Archaeological Project

Report on the Biblical Archaeology Review

Ricardo Cabral
The Kani Shaie Archaeological Project: Investigating Early Bronze Age Kurdistan

By Steve Renette, André Tomé and Ricardo Cabral

Abstract: During the first season of excavations in September 2013, the Kani Shaie Archaeological Project (KSAP)1 explored the history of occupation at Kani Shaie in the Bazyan Valley in Iraqi Kurdistan. In this short report, the directors of KSAP describe the preliminary results of the first systematic investigation in the region of a center dating to the late fourth and early third millennium B.C.E.

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Featured in Science Magazine

Ricardo Cabral
Kurdistan Offers an Open Window on the Ancient Fertile Crescent

By Andrew Curry

At the center of Erbil–one of the largest cities in northern Iraq and the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan–is a reminder of its roots: an ancient citadel on an imposing mound containing a layer cake of ruins from millennia of occupation. Pottery fragments found on the slopes of this mound, or tell, show that continuous settlement stretches back at least 7500 years. Even Erbil’s name has endured: Tablets from about 2200 B.C.E. mention the city of Irbilum.

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