Hemrin Dam, Embankment dam on Diyala River, Iraq

The Hemrin Dam is a 40 m high embankment dam with a clay core and gravel shell on the Diyala River, 100 km northeast of Baghdad. Its crest is 3,360 m long and 8 m wide, at 109.5 m above sea level. The reservoir holds 2.06 billion m³, and a five-gate spillway reaches a maximum discharge of 6,800 m³/s.

The dam was built between 1976 and 1981 by a Yugoslav company as part of Iraq's infrastructure expansion during that period. Its completion changed how water was managed across the Diyala basin.

Before the dam was built, teams carried out digs at sites like Tell Madhur and Tell Rashid to recover objects before the water rose. The finds from those excavations are now part of museum collections and document early settlement in the region.

The area is easiest to reach with the help of local guides who know the terrain and current conditions. Water levels vary by season, which affects how much of the surrounding landscape can be seen from the dam.

Among the archaeologists on the rescue team was Nawala Al-Mutawalli, later director of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The excavations covered tells such as Tell Madhur, Tell Suleimah, Tell Rashid, Tell Saadiya, Tell Yelkhi and Tell Abada, dug before Hamrin Lake began to fill.