , ) is an approximately long river flowing through Turkey and Iraq. It rises in Turkey near Lake Van and joins the Tigris in Iraq south of Mosul. The drainage basin of the Great Zab covers approximately , and during its course, the rivers collects the water from a large number...
as well, as "demoniacally possessed".
Watershed
The drainage basinDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of the Little Zab covers 21475 –; from the location where the Dukan Dam
Dukan Dam
The Dukan Dam is a multi-purpose concrete arch dam in As Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. It impounds the Little Zab, thereby creating Lake Dukan. The Dukan Dam was built between 1954 and 1959 whereas its power station became fully operational in 1979...
has been constructed, it measures 11700 square kilometres (4,517.4 sq mi). The larger part of the basin (74%) is located within Iraqi borders; the remainder is in Iran. On the north, it is bordered by the Great Zab basin while on the south it is adjoined by the basins of the Adhaim and Diyala
Diyala River
The Diyala River after Darban-e Khan Dam:Kurdish: Sirwan, سيروان, , Persian: سیروان دیاله, is a river and tributary of the Tigris that runs mainly through Eastern Iraq but also Western Iran. It covers a total distance of ....
rivers. The parallel mountain ranges of the Zagros consist of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
fold
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
s rising to elevations over 3000 metres (9,842.5 ft). Water erosion has filled the Little Zab valley and the foothill
Foothills
Foothills are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills to the adjacent topographically high mountains.-Examples:...
zone south-west of the Zagros with layers of gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
, conglomerate
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
, and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. The Ranya Plain is the largest valley in the Little Zab drainage basin, and the second-largest in the Iraqi Zagros behind the Shahrazor.
The Little Zab crosses very diverse climatic and ecological zones. Annual precipitation along the course of the river diminishes from over 1000 millimetre in the Iranian Zagros to less than 200 millimetre at the confluence with the Tigris. Average temperatures follow a similar gradient, with the mountain valleys generally experiencing colder winters than the foothill zone, while summers in the latter are hotter. In the high Zagros, three different ecozones can be distinguished. The tree line is at approximately 1800 metres (5,905.5 ft); above which herbs and shrubs predominate. The dominant vegetation between 1800 and 610 m (5,905.5 and 2,001.3 ) was an open oak forest (Quercus aegilops
Quercus macrolepis
Quercus macrolepis, the Valonia oak, is a tree in the family Fagaceae.It is found in the Southern Mediterranean, in the Balkans including the Greek Islands, in Morocco, and in Asia Minor.-Description:...
), but not much of this original vegetation remains. The river valleys are characterized by water-loving plants, and marshy areas were in the past – in the absence of drainage – prone to malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
. Although the foothill zone, especially the plain of Arbil, is heavily cultivated, patches of natural vegetation remain, with herbs in the genus Phlomis
Phlomis
Phlomis is a genus of about 100 species of herbaceous plants, subshrubs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native from the Mediterranean region east across central Asia to China. Common names include Jerusalem Sage and Lampwick Plant....
being very common.
River modifications
Two dams have been constructed on the Little Zab; the Dukan Dam and the Dibis DamDibis Dam
The Dibis Dam or Dibis Regulator is a gravel-alluvial fill embankment dam located on Lesser Zab River approximately 130 km upstream from its confluence with the Tigris River. The dam is located directly north of the town of Dibis in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq...
. The Dukan Dam was constructed between 1957 and 1961 as a multi-purpose arch dam
Arch dam
An arch dam is a type of dam that is curved and commonly built with concrete. The arch dam is a structure that is designed to curve upstream so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, compressing and strengthening the structure as it pushes...
upstream from the town of Dukan. The dam’s crest is 116 metres (380.6 ft) above the riverbed (516 metres (1,692.9 ft) amsl) and 360 metres (1,181.1 ft) long. Its functions are to regulate the flow of the Little Zab, to store water for irrigation in its reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
(Lake Dukan) and to provide hydroelectric power. The maximum storage capacity of the dam’s reservoir is 6.97 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi). Because the flooding of Lake Dukan would lead to the submersion of numerous archaeological sites, an archaeological survey
Archaeological field survey
Archaeological field survey is the method by which archaeologists search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human cultures across a large area...
and rescue excavations
Rescue archaeology
Rescue archaeology, sometimes called "preventive" or "salvage" archaeology, is archaeological survey and excavation carried out in areas threatened by, or revealed by, construction or other development...
were carried out in the endangered region – notably at the sites of Tell Shemshara
Tell Shemshara
Tell Shemshara is an archaeological site located along the Little Zab in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, northeastern Iraq. The site was excavated between 1957 and 1959 by Danish and Iraqi archaeologists and is now inundated by Lake Dukan. The excavations showed that the site was occupied, although not...
and Tell Bazmusian
Tell Bazmusian
Tell Bazmusian is an archaeological site on the right bank of the Little Zab in the Ranya Plain . The site was excavated between 1956 and 1958 by Iraqi archaeologists as part of a salvage operation to document cultural remains that would be flooded by Lake Dukan, the reservoir created by the Dukan...
. The Dibis Dam
Dibis Dam
The Dibis Dam or Dibis Regulator is a gravel-alluvial fill embankment dam located on Lesser Zab River approximately 130 km upstream from its confluence with the Tigris River. The dam is located directly north of the town of Dibis in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq...
is located approximately 130 kilometres (80.8 mi) upstream from the confluence with the Tigris and was constructed between 1960 and 1965. The embankment dam
Embankment dam
An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...
is 376 metres (1,233.6 ft) long and 23.75 metres (77.9 ft) wide and provides water for the Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
Irrigation Project.
