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58-626: The Zagros Mountains have been occupied since at least the Lower Palaeolithic , and Neanderthal occupation of the Great Zab basin has been testified at the archaeological site of Shanidar Cave . Historical records for the region are available from the end of the third millennium BCE onward. In the Neo-Assyrian period, the Great Zab provided water for irrigation for the lands around the capital city of Nimrud . The Battle of

116-513: A Lur tribe from Iran , primarily inhabiting the Central and South Zagros. Major cities inhabited by Bakhtiaris include Masjed Soleyman , Izeh and Shahr-e Kord . A significant number of Bakhtiari still practice nomadic pastoralism. Kurds are another Iranic group found in the northwestern and the eastern Zagros Taurus mountain ranges , which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. The high altitude of

174-674: A common feature of the Zagros Mountains. Salt domes are an important target for petroleum exploration , as the impermeable salt frequently traps petroleum beneath other rock layers. There is also much water-soluble gypsum in the region. The mountains are completely of sedimentary origin and are made primarily of limestone . In the Elevated Zagros or the Higher Zagros, the Paleozoic rocks can be found mainly in

232-482: Is 13.2 cubic kilometres (3.2 cu mi). Because of its torrential nature, Medieval Arab geographers have described the Great Zab – together with the Little Zab – as "demoniacally possessed". Estimates of the drainage basin of the Great Zab vary widely – from a low 25,810 square kilometres (9,970 sq mi) to a high figure of 40,300 square kilometres (15,600 sq mi). Approximately 62 percent of

290-701: Is also home to populations of Assyrians , Turkic peoples and Farsi speaking Iranians . The mountains contain several ecosystems . Prominent among them are the forest and forest steppe areas with a semi-arid climate . As defined by the World Wildlife Fund and used in their Wildfinder, the particular terrestrial ecoregion of the mid to high mountain area is Zagros Mountains forest steppe (PA0446). The annual precipitation ranges from 400–800 mm (16–31 in) and falls mostly in winter and spring. Winters are severe, with low temperatures often below −25 °C (−13 °F). The region exemplifies

348-587: Is classified in the subgenus Cerris , section Cerris , which includes Quercus cerris , the Turkey oak, and related species. It is most closely related to Quercus brantii , Brant's oak. Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis is native from south-east Italy , through the Balkans ( Albania , Bulgaria , former Yugoslavia ) and Greece , including Crete and the East Aegean Islands ), to

406-567: Is still active and the resulting deformation is distributed non-uniformly in the country, mainly taken up in the major mountain belts like Alborz and Zagros. A relatively dense GPS network which covered the Iranian Zagros also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in the southeast Zagros is ~10 mm/a (0.39 in/year), dropping to ~5 mm/a (0.20 in/year) in

464-695: The Arabian Plate . This collision mainly happened during the Miocene (about 25–5 mya or million years ago ) and folded the entirety of the rocks that had been deposited from the Paleozoic (541–242 mya) to the Cenozoic (66 mya – present) in the passive continental margin on the Arabian Plate. However, the obduction of Neotethys oceanic crust during the Cretaceous (145–66 mya), and

522-766: The Fars Province have somewhat lower summits, reaching 4,000 metres (13,000 feet). They contain some limestone rocks showing abundant marine fossils. The peaks that are at least 3800 meters high and have a topographic prominence of at least 300 meters: The Zagros Mountains have significant ancient history. They were occupied by early humans since the Lower Paleolithic Period. The earliest human fossils discovered in Zagros belongs to Neanderthals and come from Shanidar Cave , Bisitun Cave , and Wezmeh Cave. The remains of ten Neanderthals , dating from around 65,000–35,000 years ago, have been found in

580-562: The Neolithic period . The DNA from this bone fragment shows that it is from a distinct genetic group, which was not known to scientists before. He belongs to the Y-DNA haplogroup G2b, specifically its branch G-Y37100 , and mitochondrial haplogroup J1d6. He had brown eyes, relatively dark skin, and black hair, although Neolithic pre Indo-European Iranians carried reduced pigmentation-associated alleles in several genes and derived alleles at 7 of

638-689: The Paleogene (66–23 mya) rocks south of the Cretaceous rocks and then the Neogene (23–2.6 mya) rocks south of the Paleogene rocks. The mountains are divided into many parallel sub-ranges (up to 10 or 250 km (6.2 or 155.3 miles) wide), and orogenically have the same age as the Alps . Iran's main oilfields lie in the western central foothills of the Zagros mountain range. The southern ranges of

