17 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Drone photos reveal Venice of the Fertile Crescent

A drone survey of Lagash, a site located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, revealed that the 4,900-year-old settlement was built on four marsh islands.

The gathering of extensive data from large-scale remote sensing has “helped to rehydrate an ancient southern Mesopotamian city, tagging it as what amounted to a Venice of the Fertile Crescent.  Identifying the watery nature of this early metropolis has important implications for how urban life flourished nearly 5,000 years ago between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where modern-day Iraq lies,” Science News reports.

Emily Hammer, an anthropological archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, explained that remote-sensing data, collected mainly by a specially equipped drone, provides evidence of a vast urban settlement called Lagash, which was largely made up of four marsh islands connected by waterways.

These findings add important details to the growing consensus that southern Mesopotamian cities did not, contrary to popular belief, expand outward from the temple and administrative districts into irrigated farmlands surrounded by a single city wall.

Mud brick foundations and a ziggurat are among the remains of the 3rd millennium BC Sumerian city state of Lagash (Tell al Hiba) northeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq. (David Stanley / CC BY 2.0 )
Mud brick foundations and a ziggurat are among the remains of the 3rd millennium BC Sumerian city state of Lagash (Tell al Hiba) northeast of Nasiriyah, Iraq. (David Stanley / CC BY 2.0 )

Lagash, which is now known as Tell al-Hiba, was most likely established between 4,900 and 4,600 years ago. Excavated more than 40 years ago for the first time, it was learned that this site was abandoned around 3,600 years ago.

Previous analysis by other anthropologists, historians, and scientists indicate that Lagash was built on raised mounds in the marshes, and possibly consisted of 33 small, marsh islands.

“There could have been multiple evolving ways for Lagash to be a city of marsh islands as human occupation and environmental change reshaped the landscape,”  Emily Hammer says.

“The standard model of third millennium BCE Mesopotamian cities presents them as nuclear, compact settlements set within an irrigated agricultural hinterland, expanding continuously from a monumental religious complex. This reconstruction holds enormous influence in the comparative global study of early urbanism. UAV photos and magnetic gradiometry data captured at Lagash (Tell al-Hiba) show dense architecture and related paleoenvironmental features over c. 300 ha, revealing a city that does not conform to the standard model.”

Early Dynastic Lagash (2900–2350 BCE) was composed of spatially discrete sectors bounded by multiple surrounding walls and/or watercourses and separated by open spaces.

In fact, Lagash is characterized by dense architecture spread out over 300 hectares (approximately). Evidence also points to marshy and watery local environmental factors. This led Hammer to conclude that the city sectors originated as marsh islands.

For example, canals have been spotted on one of the islands, which may have focused on fishing and collecting reeds for construction. Evidence of gated walls, city streets, and large kilns have been found on two other islands.

Drone photos also show harbors that could connect city sectors via boat travel. The remains of potential footbridges have also been discovered, but only excavations can shed more light on the subject.

Cover Photo: LAGASH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT

Related Articles

An Interesting Ottoman Tradition Resembling Christmas tree: “NAHIL” OR WISHING TREE

28 December 2022

28 December 2022

Nahıl, a word of Arabic origin, means date palm. This word was later used by the people to mean the...

Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on Dartmoor, England

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

Excitement has been felt among archaeologists over the discovery of a Bronze Age burial chamber on Dartmoor, which may provide...

During roadwork in Oregon, a woolly mammoth tusk was discovered

21 June 2021

21 June 2021

A 12,000-year-old woolly mammoth tusk was discovered beneath the street by crews rerouting a gas line in Corvallis, Oregon. “Whenever...

First Visual Evidence of the Milky Way Found in Ancient Egyptian Cosmological Vignettes

1 May 2025

1 May 2025

Did ancient Egyptians gaze upon the Milky Way and immortalize its form in their artwork? New research suggests this very...

Rare Arabic inscription discovered during Malta housing project works

3 May 2023

3 May 2023

A rare Arabic inscription, possibly dating back to medieval times, was discovered at the site of a social housing project...

Italian Versailles being returned to its former glory through

17 May 2023

17 May 2023

The Italian Royal Palace of Caserta, a long-neglected near Naples, is being restored to its former glory through a vast...

1700 years ago the Korean peninsula had more genetic diversity than in our time, “Facial reconstruction possible through DNA analyses”

22 June 2022

22 June 2022

An international team led by The University of Vienna and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration...

8,000-year-old Cave paintings found in Türkiye’s İnkaya Cave depict life and death

10 September 2023

10 September 2023

A number of cave paintings dating back some 8,000 years have been found in İnkaya cave in the Marmara province...

In the 1,900-year-old underground temple of Mithras religion in Zerzevan Castle, an area where participants of secret rituals stayed was unearthed

23 July 2024

23 July 2024

Excavations at the  Zerzevan Castle in Diyarbakır province in the southeastern part of Türkiye have uncovered an area where participants...

Ancient Sarmatian Treasures, Including 370 Grams of Gold Bracelet, and Burial Sites Discovered in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau Region

10 February 2025

10 February 2025

During excavations at the Karabau-2 mound in Kazakhstan’s Atyrau region, archaeologists made a remarkable discovery, unearthing nine graves—seven of which...

Citizen scientists discover more than 1,000 new burial mounds in a Dutch archaeological project

29 January 2023

29 January 2023

A Dutch archaeological project in which thousands of amateur sleuths combed specialized maps and high resolution photographs resulted in the...

Over 7,000-Year-Old Traces of Life Discovered in Ratina Cave on Šćedro Island, Croatia

28 February 2025

28 February 2025

Recent archaeological excavations on Šćedro Island, located south of Hvar, have unveiled significant findings that challenge previous understandings of the...

A Unique Discovery in Europe: Ancient Stone Circles Cover 2,800-Year-Old Graves of Children in Norway

29 June 2024

29 June 2024

Archaeologists from the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo discovered an unknown burial site in a quarry near Fredrikstad, in...

Academics Uncover Ancient Roman Physicians Galen’s Pharmacy Legacy in İzmir

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

As a part of research on medicinal plants in Bergama, İzmir’s historic district where Galen (129 AD -200 AD) once...

1-meter tall bronze statue found in China’s Sanxingdui Ruins-Video

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Chinese archaeologists have discovered a 1-meter tall bronze statue at the site of ancient Sanxingdui ruins site in southwest China’s...