Tel-Gomel - in other words, Gaugamela

It is all in the name but it needs to be proved. Linguistically, Gaugamela has already been associated by scholars and archaeologists with Tel Gomel or Gammagara or Gir-e Gomel or Gogomel located some fifty kilometers northwest of Arbil or Erbil, the capital of modern Kurdistan, Iraq. Excavations at Erbil have been carried out since 2015 (see: Arbela, near the Battlefield of Gaugamela) and now it is the turn of Tel Gomel.

[View of Tel Gomel, perhaps the site of the battle of Gaugamela [Credit Terra di Ninive]

The Kurdish and Italian archaeologists are very eager to substantiate this name- link through new analysis on the spot now that more peaceful times in Iraq seem to allow them to work on the terrain. So far, they were able to confirm that the site was continuously inhabited from the Neolithic Period onward.

From what has transpired so far, Tel Gomel was a necropolis used by the people of Gaugamela that yielded vessels containing offerings for the dead. The cemetery was already used by the Assyrians but at a lower level monumental graves from 1700-1550 BC have been unearthed. Among these a brick grave with a vaulted burial chamber is of particular interest. Digging deeper, archaeologists uncovered an even older cemetery dating from 2600-2300 BC.

Beyond this, they also scrutinized the layers belonging to the period running from 2000 BC to the Parthian occupation in 300 AD, but no mention has been made of Alexander’s time.

At this stage, it is not clear in how far this research is centered on Tel Gomel itself or on the surrounding plain which is assumed to be the battlefield where Alexander defeated the Persian King Darius in 331 BC. What’s more, it is most improbable to find any Macedonian grave in the city’s cemeteries for they would have buried their dead according to their own practices and rites. 

Excavations will resume in 2019. Wait and see.