In search of the lost city of Netonia

The mountain fortress of Rabana-Mirculi in modern-day Iraqi Kurdistan was one of many principal regional facilities of the Parthian Empire, which spanned elements of Iran and Mesopotamia about 2,000 years in the past. That is the conclusion reached by a crew of archaeologists led by Dr. Michael Brown, a researcher on the Institute of Prehistory, Primitive Historical past and Archeology of the Close to East on the College of Heidelberg. Brown and his Iraqi colleagues studied the ruins of the citadel. Their work gives essential insights into settlement constructions and the historical past of the Parthians, about whom there may be little data, says Dr. Brown, though historical past information file them as a serious power.

Furthermore, Rabana-Mirculli stands out as the misplaced metropolis of Netonia. The stone fortress of Rabana-Merculi is situated on the southwest sides of Mount Peramagron within the Zagros Mountains, and contains not solely fortifications practically 4 kilometers lengthy but additionally two smaller settlements for which they’re named. As a consequence of its excessive place on the mountain, mapping of the positioning was solely potential with using drones. Throughout the framework of a number of excavations performed since 2009 and the final between 2019 and 2022, the worldwide crew of researchers was capable of research the archaeological stays on the website. Buildings which have survived to today point out army use and embrace the stays of a number of rectangular buildings which will have served as barracks.

The researchers additionally discovered a non secular advanced possible devoted to the Iranian Zoroastrian goddess Anahita. The petroglyphs on the entrance to the fortress are of explicit curiosity, together with the geographical location of the fortification within the catchment space of ​​the Decrease Zab, identified in antiquity by its Greek identify Capros. Researchers suspect that Rabbana-Mercoli stands out as the misplaced metropolis of Netonia. Up to now, the presence of the royal metropolis referred to as Natounia on the Kapros River, or alternatively as Natounissarokerta, has been documented solely on a number of cash courting again to the first century BC.

In line with one scientific interpretation, the identify of the place Natounissarokerta consists of the royal identify Natounissar, founding father of the royal Adiabene dynasty, and the Parthian phrase for moat or fort. Dr. says. Brown: “That description could possibly be utilized to Rabana-Merculi.” In line with the archaeologist in Heidelberg, the frescoes on the entrance to the fortress might depict the founding father of town, both Natan Nasr or a direct descendant. The researcher explains that the inscription resembles the form of a king discovered roughly 230 kilometers away in Hatra, a website wealthy in finds from the Parthian interval. On the jap frontier of Adiabene lies the mountain fortress of Rabana-Mercoli, which was as soon as dominated by the kings of a neighborhood dynasty depending on the Parthians. It could have been used, amongst different issues, to have interaction in commerce with pastoral tribes within the backcountry, preserve diplomatic relations, or exert army stress.

“The good effort that should be expended in planning, constructing and sustaining a fort Of this magnitude signifies authorities actions”, says Dr. Brown. The present analysis in Rabana-Mirculli is being funded by the German Analysis Basis as a part of the precedence program 2176, “Iranian Highlands: Resilience and Integration of Historical Societies.”

The goal of the analysis undertaking is to analyze the Parthian settlements and neighborhood within the Zagros Highlands on each side of the Iran-Iraq border. Throughout current excavations at Rabbana-Al-Marqouli, Dr. Brown collaborated with colleagues from the Directorate of Antiquities in Sulaymaniyah, a metropolis within the autonomous Kurdistan Area of Iraq. The outcomes of the Heidelberg investigations have been revealed within the journal Antiquity.

Made by antiquity