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3.400 year old city revealed by drought

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  • 3.400 year old city revealed by drought

    I read about this briefly in an article on my phone feed but this goes into slightly more detail.

    The cuneiform tablets [one still in its clay envelope] will be of particular import.


    https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/...5&dk=ZE2260ZF0

    Droughts across Iraq have been a major source of humanitarian concern, but they have also provided archaeologists with a rare opportunity to excavate an ancient lost city. With Iraq suffering extreme drought, the country has been forced to draw large amounts of water from the Mosul reservoir. With the drastic drop in water level, however, a 3,400-year-old city has emerged from the reservoir’s banks. A joint German and Kurdish team was quick to take advantage of the situation and set out to excavate the city. The city is believed to be the ancient city of Zakhiku, an important trade center of the Bronze Age Mitannian empire (c. 1550–1350 B.C.E).

    Not knowing when the water level would rise to bury the city once again, the team had only a short window to carry out the excavation. During a similar drought in 2018, a team was able to document a small section of the city’s palace. However, this time around, the team succeeded in mapping a large portion of the city. They also uncovered a massive fortification with walls and towers, a monumental storage building, and an industrial complex. The city walls were remarkably well persevered, to a height of several meters in some places.

    According to members of the team, “The huge magazine building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region. The excavation results show that the site was an important center in the Mitanni Empire.”

    One of the most remarkable finds from the lost city of Zakhiku was a group of five ceramic vessels that contained an archive of more than 100 cuneiform tablets. The tablets date to the period shortly after the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1350 B.C.E. and the Assyrians took over the region. Several of the tablets, which are mostly letters, were found in their original clay envelopes. The team hopes these texts will shed light on the end of the Mitanni kingdom and the expanding Assyrian empire. According to excavation direction Peter Pfälzner, “It is close to a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay survived so many decades underwater.”



    View into one of the pottery vessels with cuneiform tablets, including one tablet which is still in its original clay envelope. Courtesy University of Tübingen.

    For several hundred years, the ancient kingdom of Mitanni controlled large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria. Today, much of that kingdom is in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, with Zakhiku located around 50 miles northwest of Mosul. The lost city of Zakhiku was first submerged in the 1980s, with the creation of the Mosul reservoir. At the time, no archaeological missions had been carried out at the site.


    Map showing the location of Zakhiku and several important ancient cities. Courtesy Biblical Archaeology Society.

    The recent droughts provided an unexpected opportunity to excavate the ancient lost city before it is once again submerged under water. Fortunately, a group of German and Kurdish archaeologists was able to secure funding for the project and assemble a team within a matter of days. Following the short excavation, the team covered the site with plastic sheeting and gravel. Since then, the site has once again been completely submerged in the reservoir. It is hoped that the tarps and protective fill will help preserve the site until another opportunity for excavation arises.

    "It ain't necessarily so
    The things that you're liable
    To read in the Bible
    It ain't necessarily so
    ."

    Sportin' Life
    Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

  • #2
    It might prove an interesting find, depending on what is in the letters.
    1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
    .
    ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
    Scripture before Tradition:
    but that won't prevent others from
    taking it upon themselves to deprive you
    of the right to call yourself Christian.

    ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by tabibito View Post
      It might prove an interesting find, depending on what is in the letters.
      I would suggest that texts from ancient periods in history are always of some interest.
      "It ain't necessarily so
      The things that you're liable
      To read in the Bible
      It ain't necessarily so
      ."

      Sportin' Life
      Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post

        I would suggest that texts from ancient periods in history are always of some interest.
        There is that.
        1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
        .
        ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
        Scripture before Tradition:
        but that won't prevent others from
        taking it upon themselves to deprive you
        of the right to call yourself Christian.

        ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

        Comment


        • #5
          Press release from Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen

          Source: A 3400-year-old city emerges from the Tigris River


          Drought reveals urban center of the Mittani Empire

          A team of German and Kurdish archaeologists have uncovered a 3400-year-old Mittani Empire-era city once located on the Tigris River. The settlement emerged from the waters of the Mosul reservoir early this year as water levels fell rapidly due to extreme drought in Iraq. The extensive city with a palace and several large buildings could be ancient Zakhiku – believed to have been an important center in the Mittani Empire (ca. 1550-1350 BC).

