The lost palace of a once powerful empire unearthed in Iraq

A bird's eye view of Kemon Palace near Tigris River in Iraq from the west. University of Tubingen/Eschenko Center/Kurdistan Archaeological Organization, when the drought dried up the water in the dam reservoir of Mosul, Iraq, it exposed the remains of an ancient city dating back to the Bronze Age.

The city includes a palace, and the walls are preserved to 22 feet (7 meters) high; Archaeologists recently said in a statement that this is a room that was once decorated with painted murals.

Scientists trace this site back to the period of Sangu Empire. Sangu Empire is a kingdom in the Near East, which ruled parts of Syria and northern Mesopotamia from the 5th century BC to the 4th century BC. Three other sites in this period, including Sangu Palace, were found outside the empire. According to the statement, only Meng Kai has insight into life in the center of the kingdom. [ten battles to control Iraq]

In 20 10, the low water level of Mosul dam revealed a fascinating glimpse of underwater structure for the first time. "But we didn't dig here until now," Hassan Ahmed Kassem, an archaeologist with the archaeological organization of Kurdistan in Dohuk, Iraq, said in a statement.

The palace once stood only 65 feet (20 meters) away from the Tigris River, overlooking the river from the height of the river bank, and the sloping platform wall supported the west side of the palace. According to the archaeological investigation around the ruins of the palace,

The archaeological team excavated eight rooms in the north, some of which were made of bricks. The paintings on the white walls of the palace retain bright red and blue. Important buildings built by the Sangu Empire, such as this palace, may usually be decorated with colorful murals, but so far there are few surviving examples, which makes Meng Kai's discovery an "archaeological sensation", said Ivana Puljiz, co-head of excavation and archaeologist at the University of Tubingen in Germany.

Fragments of murals in the palace retain traces of colored pigments. (University of Tubingen/Escosi Center/Kurdistan Archaeological Organization) A 10 clay tablet engraved with three-valley cuneiform (one of the earliest writing forms) was also found in the palace room, and experts are translating it at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. The researchers said in the statement that according to the translation of the words on one of the stone tablets, the site may be the ancient city of Zhaxiku.

This city is mentioned in the historical records around 1800 BC, which shows that Zahiku stood in the Tigris River basin for at least four centuries and the Sangu Empire collapsed. The conquered Assyrian ruler Adadeni Larry slaughtered the residents of Taidu, the capital of Sangu Valley. According to historical records, he sprinkled salt on the ground. Researchers say that after thousands of years, archaeologists have hardly found the remains of this once great empire, and even the location of Taidu, the capital of Sangu, is uncertain.

Therefore, this discovery is of great significance to rebuild the timeline of this ancient civilization. Kassem said in a statement that this is "one of the most important archaeological discoveries in this area in recent decades". Photo: New Archaeological Discoveries in Northern Iraq Photo: Amazing archaeological discoveries of 24 ancient cities discovered in Iraq.

Originally published in Life Science.