Hatra
Centro Scavi's research
Centro Scavi’s interest for the city dates back to 1967, when the photogrammetric survey of parts of the structures of the city’s Great Sanctuary was conducted for the Antiquities Department. Then, in 1986 research led by R. Ricciardi Venco began, and in 1987 excavations for identifying the sanctuary’s phases of occupation and its origin began. While the excavations were underway, the city’s topography was also studied in greater depth, especially in its eastern part, and in 1989 the Iraqi-Italian Centre for Restorations of Monuments began a topographical and architectural survey of the Great Sanctuary’s walls.
1987 saw the commencement of excavations of a large dwelling (Building A) located north of the Great Sanctuary and of a section of the adjacent road, the main thoroughfare joining the temenos to the city walls’ north gate. The quarter seems to possess a composite appearance and several functions: commercial, residential and religious, in accordance with the city’s distinctive Arab character. Building A, a large and opulent dwelling that in its most recent phase (around 200 A.D.) extended over an area of over 1850 square metres, is located on the east side of the road.
Its plan comprises several parts with specific functions; the most important took place in the central courtyard, which included an iwan and an altar on which statues were placed, including one of a young god with a standard and two winged victories of well defined iconography in the central Sanctuary. A large rectangular room gave onto the southern end of the courtyard, decorated with paintings depicting hunting scenes. The room opened onto the southern suite of the building, probably a dwelling, which was developed around an ample courtyard that was closed off to the south by a covered portico. An iwan with an apsidal plan faced the north side. The northern part of the dwelling was dedicated to household activities such as the preparation of food and weaving, as attested by small ovens, mill stones and loom weights. The dwelling and the objects that were found in it display a wealth comparable to that of the city’s religious compounds.
The investigations of Building A and of the adjacent road allowed to establish the chronology of its phases of usage, from the late 2nd century to the mid-3rd century A.D., coinciding with the city’s demise. In fact, the excavation not only provided valuable artistic documents, but especially an exact sequence of materials, essential for establishing the site’s chronology. In 1993, after an interruption caused by the war, research resumed on behalf of the University of Turin.