German and Kurdish archaeologists have excavated a sunken city on the edge of the Mosul reservoir in Iraq. The ruins are said to be more than 3400 years old.
Freiburg/Erbil – Iraq is struggling with the consequences of climate change. The south of the country in particular suffers from extreme drought. Large amounts of water have therefore been drained from the Mosul reservoir for irrigation purposes since December. This uncovered a 3,400-year-old city on the Tigris River in early 2022. This was announced by the University of Freiburg on Monday (May 30).
Iraq: Researchers unearth 3,400-year-old ruins – ‘Borders on a miracle’
According to their own statements, German and Kurdish archaeologists uncovered and documented the settlement in a race against time between January and February of this year. The water level then rose again. According to the information, the team excavated, among other things, a fortification with walls and towers, a multi-storey warehouse and over 100 cuneiform tablets.
Much is therefore still well preserved. “The fact that the cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay have survived for so many decades under water borders on a miracle,” said the archaeologist Peter Pfälzner from the University of Tübingen, who was involved in the excavation.
Sunken city discovered: Researchers suspect it is ancient Zachiku
“The extensive city complex with a palace and several large buildings could be the old Zachiku,” the press release continues. The researchers suspect that the site called Kemune was an important center of the Mittani empire. The Mittani Empire ruled over large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria between about 1550 and 1350 BC.
Located on the edge of Lake Mosul in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, Kemune was first spotted at low water levels in 2010, according to the researchers. The excavations could only begin in 2019. At that time, archaeologists uncovered a palace.
To protect the excavations, the archaeologists covered the ruins with tarps and filled them with gravel. The site has now completely disappeared under the water of the reservoir after the end of the drought.
In South Tyrol, an old church tower protrudes from Lake Reschen. There the “Atlantis of the Alps” has sunk. Sandstorms in Iraq have recently caused serious breathing problems for people. Thousands had to go to the hospital. (ph with dpa)
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