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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Offerings to Urartian God Found in Qalaichi Tappeh
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24 September 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archeological excavations in Qalaich Tappeh (also Tepe - archaeological hill or mound) in the city of Bukan resulted in discovery of iron arrowheads, enameled bricks engraved with legendary designs as well as the religious center of Qalaichi Tappeh. Some of the discovered arrowheads are very similar to those offered to Haldi, the national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, during religious rituals, according to CHN.
Qalaichi Tappeh is located in West Azarbaijan province next to Qalaichi village, eight kilometers northeast of the city of Bukan. Some historical evidence dating back to the Iron Age II (1200-850 BCE) and Iron Age III (850-550 BCE) have been traced in this archeological site.
Reza Heidari, archeologist and member of excavation team in Qalaichi Tappeh, explained that this season of archeological excavations in Qalaichi Tappeh was very fruitful altogether and some important achievements were reached during this season of excavations including the discovery of the religious center of the hill.
“The religious center of the hill and the wall which separates this part from the residential area were discovered during our excavations. Most probably the discovered arrowheads in Qalaichi hill were used during religious ceremonies and some of them are very similar to the ones offered to Urartian God of War, Haldi, for victory in the wars,” said Heidari.
According to Heidari, a large number of enameled bricks engraved with legendary, animal, checkered, and human designs such as a winged human and naked goddess, as well as some ornamentation objects, a large number of necklace beads made of mineral stones, bronze and opal, some glass pieces and different kinds of big clay studs which were used for decorating thick earthen walls have also been discovered during the excavations in Qalaichi Tappeh.
Qalaichi historical hill is the only place in which archeological excavations for identifying the seat of Mannaean kingdom has been undertaken. Mannai were an ancient people of unknown origin who lived in the territory of present northwestern province of West Azarbaijan in Iran around the 10th to 7th centuries BCE. At that time they were neighbors of the empires of Assyria and Urartu.
Archeologists
are also determined to excavate the residential areas of Qalaichi Tappeh during
the next excavation seasons to find out whether during the Urartian period (1000- 585
BCE) the architectural style of this area was under the influence of Neo-Assyrian
Empire (911-612 BCE) or not.
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Extracted From/Source: Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) Please
note
the above-news is NOT a "copy & paste" version from
the mentioned-source. The news/article above has been modified with
the following interventions by CAIS: Spelling corrections;
-Rectification and correction of the historical facts and data; -
Providing additional historical information within the text; -Removing any
unnecessary, irrelevant & repetitive information. All these measures have been taken in order to ensure that the published news provided by CAIS is coherent, accurate and suitable for academics and cultural enthusiasts who visit the CAIS website.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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