Greek team discovers archaeological sites during excavations in Erbil, Iraq

ERBIL, Iraq — The excavation mission of the Greek University of Athens in Erbil, Iraq, concluded with a closing ceremony held on Sunday in the Erbil Citadel.

The event was attended by Director of Excavations Costantinos Kobanias and Head of the Directorate of Antiquities of Erbil Nader Babiker. This year’s important results of the excavation campaign were presented during the event.

Among the results was the discovery of new archaeological sites by the University of Athens team, in cooperation with the Erbil Department of Antiquities team, at Tal Nader and Tal Baqerta approximately 30 km south of Erbil.

Tal Nader is considered one of the most important archaeological hills in Erbil and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Its history dates back some 7,000 years, passing through the era of Hassuna, Halaf, Ubaid, and Warkaa, to the medieval and modern Assyrian era 1,500–612 B.C.

Pottery discovered at the Tal Baqerta site indicates that it was used from the Chalcolithic era to the Islamic era.