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696-832: The Seleucids . In 750 CE, the last Umayyad caliph Marwan II was defeated by the Abbasid As-Saffah in the Battle of the Zab on the banks of the Khazir River, a tributary to the Great Zab. When the Mongols swept over Iraq in the 13th century and sacked Erbil, many survivors sought a refuge in the inaccessible valleys of the Great Zab. The Sapna Valley was home to both Christian and Muslim communities, as evidenced by Christian artefacts found at Zawi Chemi Shanidar. During

754-585: The Sumerian , Akkadian and Assyrian cities of Mesopotamia . The mountains create a geographic barrier between the Mesopotamian Plain, which is in modern Iraq , and the Iranian plateau . A small archive of clay tablets detailing the complex interactions of these groups in the early second millennium BC has been found at Tell Shemshara along the Little Zab . Tell Bazmusian , near Shemshara,

812-454: The Valonia oak , is a subspecies of Quercus ithaburensis , a member of the beech family, Fagaceae . It may also be treated as a separate species, Quercus macrolepis . The Valonia oak was first described as the species Quercus macrolepis by Carl Friedrich Kotschy in 1860. It was reduced to a subspecies of Quercus ithaburensis in 1981. Within the oak genus, Q. ithaburensis

870-585: The Zagros Mountains mouse-like hamster ( Calomyscus bailwardi ), the Basra reed-warbler ( Acrocephalus griseldis ) and the striped hyena ( Hyena hyena ). The Persian fallow deer ( Dama dama mesopotamica ), an ancient domesticate once thought extinct, was rediscovered in the late 20th century in Khuzestan Province, in the southern Zagros. Also, wild goats can be found almost all over

928-566: The continental arc collision in the Eocene (56–34 mya) both had major effects on uplifts in the northeastern parts of the belt. The process of collision continues to the present, and as the Arabian Plate is being pushed against the Eurasian Plate, the Zagros Mountains and the Iranian plateau are getting higher and higher. Recent GPS measurements in Iran have shown that this collision

986-500: The pet trade and habitat destruction . Climate change is predicted to strongly impact this species. The entrance to the ancient Mesopotamian underworld was believed to be located in the Zagros Mountains in the far east. A staircase led down to the gates of the underworld. The underworld itself is usually located even deeper below ground than the Abzu , the body of freshwater which the ancient Mesopotamians believed lay deep beneath

1044-642: The 10th millennium BCE that was contemporary with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A in the Levant . An archaeological survey of the Citadel of Erbil , in the plain south of the lower course of the Great Zab, has shown that this site was continuously occupied at least from the 6th millennium BCE upward. The earliest historical reference to the region dates to the Ur III dynasty , when king Shulgi mentioned

1102-550: The 12 loci, showing the strongest signatures of selection in ancient Eurasians. He did not contribute to the genetic makeup of early European farmers or modern Europeans . Instead, he was the most genetically similar to modern Iranian Zoroastrians , followed by Fars , Balochi , Brahui , Kalash and Georgians . Gallego-Llorente et al. (2016) believes that the Zagros Mountain was a plausible source of Eurasian ancestry in Central and South Asia, along with Kotias , which

1160-517: The 19th century, the area was controlled by local Kurdish leaders. During World War I , heavy fighting took place in the area, and Rowanduz was pillaged by Russian soldiers in 1916. Following World War I, episodes of heavy fighting took place between the Barzani tribe – striving for the establishment of an independent Kurdish polity – and several other Kurdish tribes, and between the Barzanis and

1218-663: The Bekhme Gorge, where the Bekhme Dam remains unfinished, has been called the Sapna valley and will have a large portion of it inundated with water if the project is completed. Numerous mountain streams and wadis join the Great Zab on its right and left banks. The Great Zab receives most of its waters from the left-bank tributaries; the Rubar-i-Shin, Rukuchuk, Rubar-i-Ruwandiz, Rubat Mawaran and Bastura Chai. The length of

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1276-477: The Great Zab has been variously estimated at 392 kilometres (244 mi) and 473 kilometres (294 mi). Approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) of the river's course is located within Iraq. The average discharge of the Great Zab is 419 cubic metres (14,800 cu ft) per second, but peak discharges of up to 1,320 cubic metres (47,000 cu ft) per second have been recorded. The average annual discharge

1334-597: The Iraqi Government. The last of these uprisings started in 1974 and led to heavy bombardments of towns and villages in the Great Zab basin. Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains are a long mountain range in Iran , northern Iraq , and southeastern Turkey . The mountain range has a total length of 1,600 km (990 miles). The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of southeastern Turkey and northeastern Iraq. From this border region,

