SUMMARY

The fruitful collaboration between the High Commission for the Erbil Citadel Revitalization, the Italian Cooperation Project of MAE-IsIAO and the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan of Sapienza, University of Rome & IsIAO allowed to carry out a series of activities aimed at the study and documentation of the Citadel of Erbil. The main activities consist in a set of geophysical prospections with Ground Penetrating Radar and in a topographic survey of the Citadel, which has provided the basis for a GIS platform, essential for managing the collected data. These activities are still ongoing, and preliminary results are extremely interesting. The GIS platform and the topographic data proved to be crucial for a proper documentation of the site and the data obtained from the prospections, in addition to confirming the existence of a complex archaeological stratigraphy, provide interesting clues about the presence of large defensive structures.

INTRODUCTION

Thanks to the agreements between the Italian Cooperation Project, co-directed by Prof. Carlo G. Cereti and Dr. Roberta Giunta, the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan of Sapienza, University of Rome & IsIAO (MAIKI), co-directed by Prof. Maria Vittoria Fontana and Dr. Luca Colliva, and the High Commission for the Erbil Citadel Revitalization (HCECR), headed by Arch. Dara Talaat Mohammed Ali al-Yaqoobi, the Italian team started a series of topographic surveys and geophysical prospections in one of the most impressive and significant archaeological sites across Iraq: the Citadel of Erbil. The main activities carried out by the Italian team, with the valuable contributions of BraDypUS sa., Studio 3R sas. and ENEA, consist in a set of geophysical prospections using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and in a topographic survey of the citadel, which provided the basis for a GIS platform, essential for managing all the collected data. The activities are still ongoing and the first results are extremely interesting. The GIS platform and the topographic data proved to be essential for a proper documentation of the site and for an optimal planning of future interventions. The data obtained from the GPR prospections not only confirm the existence of an imposing and complex archaeological stratigraphy, but seem to provide interesting clues about the presence of large defensive structures of Ottoman or perhaps Begteginid period.