A team of German and Kurdish archaeologists 3400-year-old Mittani Empire-era city discovered It was once located on the banks of the Tigris River. The settlement originated from the waters of the Mosul reservoir earlier this year, when water levels fell rapidly. Because of the extreme drought in Iraq. The sprawling city with a palace and several grand buildings may be the ancient Zakhiku, believed to have been an important center in the Mittani Empire (1550-1350 BC).
Iraq is one of the countries most affected by climate change in the world. Especially the south of the country has been suffering from extreme drought for months. Huge amounts of water have been drawn from the Mosul Dam, Iraq’s most important reservoir, since December to prevent crops from drying out. This revealed a Bronze Age city that had been submerged decades ago without prior archaeological research. It is located in Kemune in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
This unexpected finding prompted archaeologists to launch an urgent campaign to excavate. and document it as quickly as possible before at least part of this great and important city is flooded again. Kurdish archaeologist Dr. Hasan Ahmed Qasim, Head of the Kurdistan Archaeological Organization and German archaeologists Haz.-Prof. Ivana Puljiz (University of Freiburg) and Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner (University of Tübingen) spontaneously decided to undertake joint salvage excavations at Kemune. These took place in January and February 2022 in collaboration with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok (Kurdistan Region).
Within days, a team was formed for the rescue excavations. Short-term funding for the study was obtained from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation through the University of Freiburg.
In a short time, the researchers succeeded in mapping the city on a large scale. In addition to a palace that was already documented during a brief campaign in 2018, other large buildings were discovered.: a huge fortification with walls and towers, a monumental multi-storey warehouse building and an industrial complex. The sprawling urban complex dates from the time of the Mittani Empire (ca. 1550-1350 BC), which controlled most of northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
“The large warehouse building is particularly important because it must have stored a large amount of goods, possibly from all over the region,” says Ivana Puljiz. Hasan Qasim concludes: “Excavation results show that the area was an important center in the Mittani Empire.”
The research team admired the good preservation of the wallsSometimes several meters high, although the walls are made of sun-dried adobe and have been submerged for more than 40 years. This good preservation is due to the fact that the city was destroyed by an earthquake around 1350 BC, and the upper parts of the walls collapsed during this time, burying the lower parts of the structures and protecting these remains.
What is particularly interesting Discovery of five ceramic vessels containing an archive of more than 100 cuneiform tablets. They belong to the Middle Assyrian period shortly after the earthquake that destroyed the city. Some tablets that could be letters are still in clay envelopes. Researchers hope that this discovery will provide important information about the end of the Mittani-era city and the beginning of Assyrian rule in the region. “It’s almost a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unbaked clay survived underwater for decades,” says Peter Pfälzner.
To prevent further damage from rising water to the important area, the buildings excavated as part of a comprehensive conservation project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation were completely covered with tight-fitting plastic sheeting and covered with gravel fill. This is to protect unfired clay walls and other artifacts stored in the ruins during times of floods.
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Source: Informacion
