Tell Khazna, or Ishan Khazna (meaning "Treasure Mound(s)" in Arabic), is a small tell to the west of Tell Uhaimir, now separated from the rest of the archaeological site by Highway 1.
This mound was brought to the attention of foreign archaeologists by the French Assyriologist Jules Oppert, after he and his colleagues visited the site during their expedition through Iraq in 1852. Oppert described that the ground was covered with stones, some of which were inscribed, and he made a few trenches to explore the ground further, albeit with no result (Oppert 1863: 217).
Almost eighty years later, Ishan Khazna was excavated again, between November 1930 and March 1931 by Gerald Reitlinger for the OFME. Reitlinger reported that he found a palace from the Neo-Babylonian period, which was re-occupied for a relatively short period in the eleventh century AD, although the Neo-Babylonian dating of this building is now doubted (Gibson 1972: 122).
Reitlinger collected many pottery sherds at Ishan Khazna, dating to the early Islamic to late Abbasid periods, 9th-14th centuries AD (Reitlinger 1935). He donated 75 of them to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, but kept the rest (Gibson 1972: 175). Reitlinger donated his entire personal collection of Asian pottery to the Ashmolean Museum in 1972, including 61 pieces from greater Kish.
The foreign archaeologists who visited Tell Khazna reported that the tomb of the imam of Duhmouk was on the site (Gibson 1972: 122) but it no longer survives. If you know what became of this religious shelter, do let us know!
27 Aug 2025
Nadia Aït Saïd-Ghanem
Nadia Aït Saïd-Ghanem, 'Tell Khazna', The Forgotten City of Kish • مدينة كيش المنسية, The Kish Project, 2025 [http://oracc.org/MoundsofKish/TellUhaimir/TellKhazna/]