Kurdshop_ Bashour Hill is 20 kilometers close to Sert city in the North part of Kurdistan. From Botan Valley near Bashour River which comes from Badlis Mountain, this hill is located beneath the Iylisuoyeh dam.
The width and length of Bashour Hill are about 150 * 250 meters. This hill emerges out of Badlis Valley water that joins Botan River and then joins Bashour River and it is next to the Bashour River. It is identified as a cultural corridor. It was also a trading path between Nemrud Mountain and generally all the other parts of Mesopotamia. It contains a large amount of Obsidian stone. This hill is as old as 7000 years and until a few centuries ago people were living on it.
In 1963 an American archeologist, Robert J. Braidwood and a Turkish archeologist, Halet Cambel discovered this hill. Since this historical spot has remained very similar to many other historical spots under the Iylisuoyeh dam, in 2007 an archeologist from Egey University, Haluk Saglamtimur, began his research on this hill. Bashour Hill used to be a strategic place once because it is in front of the river and it used to be a popular traveling path. There is particularly a hypothesis that says due to obsidian stone existing in this area, this hill might have been a trading market once for stone traders who used to take the stones from Nemrud mountain to other parts of middle Mesopotamia because this hill is next to a river which joins Bashour River and then Botan river and finally it merges with Tigris River. Trading different kinds of goods would have been done near rivers before the Christian era. They used to make boats out of wood and animal skin. They used to sail to the southern parts of Mesopotamia through these rivers.
There are many kinds of signs for the local people of this area. As we know, people used to inhabit a place that was close to rivers. Especially in Kurdistan, near Tigris and Euphrates Rivers there have been many historical places. In addition to Tigris and Euphrates, many smaller rivers are coming from these two major ones. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have been a great help to make people's lives easier in the area. Bashour Hill is located on one of these smaller rivers. It is believed that since before the Christ era up to recent ages, people have been inhabiting this place and have used this area as a trading village. A lot of antiquities have been found in this area that belong to different periods such as Urouk or the era of City-State of the Sumerians, Romani, and even Islamic era. From the way they built their constructions to the way they used to bury their deceased ones, and make dishes, it all shows that this historical place had generally been built 7 thousand B.C.
Media and archeological research have emphasized the collection of games that have been found in the area. Undoubtedly, this indicates the cultural and artistic development of this area and those people who had lived here. Generally, it is safe to say that there was a developed culture for strategic games existed among this region's civilization. Those game designs also reveal time's artistic sense. The area had also been used as a trading center for 2 thousand years B.C. This can be seen according to the construction of their buildings and also the tools that have been found in the area.
A lot of Gods Statues and trading seals have been found here. This indicates that although it was not a large place but it was a strategic one. There are also large storages inside the structures which shows this was a place for trading goods.
There is a place here that looks like a sacred temple. It is clear that this place was an important center in the area because it is closest to the river and is located on the way of trading paths of the border of this area and Mesopotamia. This also shows the significance of this area. It is said that this place had been used as a colonialism center during Urouk, the Sumerian States, era. Undoubtedly, colonialism was different at that time, however, when one thinks of another place and Urouk in this area, a large gap appears. Particularly, during the time of Urouk and Sumerians, Babylon, Akad and Asurans these two rivers had strategic importance for the region for it was easier to trade goods via Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Bashour Hill was a strategic spot at that time and it continued to be important until the Romani era. This is because the Hill is between the borders of two empires of that time.
