The Cultural Landscape of the Region of Koi-Sanjay (Koya)

Summary

The dynamics of the expansion of Assyria involved the creation of a network of infrastructures which enabled the movement not only of goods and people, but also of technologies and ideas. Excavations at Satu Qala (Iraqi Kurdistan), the Assyrian provincial capital of Idu has highlighted the role of its region within the network. This area, located along the valley of the Lower Zab, served as a multicultural borderland both between southern and northern Iraq and between the valley of the Tigris and western Iran from at least the second millennium BCE on. The data gained by the excavations at Satu Qala combined with preliminary data gained by the new archaeological survey project of the region of Koi-Sanjaq provides some working models which can be applied for a better understanding of the regional infrastructural system. This paper will focus on the links between the regional infrastructural network of the region and the transnational communication system discussing the still unsolved problem of the cultural and economic connections of the capital of Idu with its hinterland.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• A New Archaeological Frontier: Urban Settlements and Landscapes in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq

Keywords

Spatial Coverage