Introduction

The name of Manna first appeared in Assyrian inscriptions in 843 BC among the lands invaded by the army of Shalmaneser III (one of the Assyrian kings) (Luckenbil 1926). The Mannaean state was invaded several times by mighty powers of Assyria and Urartu during its life and sometimes had been occupied by them. The extent of the Mannaean territory was changing depended on their political power. The eastern frontier of Urartu reached the Urmia lake while the western border of Mannae was located somewhere in the mountainous region on the modern Iran-Iraq borderline. According to archaeological data the Mannae state encompassed the area east and south of Lake Urmia, from modern Maraghe to Miane (Hejebri & Molazadeh 2004).

Figure 2.

Position of Jan Aqa. Google Earth satellite image with places of interest marked.

Manas had been constituted from several local states such as Zikirtu, Andia, Missi, Surikash, Sonbi and Uishdish, with Izirtu as their capital. The location of these states has been a matter of dispute among scholars for several decades and has not yet been settled (Lvein 1974; Reference DiakonovDiakonov 1992). Manas in late seventh century BC had been annexed to Media and it was mentioned for the last time in 593 BC as a subject of the Medes.

The landscape of Jan Aqa

The site is situated in modern West Azerbaijan Province in the district of Miandouab near the village of Jan Aqa, at elevation 1612m amsl. The coordinates of the site are 36° 55' 34" longitude and 48° 28' 23" latitude (Figure 1). Two isolated high peaks lie in the mountainous area between Miandoab and Shahin Dezh, which overlook a gorge through which the Ajorloo river is flowing (Figure 2).

Beside the site there is a permanent river which supplies water for local people. The site has been built on a rocky ridge overlooking the eastern Plain of Miandoab and the banks of the Simine Rud river, hence has an advantage from a military point of view. On the western ridge, there lies the village of Jan Aqa. On its eastern flank, an important military Mannaean fort, Gover Qale Si, is located.

Figure 3.

Corridor allowing the passage of soldiers.

Site Description

The fort of Jan Aqa has been built on top of the ridge from east to west. Save for its western flank, the site is bordered by vertical cliffs on each side. The western flank of the ridge has a mild slope rendering access to the site easy.

The fort was built in the form of a long rectangle and had two gates. The fort is 150m in length and has a double wall. Between these walls there is a corridor, about 80cm in width, which was probably for the circulation of soldiers (Figure 3).

The width of the northern and southern walls is 2.50 and 2.65m respectively. The northern wall was built on the edge of a dangerous cliff, and this is the reason why this part has no fortifications. In the eastern part of the northern wall there is a narrow passage through the wall which allowed just one person to pass. The function of this narrow passage may have been for controlling this part of the fortification by a watchman (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

Plan of Jan Aqa.

Seven rough square towers jut out from the southern wall, all opening onto the corridor. They are in the form of separate chambers of different sizes, 15-24m distant from each other. The towers measure c. 8.50 x 6.30m. In addition to strengthening the fortifications, the function of these towers was probably to house the soldiers and to defend the fort from their roofs (Figure 5). Building materials are large and middle size local stones without mortar. The original walls survive to just 2m in height. Large blocks were used for constructing the walls, and the spaces were filled by small stones. According to our observations, the stones for constructing the fort have been brought from the nearby eastern mountain and Jan Agha.

Discussion

Figure 5.

Towers opening into the corridor.

Historical sources hint that modern western Azerbaijan and Kurdistan were parts of the Manas territory. During recent archaeological investigations to the south of Lake Uremia, near Boukan city, the Mannaean site of Qalaychi was discovered. Before excavation in Qalaychi, our information on Mannaen archaeology was confined to the sites of Hasanlu and Ziwiyeh. Initially, Hasanlu IV and IVB, were thought to be the capital of Manna but later on Manna was located south of Hasanlu (Reference DysonDyson 1989). The Hasanlu Expedition conducted a two weeks evaluation at Ziwiyeh without results but work at the site was resumed by Motamedi, whose excavations unearthed a mountain fort at the top of the site (Motamedi 1995).

The Zendan-i-Suleiman site is located 40km north-east of Tekab and was excavated by a German team. The Zendan-i-Suleiman structure consisted of a sequence of rectangular rooms, every third one protruding a few metres, so that the projection gives the whole the character of a fortification (Reference NaumannNaumann 1960). Ceramics from this site were investigated by Boehmer (1986; 1989) and compared with Hasanlu, Ziwiye and Qalaychi. The establishment of Zendan-i-Suleiman goes back to eighth-seventh centuries BC (Reference NaumannNaumann 1960).

Figure 6.

Plan of Qalaychi (Reference KargarKargar 2005).

In the first season of excavation at the site of Qalaychi (Figure 6), which was directed by E. Yaghmai, a columned hall was unearthed, with some wall paintings (Reference YaghmaiYaghmai 1985). One of the most important findings of Yaghmaii was a stela with an Aramaic cuneiform inscription, 150 x 80cm. The inscription was first read by R. Bashash (Reference BashashBashash 1996) and then re-interpreted by Lemair. The inscription refers to the gods Haldi and Hadad, and Isirtu as the capital of Manna. Lemair suggested that the inscription belongs to the reign of Ulusunu (Lemair 1988).

The new series of major excavations has been launched at Qalaychi after several years' hiatus under the directorship of Bahman Kargar who defined three cultural levels at the site, Ia, Ib, and Ic. According to the excavator, level Ib dates to the late eighth century BC. A stela was found in this level. Level Ib comprises an architectural complex with stone foundations on the south of the site.

The architectural complex is surrounded by a wall with large building blocks and middle-size local stones without mortar. Large blocks were used for constructing the wall and the spaces between these blocks were filled by small stones as at Jan Aqa. A gate is located on the eastern part of the wall. Qalaychi Ib is comparable to Izirtu, the capital of Manna (Reference KargarKargar 2005).

Figure 7.

Qalaychi Ib.

Concluding remarks

The fortress of Jan Aqa islocated 41km north of Qalaychi, is linear in plan and unique among the contemporary fortresses of the region. The walls of the fort are wide and have no strengthening bastions. No pottery was found at the site, which may suggest a purely military function for the site. The construction style of Jan Aqa is closely comparable to Zendan-i-Suleiman and Qalaychi Ib (Figure 7). We suggest that Jan Aqa had the function of an outpost north of Qalaychi and could be dated to eighth-seventh centuries BC.