A new cuneiform archive discovered in 2018 at Kunara in Iraqi Kurdistan

31 March 2019

On the right bank of the Tanjaro River in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the foothills of the Zagros, 5 km south-west of the city of Souleymaniyeh, lies the site of Kunara. Little historical data exists on this region, which was inaccessible during the time of Saddam Hussein.

The excavations started on this site in 2012 under the direction of Christine Kepinski, as part of the Peramagron archaeological mission, have been continuing since 2015 under the direction of Aline Tenu, with the support of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Between 2015 and 2017, a first archive of one hundred and ten cuneiform tablets was unearthed in a buried building of Site C to the south of the site, in the lower town. In 2018, a new cuneiform archive was discovered in a monumental building on Site E, this time in the north of the site. These finds will help to clarify the history of Kunara during the last two centuries of the 3rd millennium BCE[1].

Kunara covers about ten hectares and is organised in two tells with an upper city to the west (Site A), and a lower city to the east, where all the other sites opened by the archaeologists are located (B-E). On the upper city, a large trench was opened to provide a chronological sequence of the site's occupation.

In the lower town, Site B revealed the existence of a monumental building with a forty-metre-long façade. The fine ceramics found inside seem to be related to receptions and the sharing of meals: beef, pork and goat, probably reared in the area, and wild species obtained by hunting. This building was destroyed by fire.

In 2017 and 2018, numerous flint and obsidian tools were excavated at Kunara, particularly at Site B. They were found in the vicinity of moulds for the manufacture of metal objects and suggest the existence of an artisanal workshop. These objects testify to trade with northern Syria, south-eastern Anatolia and southern Iraq. We also note the presence of a carnelian bead that may have come from the Indus Valley, and a cylinder seal depicting a scene of presentation to a goddess wearing a horned tiara, typical of Mesopotamian iconography.

One of the buildings uncovered at Site C, a semi-buried cellar, yielded a rich collection of storage jars, some decorated with animal figures, as well as an administrative archive written in Akkadian and consisting of more than a hundred cuneiform tablets. These tablets, deciphered by Philippe Clancier, record the entry and exit of quantities of different varieties of flour – barley, emmer, wheat and perhaps malt – suggesting the existence of a "flour office". These texts mention unknown localities, clearly non-Akkadian names, a king or governor (ENSI), and a minister or equivalent (SUKKAL).

In 2018, a building at least twenty metres long, discovered at Site E, was excavated, revealing the existence of a cuneiform archive in a poor state of conservation. One of the tablets, probably dealing with large quantities of grain, reveals the hitherto unknown existence of a local unit of measurement of capacity, the GUR of Subartu. In the texts of the Akkadian rulers, this term refers to the north-east of Mesopotamia.

This is the first time that tablets dating from the 3rd millennium have been unearthed in Iraqi Kurdistan. They shed new light on this region, which until now has been little known, and only indirectly, through the Mesopotamian conquerors. Kunara, whose ancient name has not yet been identified, could be part of Lullubum. According to the Victory Stele of the Akkadian king Narâm-Sîn (2254-218), preserved in the Louvre, the king won a victory over a certain Satuni, king of the Lullubi, a population of Zagros mountain dwellers, regularly referred to as "barbarians". This region was perhaps annexed by the Sumerian king Shulgi in the 21st century BCE. Aline Tenu assumes that Kunara could be one of the main cities of the Lullubi, or even their capital. The presence of proper names foreign to Mesopotamia allows us to consider the existence of a local language, and the use of a unit of measurement peculiar to this city would testify to its independence, at least temporarily. We hope that the new texts uncovered in 2018 will allow us to know more about Kunara and surrounding areas at the end of the 3rd millennium, before its destruction by fire.

To find out more: the Carbone 14 programme of 31 March 2019 on France Culture was devoted to Kunara.

[1] Since 2015, the Kunara excavations have been the subject of regular and detailed reports in the journal Akkadica: A. Tenu with contributions from Ph. Clancier, F. Marchand, D. Sarmiento-Castillo and C. Verdellet, "Kunara. Rapport préliminaire sur la quatrième campagne de fouilles (2016)", Akkadica 139, pp. 1-72; A. Tenu with contributions from M. Altaweel, Ph. Clancier, F. Marchand, N. Ouraghi, B. Perello, C. Verdellet, 2016, "Kunara, une ville du IIIe millénaire dans les piémonts du Zagros. Preliminary report on the third excavation campaign (2015)", Akkadica 137, pp. 109-182. The 2017 report is currently in press.