1392-650: The Last Glacial Period they had been glaciated to a depth in excess of 1,900 metres (1.2 miles), and during the Last Glacial Period to a depth in excess of 2,160 metres (7,090 feet). Evidence exists of a 20 km (12 miles) wide glacier fed along a 17 km (11 miles) long valley dropping approximately 1,600 m (5,200 ft) along its length on the north side of Kuh-i-Jupar with a thickness of 350–550 m (1,150–1,800 ft). Under conditions of precipitation comparable to current climatic record-keeping, this size of glacier could be expected to form where

1450-821: The Little Zab; and from the Iranian Zagros. A Mousterian stone tool assemblage – produced by either Neanderthals or anatomically modern humans – was recently excavated in Erbil . Neanderthals also occupied the site of Shanidar. This cave-site, located in the Sapna Valley, has yielded a settlement sequence stretching from the Middle Palaeolithic up to the Epipalaeolithic period. The site is particularly well known for its Neanderthal burials. The Epipalaeolithic occupation of Shanidar, contemporary with

1508-569: The SE Zagros is deforming above a layer of rock salt (acting as a ductile decollement with a low basal friction ), whereas in the NW Zagros the salt layer is missing or is very thin. This different basal friction is partly responsible for the different topographies on either side of the Kazerun fault. Higher topography and narrower zone of deformation in the NW Zagros is observed whereas in

1566-559: The SE, deformation was spread more and a wider zone of deformation with lower topography was formed. Stresses induced in the Earth's crust by the collision caused extensive folding of the preexisting layered sedimentary rocks . Subsequent erosion removed softer rocks, such as mudstone (rock formed by consolidated mud) and siltstone (a slightly coarser-grained mudstone) while leaving harder rocks, such as limestone (calcium-rich rock consisting of

1624-652: The Shanidar Cave. The cave also contains two later " proto-Neolithic " cemeteries, one of which dates back about 10,600 years and contains 35 individuals. Evidence from later Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic occupations come from Yafteh Cave, Kaldar Cave near Khoramabad , and Warwasi , Malaverd near Kermanshah , Kenacheh Cave in Kurdistan, Boof Cave in Fars and a number of other caves and rock shelters. Signs of early agriculture date back as far as 9000 BC in

1682-559: The Tigris on its left bank in Iraq. In Turkey, the Great Zab traverses the provinces of Van and Hakkâri , whereas in Iraq it flows through Duhok Governorate and Erbil Governorate , both part of the Kurdistan Region . Together with the Tigris, the Great Zab forms the boundary between Erbil Governorate and Ninawa Governorate . In its upper reaches, the Great Zab flows through steep, rocky gorges. The stretch between Amadiya and

1740-590: The Zab – which ended the Umayyad Caliphate – took place near a tributary of the Great Zab, and the valleys of the river provided shelter for refugees from the Mongol conquest of Iraq. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Great Zab basin saw frequent uprisings of local Kurdish tribes striving for autonomy. The Great Zab rises in Turkey in the mountainous region east of Lake Van at an elevation of approximately 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) amsl and joins

1798-545: The Zagros mountain range. In the late 19th century, the Asiatic lion ( Panthera leo persica ) inhabited the southwestern part of the mountains. It is now extinct in this region. The Luristan newt ( Neurergus kaiseri ) is a salamander endemic to a small section of the central Zagros Mountains in Iran. It lives in highland streams and is primarily aquatic. This newt is considered vulnerable to extinction due to poaching for

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1856-530: The Zagros mountains produces a series of choke points and valleys perfect for agriculture and human development. It has also long defended the Kurds in times of war by acting as a natural barrier . Qashqai people are a tribal confederation in Iran mostly of Turkic origin. Significant populations can be found in Central and South Zagros, especially around the city of Shiraz in the Fars province . The Zagros

1914-455: The Zagros, where rainfall drops to less than 300 millimetres (12 in) per year at the confluence with the Tigris. Average summer temperature in the foothill zone are generally higher in the foothill zone than in the mountains. The high Zagros is characterized by three different biomes : the area above the treeline at 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) where shrubs and herbs dominate, the area between 1,800 and 610 metres (5,910 and 2,000 ft) that

1972-454: The annual average temperature was between 10.5 and 11.2 °C (50.9 and 52.2 °F), but since conditions are expected to have been dryer during the period in which this glacier was formed, the temperature must have been lower. Although currently degraded through overgrazing and deforestation , the Zagros region is home to a rich and complex flora. Remnants of the originally widespread oak -dominated woodland can still be found, as can

