Qalaichi


Qalaichi, Ghalay-chi, قلایچی in Persian is an important archaeological site for the Iron Age of north-western Iran. It is a mound high, situated about north-west of Bukan City in West Azerbaijan Province away from the border of Kurdistan province. The site is located near a village from whence it got its name. Hills and mountains surround it; the highest one in the east is the so-called Kal-Tage.

Discoveries

Qalaichi is known from cuneiform texts as a settlement town which lay in the polity of Mannea. The main period of occupation extended from the 9th to 7th centuries BCE. Key archaeological finds include a stele inscribed with an Aramaic text. In addition, the ancient settlement yielded a large number of glazed objects. Some of these objects are monochrome and the others show complex compositions. The excavated artifacts are now in the collections of Urmia Museum and Tehran National Museum.