4,000-Year-Old ‘Lost’ City Discovered in Iraq, Researchers Say

[SocalDinar]

4,000-Year-Old ‘Lost’ City Discovered in Iraq, Researchers Say

BY JACK PHILLIPS

April 2, 2019 Updated: April 2, 2019 

A 4,000-year-old lost city has been discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to researchers.

 

“We weren’t expecting to discover a city here at all,” said Christine Kepinski, who explored the site, according to the French National Center for Scientific Research journal.

The excavation of the site, known as Kunara and located near the city of Sulaymaniyah, was only possible after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was deposed in 2003. Researchers also noted that the ISIS terrorist group’s presence in Iraq also hampered their efforts.

“The situation is much more favorable now,” project leader Aline Tenu said in the journal.

 

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According to the journal, “This city stood in the heart of an unknown kingdom: that of the mountain people, who had until then remained in the shadow of their powerful Mesopotamian neighbors,” including the Akkadians. The Akkadian Empire is considered the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia and reached its peak about 4,000 years ago under ruler Sargon of Akkad. After its fall, historians believe it split into Assyria and Babylonia.

People lived in the city, located near the Zagros Mountains, around 2200 BC, archaeologists have theorized.

“The city of Kunara provides new elements regarding a hitherto unknown people that has remained at the periphery of Mesopotamian studies,” Tenu added.

 

Meanwhile, dozens of clay tablets covered in cuneiform were also discovered, which showed how people may have delivered flour. Cuneiform is one of the oldest systems of writing.

Researchers said the city underwent a period of decline after it was ravaged by a fire 4,000 years ago, the researchers speculated.

Cuneiform specialist Philippe Clancier said the people who lived in the city had a good “grasp of Akkadian and Sumerian writing, as well as that of their Mesopotamian neighbors.”

 

 

 

“The first tablets found in a building of the lower city register a large number of entries and departures of flour,” Clancier continued.

“It was actually a kind of flour office,” Tenu explained, adding that it was for the governor of Kunara.

“The city must have even been fairly prosperous,” Tenu noted. “As rare stones such as obsidian [and carnelian, a semi-precious gems stone] were used to produce entirely commonplace tools.”

Residents in the city “most likely took advantage of its strategic location on the border between the Iranian kingdom in the east and the Mesopotamian kingdom in the west and south,” Kepinski also theorized.

A man walks past two ancient Assyrian human-headed winged bull statues at Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad on March 1, 2015. (Karim Kadim/AP Photo)

Researchers also discovered tools and ceramics that were bought and traded in the city’s ruins.

“It was surely the area’s agricultural wealth that promoted its rise. Archaeologists have discovered the remains of goats, sheep, cows, and pigs, suggesting the existence of a major livestock farming system. The presence of an irrigation network in the city’s south is also a reminder of the mastery the region’s inhabitants achieved in grain farming, especially barley and malt,” the journal also noted.

A view of the ancient city of Babylon. The Babylon ruins which have been recently renovated are on the right side while the left side of the photograph shows what remains of the Babylon City. (Ali Al-Saadi/Getty Images)

They haven’t found anything about the city’s original name, which is still a mystery.

“But we will continue to look,” Tenu added.

 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/4000-year-old-lost-city-discovered-in-iraq-researchers-say_2863212.html

[ChuckFinley]

This was a great read. Thank you for posting.

[Sage449]

Agree, history and the finds of same are so interesting. Thank you. 

[nannab]

Great find Social thank you. 

[jg1]

The lost city would be amazed at how advanced Iraq has come in 4000 years! From the stone age to. Uhhh, the stone age.😣

[Pitcher]

That’s funny jg1

[madisonjar]

Quick question at today’s rates which city has the higher value currency kunara or iqd? Even though kunara has no economy surely a coin is worth more then .00084 right

[DoD]

jg1, I was thinking along those lines except I was going to say funny how some things doesn't change even after 4000 years. I will bet that after a little more digging their going to find that some of those people who lived back then ACTUALLY had a clue an some were even honest....

[10 YEARS LATER]

2 hours ago, jg1 said:

The lost city would be amazed at how advanced Iraq has come in 4000 years! From the stone age to. Uhhh, the stone age.😣

 

That's Gosh Damn FUNNY right there !. . . and sadly, true ( well, kinda huh . . . the mind set definitely ).

[ChuckFinley]

10 hours ago, jg1 said:

The lost city would be amazed at how advanced Iraq has come in 4000 years! From the stone age to. Uhhh, the stone age.😣

Circle of life - complete.

[Theseus]

Hey, no funnin' of Iraq and their corruption. They are ranked 18th out of 300 as being the most corrupt in 2018. They made the top 20 at least. Something for them to be proud about.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Theseus

[steveh12]

Bet the people were waiting for the Dinar to RV back then too! 😀

[psdon]

And their motto was 

[yota691]

You will not believe and imagine finding a missing city in Iraq.

15 hours ago

 

 

Eighth electronic newspaper

The French National Center for Scientific Research announced today the discovery of the remains of an ancient city missing near the province of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region, stressing that the city is more than 4 thousand years old.

"Archaeologists have not been able to explore the site until after the departure of former regime president Saddam Hussein and the end of conflicts in the region," the French National Center for Scientific Research said in a statement published on its official website.

"The city is over four thousand years old, close to the Zagros mountain range, and was found at a site called the Kunara. The researchers discovered that after 6 excavations between 2012 and 2018, About 2200 BC, "noting that" the city is located on the western border of the empire of Mesopotamia what is now Iraq is ancient, and may have been an important center for the people of an ancient mountain known as "Lulobi," and the demise of the city occurred about 4000 years ago when the flames , According to historians.

 

 

"The name of the city is still unknown, and no one knows it, but archaeologists plan to carry out more on-site excavations next fall," said archaeologist Christine Kibinsky, who co-explored the site. "We did not expect a city to be discovered here at all."

"There were dozens of mud-covered clay tablets in the city, including plates about agriculture, flour deliveries and many things," the statement said. "They also discovered a set of tools and pottery that the city's residents are believed to have used in buying, selling and trading."

"People who lived in the city used to write in Akkadian and Sumerian, as well as the language of their neighbors in Mesopotamia," said Philip Klanser, an expert on cuneiform writing.