British archaeologists announce the discovery of a 4,500-year-old Sumerian temple and royal palace in Iraq
British archaeologists announce the discovery of a 4,500-year-old Sumerian temple and royal palace in Iraq
A team of archaeologists from the British Museum discovered the ruins of a palace for the Sumerian kings and a temple to the god of war, hunting and agriculture, Ninurta, in Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq.
According to the museum’s statement, the discovered antiquities are at least 4,500 years old.
The statement indicates that archaeologists made these discoveries at the end of last year in the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, and this discovery is part of a research project carried out jointly between the British Museum, the American Getty Museum, and the Iraqi authorities.
It should be noted that French archaeologists discovered the city of Girsu at the end of the nineteenth century. Its discovery became the starting point for a detailed study of the Sumerian civilization, its language, and its writing preserved in cuneiform clay tablets.
Museum scientists hope that the new discovery will significantly expand understanding of the life of the Sumerians, who created one of the first civilizations in the ancient world.
Hartwig Fischer, director of the British Museum, says: “Although our knowledge about the Sumerians is limited, our work in the city of Girsu and the discovery of the lost palace and temple promise to dramatically expand our knowledge about this important civilization, shed light on the past and enrich the future.”
Archaeologists were able to determine the boundaries of the palace and the temple using drones and aerial photographs taken by them. So far, scientists have found 200 clay tablets among the ruins of the palace, which were delivered to the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad.
Archaeologists consider the Temple of Enino-Enorta (the patron of the city of Girsu) one of the most important historical religious temples in Mesopotamia (currently Iraq), to which many people made pilgrimages at the time.
Although the city of Girsu is one of the most important World Heritage sites, according to scholars, it has not been well studied. This is a result of the cessation of digging and exploration operations due to the conflicts that Iraq witnessed during the past thirty years, which allowed thieves to loot and steal many of its antiquities.
It is noteworthy that the Sumerian civilization arose on the lands of the southern and central part of modern Iraq (Mesopotamia) about 6 thousand years ago.
The Sumerians were skilled farmers, were the first to build cities, invented proto-writing, from which cuneiform later emerged, had a rich mythology, including the story of the flood, and complex legal codes.
Source: websites