During the 1st millennium BC relations existed between Oman, known as Qade, and the powerful Assyrian Empire. One of the most celebrated Assyrian Kings, Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC), recorded the arrival of Pade, King of the land of Qade, which capital may have been Izkie.
It is highly probable that Izkie is the Omani town of Izki, not far from Salut in central Oman.
Ashurbanipal had its residence in the city of Nineveh, the last capital of the Assyrian Empire. The mention of Pade comes from the temple of Ishtar in Niniveh. The text relates that: “Pade... who dwelt in the city of Izkie”.
The modern town of Izki is located in the upper part of Wadi Halfayn, near the Sumayl gap, since prehistoric times one of the most important passages through the al-Hajjar mountains. Izki is to be identified with the ancient capital of the kingdom of Qade. According to the local tradition, Izki is the oldest town in Oman.
At Izki, evidence of ancient occupation dates back to the Bronze Age; the major Iron Age settlement known so far occupied the same place of a stone tower belonging to the earlier Umm an-Nar culture.
Land of Qade
The land of Qade is also mentioned in the trilingual inscription of the Achaemenid king Darius I at Naqsh-i-Rustam and Susa, where it was referred to as Maka, in old Persian, corresponding to Qade in the Assyrian version. This toponym recalls the famous “Land of Magan”, the designation of the Oman peninsula during the Bronze Age.
Maka appears on the base of the monumental statue of Darius I from Susa as well. The statue, clearly fashioned in Egypt, indicates the different people subjected to the Persian rule in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
