Sarpol-e Zahab (, Sarpole Zahâb; , ; also romanized as Sarpol-e Z̄ahāb, Sar-e Pol-e Z̄ahāb, and Sar-ī-Pūl Zūhāb; also known as Pol-e Z̄ahāb, Sarpole-Zahab, Pol-e Z̄ohāb, Sarī-Pūl, and Sarpol) is a city in the Central District of Sarpol-e Zahab County, Kermanshah province, Iran, and serves as both capital of the county and of the district. The city is close to Qasr-e Shirin and the Iraqi border. At the 2006 census, its population was 34,632.
At the 2006 National Census, its population was 34,632 in 8,210 households. The following census in 2011 counted 35,809 people in 9,447 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 45,481 people in 12,850 households.
Demographics
The city is populated by Kurds.
Reliefs
The area of Sar-e Pol-e Zahab has several more or less well preserved reliefs of the Lullubi kingdom, as well as a Parthian relief.
Lullubian reliefs
The most famous of these reliefs is the Anubanini rock relief. Another relief named Sar-e Pol-e Zohab I is about 200 meters away, in a style similar to the Anubanini relief, but this time with a beardless ruler. The attribution to a specific ruler remains uncertain. There are also other Lullubian relief in the same area of Sar-e Pol-e Zahab.
Parthian relief
Another relief is located below the Anubanini relief, lower on the cliff. This relief was created during the Parthian Empire in the name of Gotarzes, possibly Gotarzes I, but more probably the Parthian king Gotarzes II, who ruled from 39 to 51 CE and is known to have made other reliefs, such as the equestrian relief at Behistun.