Goethe University archaeologists return with discoveries that reshape understanding of Christian–Zoroastrian life 1,500 years ago
Ishtartv.com –arkeonews.net
10 December 2025
A research team from Goethe University Frankfurt has returned from
northern Iraq with groundbreaking insights into the religious landscape of Late
Antiquity in the Middle East. After a three-year investigation at the
archaeological site of Gird-î Kazhaw in Iraqi Kurdistan, archaeologists have
uncovered evidence suggesting that Christians and Zoroastrians lived
peacefully side by side around the 5th century CE—a period known for dramatic
political changes across Western Asia.
Although the team did not unearth portable artifacts of high material
value, the excavation produced something far more significant: a deeper
understanding of daily life, architecture, and interreligious dynamics in a
region often overlooked by mainstream archaeological research. The project was
led by Dr. Alexander Tamm of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Professor
Dirk Wicke of Goethe University’s Institute for Archaeological Sciences.
Their work focused on two areas: a suspected early Christian architectural
complex and an Islamic-period cemetery built atop an earlier Sasanian
fortification. Together, these layers of history offer a rare archaeological
snapshot of cultural continuity across Christian, Zoroastrian, and Islamic
communities.
A Mysterious 5th-Century Structure Revealed
One of the central goals of this year’s campaign was to determine the
function of a previously discovered stone-pillared building, first documented
in 2015. The structure, built around 500 CE, had long puzzled researchers. Five
square pillars made of rubble stones and coated in white gypsum had initially
prompted speculation that the site might represent an early Christian
church. Geophysical surveys had hinted at additional walls underground,
possibly forming part of a larger monastic complex.
During the latest excavation season, the Frankfurt team opened a broad
horizontal area—known as Area A—around the pillar building. Within a relatively
shallow depth, they uncovered brick walls, compacted-earth floors, and later
stone-and-brick floor surfaces. But the most striking discovery was a second
set of stone pillars, suggesting the building featured a three-aisled plan with
a long central nave. The orientation—northwest to southeast—matches what is
known from early Christian architecture in northern Syria and Upper
Mesopotamia.
One surprising detail is the unusual size of the main nave, estimated at
25 by 5 meters—not massive by cathedral standards, but significantly larger
than typical rural religious structures in the region.
Another key feature emerged in the form of a room containing a finely
laid brick floor and a semi-circular niche at its northeastern end. Such design
elements are consistent with early Christian liturgical spaces, which
often incorporated apses or rounded focal points for worship.
The architectural clues were reinforced by a small but meaningful
artifact: a pottery sherd decorated with a Maltese cross. While a single motif
is not conclusive in itself, combined with the structural evidence it strongly
supports the interpretation of the building as an early Christian meeting
place.
A Zoroastrian Neighbor? Rethinking Religious Boundaries
What makes the site especially valuable for historians of religion is
its proximity to a small Sasanian-period fortification located directly
adjacent to the Christian structure. The Sasanians, who ruled much of Iran and
Iraq before the Islamic conquests, were predominantly Zoroastrian, following
the teachings of the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster).
If both the Christian complex and the Sasanian fort date to
the same period—as current findings tentatively suggest—they may represent
direct archaeological evidence of coexistence between residents of the two
communities. Such living arrangements are documented in historical sources but
rarely preserved so clearly in the material record.
This discovery aligns closely with the goals of the newly approved LOEWE
research center “Dynamics of the Religious”, launching in 2026. Scholars
involved in the program aim to explore shifting religious identities and
everyday interactions in multicultural regions across history.
The site also bears witness to a later shift in the region’s spiritual
landscape. Over time, the Sasanian structure was overlain by an
Islamic cemetery, excavated in Area B. The Frankfurt team focused on careful
anthropological documentation of the graves, which reflect the gradual spread
of Islam through northern Mesopotamia after the 7th century.
Rural Life Takes Center Stage
The Gird-î Kazhaw project belongs to a broader research initiative
addressing rural settlement patterns in the Shahrizor Plain of northern Iraq.
Historically, archaeological work in the Middle East has concentrated on great
imperial capitals such as Nineveh, Babylon, and Ctesiphon. Tamm and Wicke argue
that this emphasis neglects the essential economic and cultural role played by
smaller villages and farming communities.
Their work highlights an important truth: while empires shape political
history, ordinary people in rural landscapes sustain the economic foundations
that allow cities to flourish.
The next stages of research will combine traditional excavation with
archaeometric methods, including archaeobotany (the study of ancient plant
remains), zooarchaeology (animal remains), and forensic anthropology. These
techniques will help reconstruct how people used space, what they ate, how they
built their homes, and how religious practices may have changed over
generations.
A Window into a Shared Past
For archaeologists and historians alike, the findings at Gird-î Kazhaw
offer a rare and compelling look at interreligious interaction outside major
urban centers. Rather than depicting ancient Iraq as a landscape of conflict,
the new evidence paints a more nuanced picture—one where Christian,
Zoroastrian, and later Islamic communities lived in relative proximity, adapted
to one another, and built overlapping histories still visible in the soil
today.
Rubble-stone pillars in Area A. Credit: Dirk Wicke
Another major surprise in Area A: a room with a neatly paved baked-brick floor, featuring a semicircular apse at its northeastern end. Credit: Dirk Wicke
The main evidence for the building’s use as a Christian gathering place, besides its architecture, is the discovery of a pottery sherd decorated with a Maltese cross. Credit: Dirk Wicke
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