Halamata Cave

Halamata Cave is an archaeological site near Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [1]. The caves contain the Assyrian relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs [1]. The cave is located seven kilometres south-west of Dohuk [1]. The reliefs are approximately six metres long and two metres high [1]. The reliefs all show a procession of nine figures, and were first photographed by British explorer Gertrude Bell in 1909 [1]. According to ArtStor, the reliefs "depict the Assyrian king worshipping the main divinities in the Mesopotamian pantheon" and date from 704 BC to 681 BC [1]. As with the reliefs at Khinnis, the reliefs at Halamata Cave are "associated with the northern canal system built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (r. 704-681 BCE) to carry water to his capital city of Nineveh" [1].