Seven tombs dating back to the ancient Parthian Empire were discovered during a two-month-long excavation in Koy Sanjaq (Koya), Kurdish media network Rudaw reported earlier this month, citing the Kurdistan Region’s antiquities authorities.
The discoveries were reportedly made in the Khazna area, along the new Erbil-Koya road, carried out between late April and late June.
"One of the [tombs] contained a clay coffin with a small headless figurine of a pregnant woman,” Muhammad Lashkri, director of antiquities and heritage affairs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, told Rudaw.
Bracelets, earrings, and cosmetic items had been found alongside the figurine, according to Lashkri.
He added that the artifacts are now being stored at the antiquities and heritage directorate in Koya.
The Parthian Empire, also known as the Arsacid Empire, was centered in ancient Iran between 247 BCE and 224 CE. At the height of its power, the empire stretched from central-eastern Turkey to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan.
According to Lashkri, since 2009, around 6,500 archaeological sites have been recorded in over half of the Kurdistan region, with the help of foreign archaeological teams.
“Forty-five percent remains,” he told Rudaw, explaining that the delay in identifying more sites cocmes primarily due to political issues, and sites being located in border areas and disputed territories.
Lashkri described the technology used by the directorate to “accurately identify 75 percent of the sites,” including geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite imagery.
Many foreign missions unable to return due to US-Iran war
He explained that typically there are between 25 and 35 foreign archaeological missions surveying and excavating the region.
The missions include teams from France, Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Japan, and one from Harvard University that has been working at a site for over a decade, according to Lashkri.
He noted that many of the archaeological missions were unable to return in 2026 due to the war between Iran and the United States, and that “some teams are taking on new work, while others are completing their projects.”
“We need to turn our archaeological sites into a source of tourism revenue,” Lashkri told Rudaw, explaining the need for greater documentation of ancient landmarks and databases for long-term heritage management in the region.