          Iraq is one of the countries in the world most affected by climate change. The south of the country in particular has been suffering from extreme drought for months. To prevent crops from drying out, large amounts of water have been drawn down from the Mosul reservoir – Iraq's most important water storage – since December. This led to the reappearance of a Bronze Age city that had been submerged decades ago without any prior archaeological investigations. It is located at Kemune in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

          This unforeseen event put archaeologists under sudden pressure to excavate and document at least parts of this large, important city as quickly as possible before it was resubmerged. The Kurdish archaeologist Dr. Hasan Ahmed Qasim, chairman of the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization, and the German archaeologists Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ivana Puljiz (University of Freiburg) and Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner (University of Tübingen) spontaneously decided to undertake joint rescue excavations at Kemune. These took place in January and February 2022 in collaboration with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok (Kurdistan Region of Iraq).

          A team for the rescue excavations was put together within days. Funding for the work was obtained at short notice from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation through the University of Freiburg. The German-Kurdish archaeological team was under immense time pressure because it was not clear when the water in the reservoir would rise again.

          Within a short time, the researchers succeeded in largely mapping the city. In addition to a palace, which had already been documented during a short campaign in 2018, several other large buildings were uncovered – a massive fortification with wall and towers, a monumental, multi-storey storage building and an industrial complex. The extensive urban complex dates to the time of the Empire of Mittani (approx. 1550-1350 BC), which controlled large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria.

          "The huge magazine building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region," says Ivana Puljiz. Hasan Qasim concludes, "The excavation results show that the site was an important center in the Mittani Empire."

          The research team was stunned by the well-preserved state of the walls – sometimes to a height of several meters – despite the fact that the walls are made of sun-dried mud bricks and were under water for more than 40 years. This good preservation is due to the fact that the city was destroyed in an earthquake around 1350 BC, during which the collapsing upper parts of the walls buried the buildings.

          Of particular interest is the discovery of five ceramic vessels that contained an archive of over 100 cuneiform tablets. They date to the Middle Assyrian period, shortly after the earthquake disaster struck the city. Some clay tablets, which may be letters, are even still in their clay envelopes. The researchers hope this discovery will provide important information about the end of the Mittani-period city and the beginning of Assyrian rule in the region. "It is close to a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay survived so many decades under water," Peter Pfälzner says.

          To avert further damage to the important site by the rising water, the excavated buildings were completely covered with tight-fitting plastic sheeting and covered with gravel fill as part of an extensive conservation project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. This is intended to protect the walls of unbaked clay and any other finds still hidden in the ruins during times of flooding. The site is now once more completely submerged.


          Source

          © Copyright Original Source



          In various reports I've read and heard the past week or so, it is generally described as having just been discovered, but as H_A's and this source indicates, work first started in 2018 but can only continue between droughts, and the current one has been a doozy allowing more of the city to emerge.


          Any who... as they say, pix or it didn't happen







          I'm always still in trouble again

          "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
          "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
          "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by tabibito View Post
            There is that.
            Rumor has it that a portion has already been translated as "mossy was here."

            I'm always still in trouble again

            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
              Rumor has it that a portion has already been translated as "mossy was here."
              Well yes. But that is only to be expected.
              1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
              .
              ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
              Scripture before Tradition:
              but that won't prevent others from
              taking it upon themselves to deprive you
              of the right to call yourself Christian.

              ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by tabibito View Post

                Well yes. But that is only to be expected.
                Best be discreet.

                I have roguetech's sooper portal system allowing me to avoid any PIN™ Strike particularly when combined with my agreement with the NSA which warns me when she starts to wind up for a swing giving me plenty of time to vamoose.

                OTOH, you are in the open and exposed

                I'm always still in trouble again

                "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  Best be discreet.

                  I have roguetech's sooper portal system allowing me to avoid any PIN™ Strike particularly when combined with my agreement with the NSA which warns me when she starts to wind up for a swing giving me plenty of time to vamoose.

                  OTOH, you are in the open and exposed
                  You will note that there is no explicit reference in my post linking it to your comment about Mossy.
                  1Cor 15:34 Come to your senses as you ought and stop sinning; for I say to your shame, there are some who know not God.
                  .
                  ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛
                  Scripture before Tradition:
                  but that won't prevent others from
                  taking it upon themselves to deprive you
                  of the right to call yourself Christian.

                  ⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

                  Comment

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