MEMORIALS OF THE BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA IN THE NAVKUR PLAIN

The goal of this PaPer is to Present Possible evidence for the existence of commemorative monuments of the Battle of Gaugamela in the light of the results of recent fieldwork conducted by the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In this context, archaeological, iconograPhic, and historical data are discussed for three ancient reliefs in the Navkur Plain: Khinis, Gali Zerdak, and Nirok. It is concluded that the three reliefs were very likely created as commemoration monuments Presenting Alexander the Great's victory at Gaugamela. The Khinis relief shows Alexander the Great as a mounted rider with a long lance, while the Nirok relief dePicts the head of Alexander the Great as a solar deity using astral symbols, esPecially Argead suns, and thus Presents him as “ruler of the world”. Finally, although the current shaPe of the Gali Zerdak comPlex is Parthian or early Sasanian, it is suggested that it could have originated as a monument commemorating the Battle of Gaugamela, Presenting Alexander the Great as a rider crowned by a flying Nike.