History
Although Iraqi KurdistanIraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
is not well known from an archaeological point of view, the available evidence nevertheless shows that the relatively favourable ecological conditions of the Iraqi part of the Zagros attracted human groups from early prehistory onwards. Lower Palaeolithic archaeological sites have to date not been found in the Iraqi part of the Zagros Mountains, but they are known from the Iranian side where numerous cave sites have been found during archaeological surveys. Information on the early prehistory of the wider Little Zab region itself comes from the excavations carried out by the Oriental Institute at archaeological sites east of Kirkuk
Kirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
and south of the Little Zab. The earliest evidence for human occupation in this region comes from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Barda Balka, where Late Acheulean
Acheulean
Acheulean is the name given to an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture associated with early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia and Europe. Acheulean tools are typically found with Homo erectus remains...
stone tools have been found. Archaeological research elsewhere in the Zagros confirms the importance of this area to early human hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s – including groups of Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
s as evidenced by the finds in Shanidar Cave in the Great Zab basin. Mousterian
Mousterian
Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age.-Naming:...
stone tools that were used by either Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans
Anatomically modern humans
The term anatomically modern humans in paleoanthropology refers to early individuals of Homo sapiens with an appearance consistent with the range of phenotypes in modern humans....
have recently been excavated in Arbil
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
, between the Little Zab and the Great Zab. Both open-air and cave sites are attested for the Zarzian culture
Zarzian culture
Zarzian culture is an archaeological culture of late Paleolithic and Mesolithic in Iraq, Iran, Central Asia.The period of the culture is estimated about 18,000-8,000 years BC...
, which straddles the Upper
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
and Epipalaeolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
periods. After the Zarzian, the focus of human occupation shifted from cave-sites, which continue to be used as secondary or seasonal occupation sites up to today, to open-air sites and it was in this period that the trend toward domestication
Domestication
Domestication or taming is the process whereby a population of animals or plants, through a process of selection, becomes accustomed to human provision and control. In the Convention on Biological Diversity a domesticated species is defined as a 'species in which the evolutionary process has been...
of plants and animals set in. Domestication of the goat probably occurred first in this area of the Zagros. Jarmo
Jarmo
Jarmo is an archeological site located in northern Iraq on the foothills of Zagros Mountains east of Kirkuk city. It is known as the oldest agricultural community in the world, dating back to 7000 BCE. Jarmo is broadly contemporary with such other important Neolithic sites such as Jericho in the...
, a tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
east of Kirkuk, was a Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
village community that practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Pottery occurs from the early occupation levels onward; in its later phases it resembles pottery from Hassuna
Hassuna
Hassuna or Tell Hassuna is an ancient Mesopotamian site situated in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq west of the Tigris river, south of Mosul and about 35 km southwest of Nineveh.-History:...
. The early occupation of Tell Shemshara, in the Ranya Plain, can also be dated to this period. The archaeological fieldwork in the Ranya Plain showed that this area was occupied during the Ubaid
Ubaid period
The Ubaid period is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The tell of al-`Ubaid west of nearby Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern...
, Uruk
Uruk period
The Uruk period existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, following the Ubaid period and succeeded by the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was...
and Ninevite V periods – roughly from the middle 6th to the mid-3rd millennium BCE. Evidence for these periods comes from the Citadel of Arbil
Citadel of Arbil
The Citadel of Arbil is a tell or occupied mound, and the historical city centre of Arbil in Iraq. It has been claimed that the site is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the world....
as well.
The region enters history at the end of the 3rd millennium BCE, when Arbil is mentioned as Urbilum by king Shulgi
Shulgi
Shulgi of Urim was the second king of the "Sumerian Renaissance". He reigned for 48 years, dated to 2029 BCE–1982 BCE...
of the Ur III dynasty
Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also known as the Neo-Sumerian Empire or the Ur III Empire refers simultaneously to a 21st to 20th century BC Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state that some historians regard as a nascent empire...
. From that time onward, the Little Zab basin became increasingly entangled in the affairs of the successive Mesopotamian empires that sought control over the Zagros Mountains. In the early second millennium BCE, king Shamshi-Adad
Shamshi-Adad
Shamshi-Adad may refer to:*Shamshi-Adad I*Shamshi-Adad II*Shamshi-Adad III*Shamshi-Adad IV*Shamshi-Adad V...
of Upper Mesopotamia waged war to the land of Qabra, which was probably located along the lower course of the Little Zab, and installed garrisons in the conquered towns. The archive of clay tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
s found at Tell Shemshara (ancient Shusharra) shows that the local governor switched allegiance and became a vassal of Shamshi-Adad. During the 14th century BCE, the region was part of the Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
an kingdom, with sites like Nuzi
Nuzi
Nuzi was an ancient Mesopotamian city southwest of Kirkuk in modern Al Ta'amim Governorate of Iraq, located near the Tigris river...
and Tell al-Fakhar
Tell al-Fakhar
Tell al-Fakhar is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Kirkuk Governorate, northeastern Iraq. Excavations were carried out at the site between 1967 and 1969 by the Directorate-General of Antiquities of Iraq. The site measures and is high...
, south of the Little Zab, yielding clay tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
archives for this period. During the late second–early first millennia BCE, the lower Little Zab basin belonged to the heartland of the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian empires. After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, control of the Zagros shifted first to the Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
and in 550 BCE to the Achaemenid Empire
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
. The last Achaemenid ruler Darius III
Darius III of Persia
Darius III , also known by his given name of Codomannus, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC....
was defeated by Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela
Battle of Gaugamela
The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.-Location:Darius chose a flat, open plain...
in northern Iraq and after Alexander’s death in 323, the area fell to his Seleucid
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...
successors.