18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover a 4,000-year-old ancient city in the Iraqi Dhi Qar region

An astonishing find was made by archaeologists in Iraq‘s Dhi Qar province, where an ancient settlement estimated to be 4,000 years old was discovered.

The find is thought to be a lost Mesopotamian city capital that was built atop the ruins of ancient Babylonia in the second millennium BC.

According to the Middle Eastern news site Al-Monitor, the find was made on June 24 by a group of Russian archaeologists and Iraqi colleagues in the Tell Duhaila district of Dhi Qar province, some 30 kilometers from the ancient city of Ur.

“According to initial speculation, the city could be the capital of a state founded following the political collapse at the end of the ancient Babylonian era [around the middle of the second millennium BC], which caused the systematic destruction of the Sumerian civilization’s urban life,” Alexei Jankowski-Diakonoff, head of Russian excavation, told Al-Monitor. In 2019, the team began their study in the region.

The city of Ur reconstruction
The city of Ur reconstruction. The ancient city, founded on the banks of the Euphrates, was the important center of the Sumerians.

Artifacts uncovered at the site include a temple wall that was roughly 4 meters (13 feet) wide and an old harbor where ships. Also discovered were an oxidized arrowhead, evidence of tandoor ovens, and early Iron Age clay camel statues.

Jankowski-Diakonoff “This site also reveals the first development in agriculture using silt in Mesopotamia. The site contains remains of the material from the period that preceded the emergence of the Sumerian civilization,” he said.

Teams from foreign colleges and museums, including ten Italian, American, French, British, and Russian missions, are expected to investigate the vast area of Dhi Qar beginning in October.

The remains of an ancient oven were uncovered in the excavations © Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The remains of an ancient oven were uncovered in the excavations © Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Amer Abdel Razak, antiquity director in Dhi Qar, told Al-Monitor, “The discovered city is located 70 kilometers [43 miles] southwest of the city of Nasiriyah [in the south] in the Sulaibiya depression, which is home to a large number of unexcavated archaeological sites. It is close to the city of Eridu — the oldest and greatest city where kings are said to have descended from heaven, according to Sumerian legends.”

The site had been identified and recorded with the Dhi Qar Antiquity Department as “an exceptionally significant archaeological site” before the Russian team’s arrival in Iraq, according to Amer Abdel Razak, the antiquity director in Dhi Qar.  However, given the absence of money and backing from the Iraqi government, it is frequently left to international archeologists to explore the area.

Sumaya al-Ghallab, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s Culture, Tourism, and Antiquity Committee, spoke to Al-Monitor about this and called for “the necessary funds and protection for excavation teams” and create “a strategy for an excavation and research process covering the entire archaeological map in Iraq”.

Cover Photo: The new discovery is in Dhi Qar, southern Iraq, home to many archaeological sites including ziggurat temples, ancient burial grounds, and the so-called Home of Abraham (pictured) Photo: Aziz1005

Related Articles

Africa May not be Where the First Pre-Human First Appeared

22 March 2021

22 March 2021

According to one opinion: About 2 million years ago, our first ancestors moved north from their hometown and left Africa....

Rare medieval bone flute unearthed in Kent, southeastern coast of England

22 November 2022

22 November 2022

Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology have unearthed a rare medieval bone flute during excavations in Herne Bay, located in Kent, southeastern...

“Last Rhodes shipwreck” of Roman period found in Turkey’s Fethiye

5 March 2022

5 March 2022

Turkish researchers, a Rhodes shipwreck from the third century A.D. was discovered in the depths of the Gulf of Fethiye...

The very unknown ancient city of the Mediterranean; Syedra

3 July 2022

3 July 2022

Known as Turkey’s holiday paradise, the Antalya region is a treasure when it comes to ancient cities. Close to the...

A wash-basin decorated with 2500-year-old Mythological creatures and Chariot races was discovered in Izmir, Turkey

28 September 2022

28 September 2022

Unique ceramic figures were discovered in the excavations carried out this year in the ancient city of Klazomenai in the...

The 8,000-year-old Aslantepe in Turkey has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

26 July 2021

26 July 2021

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Monday that a rich, 30-meter-high archaeological mound going back 8,000 years in southern Turkey has...

The 1,800-year-old ‘Iron Legion’ Roman Legionary Base uncovered at the foot of Tel Megiddo

14 February 2024

14 February 2024

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced that a recent excavation at the foot of Tel Megiddo, near the ancient village...

50 Lost War Helmets Found Near Wrocław University

16 June 2025

16 June 2025

In a remarkable archaeological discovery, over 50 military helmets from both World Wars have been unearthed just steps away from...

A Neolithic Ornate Necklace with Over 2,500 Stones found in a Child’s Grave

3 August 2023

3 August 2023

An ornate necklace found in a child’s grave in ancient Jordan about 9,000 years ago provides new insights into the...

Ancient Hittite Archives Unearthed at Kayalıpınar: 56 Cuneiform Tablets and 22 Seal Impressions Found

18 September 2025

18 September 2025

Archaeologists excavating the ancient Hittite city of Kayalıpınar (ancient Šamuḫa) in Sivas province have uncovered a remarkable collection of 56...

An ancient “fridge” have uncovered at the Roman legionary fortress of Novae, Bulgaria

30 September 2022

30 September 2022

Polish archaeologists, during excavations at the Roman legionnaires’ camp in Novae, discovered a container that could be described as an...

An inscription containing the Turk name was discovered for the first time in Anatolia

3 September 2022

3 September 2022

For the first time in the pre-Islamic Early period Turkish history, an inscription bearing the inscription expression “Turk” and written...

Archaeologists Discover Assyrian-Style Leather Armor 2,700 Years Old in China

11 December 2021

11 December 2021

The new research shows that the unique leather armor found in a horse rider’s tomb in Northwest China was made...

Two Durham Archaeology Students, One from Türkiye, Earn Prestigious Awards for Research on Ancient Lycia

26 July 2025

26 July 2025

In a remarkable achievement for Anatolian studies, two Durham University-affiliated archaeology students have received prestigious awards for their research on...

30 Graves Found in the Basilica-Planned Ancient City

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Kibyra ancient city is situated south of Turkey, located in the town Gölhisar in the southwestern part of Burdur Province,...