The cultural influence of Mesopotamian States in the upper and middle course of the Diyala River during the mid-2nd millennium BC

The course of the Diyala River reveals many archaeological sites dating back to the 2nd millennium BC, from its lower banks to the upper regions. Nevertheless, a systematic analysis of the development of the settlements and their distribution in the landscape has yet to be realized. The existing surveys and the old excavations just give a general view about the original setting. Historical sources reveal that the territory along the Diyala river during the Late Bronze Age was part of the Kassite kingdom, at least up to the Hamrin basin. Moreover, contemporary to the expansion of the Kassite kingdom during the Late Bronze Age, other political powers dominated: the Mitanni hegemony on the northwest, and the Elamite kingdom on the southeast. The middle Diyala, during the 2nd millennium BC, corresponds to the crossroads and the point of contact for these three different areas, which are linked to three different cultural and political entities. Through the analysis of the pottery assemblage of Tell Yelkhi in the Hamrin, and the comparison of it with the other regions, the aim of this paper is to analyse the pottery belonging to the sites set along the course of the Diyala river to identify the impact of any cultural influences resulting from the development of the Mitannian and Kassite kingdoms.