Image Credit: DFG project Rural Settlements of the Sasanian Period, Tamm/Wicke

Evidence of Christian Zoroastrian Coexistence Emerges from Northern Iraq

Archaeological research in northern Iraq is offering new insights into religious life during the fifth century AD, suggesting that Christian and Zoroastrian communities may have lived alongside one another within the same landscape.
Recent fieldwork examined a building complex at the site of Gird-î Kazhaw in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. First identified in 2015, the structure dates to around AD 500, but its function had long remained uncertain. Early interpretations, based on a series of square stone pillars coated with white gypsum plaster, suggested the remains belonged to a church, possibly connected to a larger monastic complex.
New excavations revealed additional architectural features, including brick walls, rammed-earth floors, stone pavements, and further pillars. Together, these elements point to a large, multi-aisled building aligned northwest to southeast, a layout consistent with early Christian religious architecture in the region. A carefully constructed room with a brick floor and a semicircular end further supports this interpretation. Decorated pottery bearing a Maltese cross provides the clearest material indication of Christian use.
Of particular importance is the site’s proximity to a nearby Sasanian-period fortification dating to the fifth–sixth centuries AD, later overlain by an Islamic cemetery. If both the religious structure and the fortification were in use at the same time, the evidence would suggest that Christian and Zoroastrian communities occupied the area simultaneously.
The site also documents later Islamic burials, and determining when local communities adopted Islam remains part of ongoing research. The work forms part of a broader effort to understand rural settlements in northern Mesopotamia, an area often overshadowed by studies of imperial capitals. Future investigations will focus on economic life and daily practices, using scientific methods to reconstruct how people lived within these buildings.

Published on: 18-12-2025

Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie

Source: Phys.org