During 1981 and 1982 an immense amount of archaeological research has been undertaken in Iraq and reports on some fifty sites are included below. Most of this research has been done by the Iraqi State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage either on its own or in co-operation with foreign expeditions on the Salvage Projects. The Hamrin Dam Salvage Project has continued on two sites of exceptional importance, Tell Haddad and Tell Suleimeh. The Haditha Dam Salvage Project has continued at full strength and the Eski Mosul Dam Salvage Project has now started. By the end of 1982 nine sites had been investigated and by June 1983 that number has more than doubled. At the same time sites elsewhere in Iraq have not been neglected, both those threatened by development and those investigated for research and tourism.

In the compilation of these reports we are very grateful to Dr. Mu‘ayyad Sa'id, the President of the State Organization, for permission to publish them in Iraq. We would also like to thank Dr. Behnam Abu as-Soof, Dr. Muhammad Baqir al-Husseini, Dr. Abd-as-Sittar al-‘Azzawi, and Sd. Abd-ul-Qadir Hassan, the Directors-General for the Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern Regions, for the considerable assistance they have given us. As usual our greatest debt is to the excavators of the various sites for freely telling us about their discoveries. We must also apologize to them for any mistakes we have made in summarizing the results from the excavations.