Halamata Cave is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

near

Duhok Duhok (; ; , ) is a city in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is the capital city of Duhok Governorate. Name The city of Duhok received its name from the Kurdish words ’du’ (two) and ’hok’ (lump) as a tax payment of two lumps from the baske ...

in the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The caves contain the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs. The cave is located seven kilometres south-west of

Dohuk Duhok (; ; , ) is a city in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is the Capital (political), capital city of Duhok Governorate. Name The city of Duhok received its name from the Kurdish languages, Kurdish words ’du’ (two) and ’hok’ (lump) as a ...

, above the village of Geverke. The site is composed of "four Neo-Assyrian bas-reliefs carved into the cliff-side above the village of Malthai". The reliefs are approximately six metres long and two metres high. The reliefs all show a procession of nine figures, and were first photographed by British explorer

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly inf ...

in 1909. According to ArtStor, the reliefs "depict the Assyrian king worshipping the main divinities in the Mesopotamian pantheon" and date from 704 BC to 681 BC. As with the reliefs at Khinnis, the reliefs at Halamata Cave are "associated with the northern canal system built by the Assyrian king

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

(r. 704-681 BCE) to carry water to his capital city of

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

". The reliefs are unique because "Unlike other examples of Assyrian royal art, in which the king is represented worshipping symbols of gods, these reliefs show the king gesturing in front of anthropomorphic deities, or gods in human form." In 2016 the reliefs had to be cleaned and restored after vandals spray painted a Kurdish flag on them. In February 2018, thieves removed a part of the relief carvings. "The archeological piece stolen is called Sanharib,” said Nivin Mohammed, head of legal affairs for Duhok's archeology directorate. These incidents have increased in recent years, and the Kurdistan Region authorities have been criticised for not doing enough to prevent the erasure of Assyrian cultural heritage in the region.{{Cite web, last=Rodney, first=Seph, date=2019-11-01, title=What Ancient Stones Still Mean to the Assyrian People Today, url=http://hyperallergic.com/524967/what-ancient-stones-still-mean-to-the-assyrian-people-today/, access-date=2021-03-21, website=Hyperallergic, language=en-US In 2023, Kurdistan regional government, directorate of antiquities in Duhok, opened one of the bigges
archaeological park
in Iraq, the park included Faida site and Khinnis reliefs, the second phase is planned to include Halamata cave and Charwana
[8
/nowiki>">">[8
/nowiki>

References

Archaeological sites in Iraq"><_a><br>_nowiki>.html" ;"title="">[8
/nowiki>">">[8
/nowiki>

References

Archaeological sites in Iraq History of Duhok Kurdistan Region (Iraq) Mesopotamian religion Monuments and memorials in Iraq Caves of Iraq Rock reliefs