As a budding archaeologist researching ancient Mesopotamia, saying my opportunity to excavate in Iraqi Kurdistan was a ‘big deal’ is an understatement. Indeed, after being accepted for a Masters in Archaeology at Cambridge, I contacted my to-be supervisor Dr. Steve Renette to enquire about the university’s archaeology department and my potential dissertation topic. After discussing the discovery of Parthian period (2nd century BC – 2nd/3rd century AD) remains during his summer of 2023 excavations at Kani Shaie, Dr. Renette offered me the chance to work on this material during the project’s 2024 field work season. This was an offer I could not refuse given my strong interests in Parthian period Mesopotamia, so I quickly began applying for grants to enable my participation in the Kani Shaie Archaeological Project.

Fortunately, ASOR generously awarded me the G. Ernest Wright Fieldwork Scholarship, securing my opportunity to go to Iraqi Kurdistan. Their assistance supported my living expenses on the dig, allowing me to work at the site for the entirety of the 5-week season running from late August to late September.

After 4 months of eagerly waiting for the fieldwork season to begin, my daily fantasies of visiting and working in Iraqi Kurdistan were finally brought to fruition once we exited Erbil International Airport and were greeted by the blistering heat of the region’s morning sun. It felt as if my countless hours of studying and researching had led up to this moment, and as we began strolling to the project driver’s car and I heard the Kurdish people speaking their beautiful language, it hit me that I was finally in this fascinating land.

Given Kani Shaie is located in Sulaymaniyah Province in the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan, we had a 3-hour drive from Erbil to the village of Bazyan where our accommodation was located. Once we arrived, we had to prepare the house for the next 5 weeks and the rest of the project team joining us over the coming days. After completing our preliminary tasks, it was time to begin excavating.

Now, despite its small size, Kani Shaie is no ordinary one or two period site but possesses a settlement history ranging from the 6th millennium BC to the Ottoman period. Therefore, the project team worked in two excavation trenches this season, one on the main settlement mound which focused upon the site’s Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (4th and 3rd millennium BC) occupations, and one in the ‘Lower Town’ focused on Kani Shaie’s later occupations (the Hellenistic, Parthian, and Islamic periods). With my aforementioned interests, I worked in the Lower Town and was given the task of processing and recording the plethora of ceramic finds from the trench.

Our schedule was intense but manageable, digging from 5 am to half past noon 6 days a week, and doing post – excavation processing for the rest of the day. This consisted of pottery washing, drawing and photography, recording the daily small finds (glass bracelets and sherds, grinding stones, miscellaneous metal pieces, etc.), making sure the contexts sheets were up to date, and a whole plethora of other tasks carried out by the project’s team members. I was very fortunate to learn many new skills related to pottery recording and analysis thanks to the patience of Dr. Renette and our ceramics specialist Dr. Mike Lewis (University of Coimbra). This included my introduction to drawing pottery profiles by hand, a necessary task for archaeological publications. Though quite difficult for me at first, this work was eventually highly rewarding once I gained sufficiency in the skill, transforming me into a proper ‘pot nerd’ by the end of the season.

Eventually, we found something to write home about. Indeed, two linear parallel stone walls running southeast to northwest within the trench began to poke out of the ground as we dug downwards. With curiosity and great excitement, we meticulously exposed the walls, eventually revealing a substantial rectangular stone building. We had found a well-preserved pre-Islamic period level! However, there was something different about the pottery styles and shapes from the building’s associated layers, and after studying the finds in the afternoon it became apparent that this was likely not Parthian, but a Hellenistic period construction.

For those readers who are unaware, the Hellenistic period precedes the Parthian period and is characterized by the conquests of Alexander the Great between 333 BC and his death in 323 BC, and the subsequent establishment of the Seleucid Empire in Mesopotamia by one of the deceased king’s companions, Seleucus I Nicator. Along with the Parthian era, I have a great interest in Hellenistic period Mesopotamia and the Seleucid Empire, so you can imagine my excitement once we realized the building’s (rough) dating!

As typical with all field seasons, we had only a few days to excavate the structure before wrapping up the project for the year. Consequently, we were unable to fully excavate the building, but its discovery indicates a substantial Hellenistic period occupation remains to be uncovered in the coming seasons at Kani Shaie.

Outside of the excavation, we took team trips to archaeological sites and scenic areas of Sulaymaniyah Province during our days off, which for the most part was always a Friday. These included the Achaemenid rock cut tombs of Qizqapan and the beautiful Lake Dokan, the Paleolithic caves of Hazar Merd, and the Parthian period mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly. Our visits served as an excellent way for the project team to relax and appreciate the lands in which we worked, finishing the afternoon with a wonderful Kurdish lunch consisting of a kebab, warm bread, and the fermented yogurt drink ‘dogh’. I particularly enjoyed the opportunities we had to immerse ourselves in Kurdish culture and their hospitality, learning new words through conversation and exploring their ways of living.

Beyond this being a fantastic field work and learning experience for myself, the plethora of Hellenistic and Parthian period pottery recovered from Kani Shaie this year has provided me with a dissertation topic for my ongoing studies at Cambridge. These periods are historically under-researched within Mesopotamian studies, in particular their ceramic forms and styles. Therefore, with all of this material and the discovery of the stone building, the 2024 season presents an excellent case study for Hellenistic and Parthian period archaeology in Iraqi Kurdistan. My original intention when applying for the Ernest G. Wright fieldwork scholarship was to use the material found at Kani Shaie for my dissertation research, however archaeology is always full of surprises and therefore nothing is guaranteed once the trowel hits the dirt. So, I am beyond elated to research a dataset that I myself was involved in uncovering.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Dr. Steve Renette and the Kani Shaie Archaeological Project’s co-director André Tomé (University of Coimbra) for their generosity and leadership over the course of the 2024 excavation season, as well as Dr. Mike Lewis for his insights and encouragement as I stumbled through pottery recording, and Dr. Glynnis Maynard for her excellent supervision of the Lower Town trench. I would also like to thank the Slemani Antiquities and Heritage Directorate and the devoted service of our Kurdish supervisor Zana Abdullkarim Qadir. Lastly, I must emphasize again that it is with ASOR’s generosity that I was able to participate in this excavation without worrying about financial barriers, and it is through them that I and many other emerging archaeologists have been empowered to take those precious fieldwork opportunities offered to them.