Archaeologists recently surveyed the area around an ancient fort in modern Iraqi Kurdistan, and believe they may have found the lost city of Natounia. Natounia was an important fortified royal city previously known only from a few ancient coins.
As reported in the journal Antiquity, excavations and aerial mapping with the aid of drones have shed more light on the mountain fortress of Rabana-Merquly, one of the main regional centers of the Parthian Empire some 2,000 years ago.
The city is situated on a plateau among the hills of Mount Piramagrun in the Zagros Mountains. The team has revealed that the site consists not only of a 4 kilometer long fortified wall, but also two small settlements decorated with barracks-like objects, stones, reliefs and a religious complex. The temples, they believe, were probably dedicated to the Iranian Zoroastrian goddess, Anahita.
"The enormous effort that went into planning, building and maintaining a fort of this size demonstrates government activity," said Dr Michael Brown, a researcher at the Institute of Prehistory, Protohistory and Near-Eastern Archeology of Heidelberg University in Germany, quoted by IFL Science.
Given the apparent splendor and complexity of the settlement, researchers now suspect that this extraordinary site may be the lost city of Natounia (aka Natounissarokerta), dedicated to Natounissar, the founder of a royal dynasty in Adiabene, an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia.
Previously, the only evidence of the city existed, only from a few coins dating to the first century BC that were unearthed in modern-day Nusaybin in southeastern Turkey.
The researchers stress that so far their claims are just speculation. But they believe there are some clues that Rabana-Merquly may be the long lost city of Natounia.
The first clue, there is the date of the city. Inscriptions on coins indicate that they may have been minted during the first half of the first century BC, which is roughly the same time as the remains of this settlement.
The study authors also argue that the place name Natounissarokerta, as well as consisting of the royal name Natounissar, contains the Parthian word for a moat or fortress. "This description could hold true for Rabana-Merquly," explains Dr Brown.
Furthermore, two stone reliefs at the gated entrance of Rabana-Merquly depict a life-sized ruler with a special headgear for a ceremony.
There are no inscriptions to identify the man, but archaeologists say they bear a strong resemblance to another relief from a Parthian-era ruler, hinting it may depict the Natounissar or one of their direct descendants.
Location is also a possible clue. This settlement was located on the eastern border of Adiabene, which was ruled by kings from local dynasties dependent on Parthia.
It is possible that the settlement became an important port along the outer expanse of the Adiabene royal dynasty for trade, or perhaps maintained military pressure on pastoral tribes found outside the kingdom.
"The iconographic similarities between the unnamed ruler depicted in the bas-relief at Rabana-Merquly and the statue of King Attalos at Hatra prompt us to debate the credible relationship between Rabana-Merquly and the kingdom of Adiabene, and, more speculatively, with the Natounia site," write the study authors.