FRANKFURT, GERMANY—According to a report in Seeker, recent excavations in northern Iraq led by Dirk Wicke of Goethe University uncovered traces of a loom dating to the fifth or sixth century A.D., and pieces of clay imprinted with images of griffins and horses that may have been seals placed on rolls of fabric. The loom, placed in the corner of a room, would have supported vertical hanging threads pulled straight by clay loom weights. A bench of six mudbricks had been situated in front of the loom, presumably so the weaver could insert the horizontal threads. Below the loom, the excavators found a cylinder seal dated to the Assyrian period, between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. Two winged genies with a cone and a bucket of liquid thought to have been used during a purifying ritual appear on the seal. “It is difficult to pinpoint an exact meaning to it, but this image was very often depicted in the royal palaces and appears to act as a beneficiary motif used to magically protect the king and inhabitants of the palace or palaces,” Wicke said. The team also uncovered a stone wall dating to the Assyrian period that may have been part of a watchtower. To read about an excavation in Iraqi Kurdistan, go to “Erbil Revealed.”
