An international team of archaeologists has, for the first time, accurately dated an extensive farming system in southern Iraq whose origins have historically been linked to the exploitation of Black slaves during the early Islamic period. The findings of the study, published in the journal Antiquity, challenge previous assumptions about its abandonment and its connection […]
Iraq
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Fragments of a large relief showing King Ashurbanipal with Assyrian gods, found in ancient Nineveh
The ancient city of Nineveh, whose ruins lie on the eastern side of the Tigris River within the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Mesopotamia. The city was the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the late 8th century BCE under the reign of […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Controversial Baghdad Jars, Which Some Consider Voltaic Batteries Created in Antiquity
Many readers were probably fans of watching Myth Busters, that television show that used scientific recreation to test urban and historical legends, each one more bizarre than the last. Well, in episode 29, aired in March 2005, they “busted” one of those out-of-place artifacts often cited by conspiracy theorists and lovers of the esoteric to […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Archaeologists Discover a Network of More Than 4,000 Canals and 700 Farms in Eridu, the First City in History According to Mesopotamian Sources
In the heart of ancient Mesopotamia, a group of researchers has achieved a significant archaeological milestone: the identification and mapping of a vast network of irrigation canals in the region of Eridu, in southern Iraq, the southernmost of all the great Mesopotamian cities and, according to the Sumerian King List, the oldest city in history. […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Archaeologists Find Evidence That Kurd Qaburstan Could Be the Ancient City of Qabra, Mentioned in Babylonian Inscriptions
The archaeological site of Kurd Qaburstan, located in the Erbil region of northeastern Iraq, has emerged as an invaluable source of knowledge about the Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamian civilization. Recent excavations led by Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida (UCF), have revealed surprising findings that could redefine our […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Evidence of Early Forms of Pottery Production and 8,000-Year-Old Buildings Discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan
In the vast Navkur plain near the city of Rovia in Iraqi Kurdistan, a team of archaeologists from the University of Udine has made exceptional discoveries at the Asingeran and Kanispan sites. These excavations, carried out as part of the Asingeran Excavation Project in collaboration with the Directorate of Antiquities of Dohuk, have revealed valuable […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Fabulous New Discoveries Inside the Temple of Ninurta in Nimrud: Two Shrines, Statue Platforms with Cuneiform Inscriptions, a Kudurru and Other Artifacts
As part of efforts to preserve cultural heritage, recent archaeological work in Nimrud, Iraq, led by the Penn Museum in collaboration with Iraqi archaeologists, has brought to light fascinating discoveries that enrich our understanding of the ancient Assyrian Empire. This research, part of the Penn Nimrud Project, falls under the University of Pennsylvania’s Iraq Heritage […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Structures Found in Iraq Reveal the Deliberate Collapse of One of the First Centralized Governments Over 5,000 Years Ago
At the archaeological site of Shakhi Kora, located in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, excavations have provided new insights into the origin and evolution of the earliest state institutions, dated to the fourth millennium BCE. An international team led by Professor Claudia Glatz from the University of Glasgow has uncovered structures and objects that reveal both […]
Posted inMedieval Archaeology
The Site of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, which in 637 CE Pitted the Arabs against the Sassanian Empire and Was Key in the Expansion of Islam, Has Been Discovered
A team of archaeologists led by Dr. William Deadman from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University has successfully pinpointed the site of the historic Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. This battle, which took place between 637 and 638 CE, is known as a key confrontation in the expansion of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, culminating in […]
Posted inAntiquity
The Mesopotamian Stele Showing the First Phalanx Formation in History
When we talk about a phalanx in a military context, we automatically think of Alexander the Great’s Macedonian army, with its compact formation of armored infantrymen armed with long sarissas. These were arranged in 64 squares or syntagmas, 16 men across (each in a one-square-meter space) by as many in depth, forming a total of […]