2030-535: The archaeological site of Zawi Chemi Shanidar and the access road to Shanidar Cave (although not the cave itself). Evidence for human occupation of the Zagros reaches back into the Lower Palaeolithic, as evidenced by the discovery of many cave-sites dating to that period in the Iranian part of the mountain range. Middle Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages are known from Barda Balka, a cave-site south of

2088-433: The basin is located in Iraq; the remainder is in Turkey. To the south, the Great Zab basin borders on that of the Little Zab while on the east it adjoins the Tigris basin. The Zagros consists of parallel limestone folds rising to elevations of over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) amsl. The valleys – including that of the Great Zab – and the south-western foothill zone are filled with gravel , conglomerate , and sandstone ;

2146-578: The city of Hakkâri . The Hakkâri Dam with a 245 MW power station is in final design and the Çukurca and Doğanlı Dams will support 245 MW and 462 MW power stations, respectively. Iraq has commenced construction of the Bekhme and Deralok Dams and planned two others – the Khazir-Gomel and Mandawa Dams. Plans to build a dam in the Great Zab at the Bekhme Gorge for flood control and irrigation were first proposed in 1937. A feasibility study determined that

2204-496: The city of Urbilum – the ancient name of modern-day Erbil. The great Assyrian capitals of Assur , Nineveh , Nimrud and Dur-Sharrukin were all located in the foothill zone where the Great Zab flows into the Tigris, and the Great Zab basin became increasingly integrated into the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian empires. Nimrud, the capital of the empire until 706 BCE, was located only 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) away from

2262-424: The confluence of the Great Zab with the Tigris. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II constructed a canal called Patti-Hegalli that tapped water from the Great Zab to irrigate the land around Nimrud, and this canal was restored by his successors Tiglath-Pileser III and Esarhaddon . This canal ran along the right bank of the Great Zab and cut through a rock bluff by means of a tunnel and is still visible today. After

2320-615: The continental variation of the Mediterranean climate pattern, with a snowy winter and mild, rainy spring, followed by a dry summer and autumn. The mountains of the East-Zagros, the Kuh-i-Jupar (4,135 m (13,566 ft)), Kuh-i-Lalezar (4,374 m (14,350 ft)) and Kuh-i-Hezar (4,469 m (14,662 ft)) do not currently have glaciers. Only at Zard Kuh and Dena some glaciers still survive. However, before

2378-456: The earth. The region was influenced by Mesopotamian and Hurrian religion in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and later by Zoroastrianism and Syriac Christianity . Today the vast majority of the population are Iranic and Turkic Muslims , with small numbers of Christians , mainly Assyrians and Armenians also extant. Quercus macrolepis Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis ,

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2436-690: The fall of the Neo-Assyrian empire, the Medes gained control of the area, followed by the Achaemenids in 550 BCE. The Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE – one of the decisive battles leading to the fall of the Achaemenid empire at the hands of Alexander the Great – supposedly took place north of the Great Zab in the vicinity of Mosul. After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, control of the area shifted to

2494-506: The foothills of the Zagros mountains, including Sulaymaniyah , Kermanshah , Khorramabad , and Shiraz . The Lurs are an Iranic tribe, primarily inhabiting the Central, Western, and Southern Zagros. Cities inhibited by Lurs include Khorramabad , Borujerd , Malayer , Izeh , Shahr-e Kord , Yasuj . Lurs speak Luri and span across many provinces in Iran including Lorestan , Khuzestan , Chaharmahal and Bakthiari , Ilam , Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad , and Hamedan . The Bakhtiaris are

2552-515: The foothills of the mountains. Some settlements later grew into cities, eventually named Anshan and Susa ; Jarmo is one archaeological site in this area. Some of the earliest evidence of wine production has been discovered in the mountains; both the settlements of Hajji Firuz Tepe and Godin Tepe have given evidence of wine storage dating between 3500 and 5400 BC. A human metatarsal bone fragment from Wezmeh Cave has been analyzed and dated to

2610-533: The genus Phlomis . To date, one large dam has been partially constructed on the Great Zab: Iraq's Bekhme Dam and Turkey's 24 MW weir -controlled run-of-the-river Bağışlı Hydroelectric Power Plant. Five others have been planned in the Great Zab basin by both Turkey and Iraq. Turkey's State Hydraulic Works plans to construct the Çukurca and Doğanlı Dams near Çukurca and the Hakkâri Dam near

2668-448: The mountain range include: Allium iranicum , Astragalus crenophila , Bellevalia kurdistanica , Cousinia carduchorum , Cousinia odontolepis , Echinops rectangularis , Erysimum boissieri , Iris barnumiae , Ornithogalum iraqense , Scrophularia atroglandulosa , Scorzonera kurdistanica , Tragopogon rechingeri , and Tulipa kurdica . The Zagros are home to many threatened and endangered species, including

