Anobanini rock relief, Ancient petroglyph site in Kermanshah Province, Iran.
The Anobanini rock relief is a carved scene on a cliff face near Sarpol-e Zahab in western Iran, showing King Anubanini standing over eight captives alongside the goddess Ishtar. The carving sits in an open landscape and is visible directly on the rock surface without any enclosure around it.
This relief was carved around 2300 BC, during the Akkadian Empire, making it one of the oldest known rock carvings in Iran. It belongs to a period when rulers recorded their victories in stone on open cliff faces.
The carving shows early Mesopotamian artistic traditions in how the king is dressed and how captives are displayed with bound hands.
The site sits outside any town and can only be reached by car or with an organized tour, so planning ahead is essential. Local guides or detailed maps make it much easier to find the exact spot on the cliff.
The relief shows the goddess Ishtar standing on the back of a kneeling captive, a detail that appears rarely in rock art of this period. Researchers rely on photographs taken before the Iran-Iraq War to study sections that have since been damaged.
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