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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