Kifrin

The Near East

Project: Haditha Dam; international salvage project
of the archaeological sites of the Euphrates dam’s basin
Site: Kifrin
Scientific director: Antonio Invernizzi
Excavation directors: Paolo Fiorina, Antonio Invernizzi, Elisabetta Valtz, Roberta Venco Ricciardi

The surveys and excavations conducted in the Kifrin site between 1980 and 1983 are Italy’s contribution to the rescue project that preceded the construction of the al-Qadissiya dam and the creation of the basin on the Euphrates upstream of Haditha (Haditha Project – State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq).

Five excavation campaigns brought to light the structures of a large fortified settlement (Parthian and Roman phases of the 2nd and 3rd centuries), composed of a city and a citadel in a strategic sector that was of vital importance for controlling an advanced corridor of the Roman limes on the Middle Euphrates.