A 3,400-year-old city emerges from the Tigris River

A team of German and Kurdish archaeologists have found a 3,400-year-old city. The settlement emerged from the waters of the Mosul dam early this year as water levels fell rapidly due to the extreme dry spell in Iraq. The city with a palace and several large buildings is believed to have been an important center in the Mittani Empire. The year 1350 BC.

Iraq is one of the countries most affected by climate change. The south of the country has been suffering from extreme dry weather for months. The most important water storage in Iraq has been drawing down large amounts of water to prevent crops from drying out. The Bronze Age city that had been submerged decades ago reappeared thanks to this. Kemune is in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Archeologists were put under a lot of pressure to dig and document parts of the city before it was resubmerged. The chairman of the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization is a Kurdish. Dr. Ivana Puljiz and Prof. Peterpflzner decided to do rescue excavations at Kemune. These took place in January and February of 2022.

Within a few days, a team for the rescue excavations was put together. Funding for the work was obtained at short notice. The German-Kurdish archaeological team was under a lot of time pressure because they didn't know when the water would rise again.

The researchers were able to map the city within a short time. Several large buildings were uncovered, including a palace, a massive fortification with wall and towers, a monumental, multi-story storage building and an industrial complex. The Empire of Mittani had an extensive urban complex. Large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria were controlled by the Babylonians.

Ivana Puljiz says that the magazine building is important because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it. The excavation results show that the site was an important center.

Despite the fact that the walls are made of sun-dried mud bricks and were under water for more than 40 years, the research team was stunned by the well-preserved state of the walls. The city was destroyed in an earthquake around 1350 BC, which caused the upper parts of the walls to collapse.

An archive of over 100 Cuneiform tablets was found in five ceramic vessels. They are from the Middle Assyrian period, after the earthquake hit the city. Some clay tablets are still in their clay envelopes. The researchers hope that this discovery will provide important information about the end of the Mittani-period city and the beginning of Assyrian rule in the region.

The excavated buildings were completely covered with plastic and gravel fill in order to prevent further damage to the site by the rising water. It 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 completely submerged.

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