2726-449: The northwest Zagros. The north–south Kazerun strike-slip fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, normal shortening in the southeast, and oblique shortening in the northwest Zagros. The Zagros mountains were created around the time of the second ice age, which caused the tectonic collision, leading to its uniqueness. The sedimentary cover in

2784-416: The park-like pistachio / almond steppelands. The ancestors of many familiar foods, including wheat, barley , lentil , almond, walnut , pistachio, apricot , plum , pomegranate and grape can be found growing wild throughout the mountains. Quercus brantii (covering more than 50% of the Zagros forest area) is the most important tree species of the Zagros in Iran. Other floral endemics found within

2842-652: The range continues southeast to the waters of the Persian Gulf . It spans the southern parts of the Armenian highlands , and the whole length of the western and southwestern Iranian plateau , ending at the Strait of Hormuz . The highest point is Mount Dena , at 4,409 metres (14,465 ft). The Zagros fold and thrust belt was mainly formed by the collision of two tectonic plates , the Eurasian Plate and

2900-418: The remains of marine organisms) and dolomite (rocks similar to limestone containing calcium and magnesium ). This differential erosion formed the linear ridges of the Zagros Mountains. The depositional environment and tectonic history of the rocks were conducive to the formation and trapping of petroleum, and the Zagros region is an important area for oil production. Salt domes and salt glaciers are

2958-407: The result of water erosion . The Amadiya valley within the Great Zab drainage basin is the third-largest valley in the Iraqi Zagros, after the Shahrazor and the Ranya Plain. The Great Zab rises in the highlands of the Zagros Mountains, where a climate with cold winter and annual precipitation in excess of 1,000 millimetres (39 in) prevails. From there, the river flows into the foothill zone of

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3016-403: The site of the dam was looted. The plans of the Bekhme Dam called for a 230-metre (750 ft) high rockfill dam and an underground hydroelectric power station housing six turbines with a total capacity of 1,560 MW. The reservoir that would have been created by the Bekhme Dam would have a storage capacity of 17 cubic kilometres (4.1 cu mi) and would have flooded numerous villages,

3074-406: The site was not suited for dam construction and the plan was abandoned. In 1976, another study proposed three different locations on the Great Zab, including the site suggested in the earlier study. This site was eventually chosen in 1989, when work on the dam commenced. Construction of the Bekhme Dam was interrupted by the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990 and the dam remains unfinished. After the war,

3132-438: The upper and higher sections of the peaks of the Zagros Mountains, along the Zagros main fault. On both sides of this fault, there are Mesozoic rocks, a combination of Triassic (252–201 mya) and Jurassic (201–145 mya) rocks that are surrounded by Cretaceous rocks on both sides. The Folded Zagros (the mountains south of the Elevated Zagros and almost parallel to the main Zagros fault) is formed mainly of Tertiary rocks, with

3190-399: The use of the Kebaran stone tool assemblage, is the oldest evidence for anatomically modern human occupation of the Great Zab basin. The following Protoneolithic, or Natufian , occupation is contemporary with the oldest occupation of the nearby open-air site Zawi Chemi Shanidar. M'lefaat on the Khazir River (a tributary to the Great Zab) was a small village of hunter-gatherers dating to

3248-463: Was in the past dominated by open oak forest ( Quercus aegilops ), and the wetter and sometimes marshy river valleys. Other trees besides oak that can be found in the forested zone including juniper at higher elevations; ash, hawthorn, maple and walnut at intermediate elevations; and pistachio and olive trees in lower, drier areas. In the foothill zone, many areas are now cultivated, but there remain small patches of natural vegetation dominated by herbs of

3306-418: Was inhabited by Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers. He cites archaeological evidence of eastward Neolithic expansions from the Near East. During early ancient times, the Zagros was the home of various Pre Indo-European peoples such as the Hurrians , Guti , Kassites , Elamites , Turukku and Lullubi , (together with Semitic peoples such as Assyrians and Amorites on the western side) who periodically invaded

3364-410: Was occupied between 5000 BCE and 800 CE, although not continuously. The Zagros mountains have been inhabited by different groups of pastoralists and farmers for thousands of years. Current Pastoralist groups such as Lurs , Bakhtiari Lurs , Kurds or Qashqais move from their herds from the east slopes in summer ( Yeylāgh ) to the west slopes in winter ( Gheshlāgh ). Some major cities are located on

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