Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2014
In 2012, the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) conducted its first season of fieldwork. The project's goal is the complete mapping of the archaeological landscape of Erbil, with an emphasis on the Neo-Assyrian and Hellenistic periods. It will test the hypothesis that the Neo-Assyrian landscape was closely planned. This first report emphasizes the project's field methodology, especially the use of a variety of satellite remote sensing imagery. Our preliminary results suggest that the plain was part of the urbanized world of Mesopotamia, with new cities of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Sasanian era identified.
The project would not have been possible without the permission and encouragement of our colleagues in the General Directorate of Antiquities for the KRG (directed by Abubakir Zainaddin [Mala Awat]), the Erbil Directorate of Antiquities (directed by Haydar Hussein), and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage in Baghdad (especially its former director Qais Rashid). We are thankful for the logistical help of the KRG's Representation in Washington DC, especially its Director of Culture and Community, Najat Abdullah.
EPAS benefited greatly from the advice, collegiality, and intellectual stimulation of our new academic colleagues in the Kurdistan Region, especially Olivier Rouault and Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault (Qasr Shemamok excavations), Konstantinos Kopanias (Tell Nader and Tell Baqrta excavations), Daniele Morandi Bonacossi (Land of Nineveh Regional Project), Rafal Kolinski (Upper Greater Zab Archaeological Reconnaissance), and Karel Nováček (Czech Archaeological Mission to Erbil). We owe a special debt to David Michelmore (Principal of the Consultancy for Conservation) and Jessica Johnson (Academic Director of the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage) for hosting the team members and introducing us to Erbil society.
Funding for the 2012 EPAS field season was provided by Harvard University, the American School of Prehistoric Research, and the University of Groningen.
This manuscript benefited from references and critical comments by Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault, Olivier Rouault, and Karel Novadek.