Darband-i Balula Relief

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The Darband-i Balula relief is found to the east of the modern village of Balula, near the Iranian border about 80 km southeast of Sulaymaniyah. The village lies just below the westernmost range of the Zagros, the Qara Dagh; more specifically, it is located along the Abbasan/Hawwasan River, a tributary of the Diyala, at the point where it joined by a stream that descends from Mt. Bamo to the east. The gorge that has been carved by this stream provides a mountain pass, and the relief—with an accompanying cuneiform inscription—is rendered on a protruding rock formation high up on its cliffside (see the panorama). Dating to the early second millennium BC (Old Babylonian period), it depicts an armed male figure standing triumphantly over two smaller victims.

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Matthew Peebles (2019)