SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A 3400-year-old city has been uncovered by a team of Kurdish and German archaeologists in Duhok province, Esta Media Network reporter said.
The reporter said the city emerged due to a fall in water levels in the Tigris river consisted of five neighborhoods and several walls and rooms.
Meanwhile, the University of Tubingen said the extensive city which includes a palace and several large buildings could be ancient Zakhiku is believed to be an important center in the Mittani Empire.
The university further said Kurdish and German archaeologists decided to undertake joint rescue excavations at Kemune following the reappearance of a “Bronze Age” city.
The excavations took place in January and February in collaboration with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok, according to the university.
“Within a short time, the researchers succeeded in largely mapping the city,” the University of Tubingen said in a press release.
It said the extensive urban complex dates to the time of the Empire of Mittani, which controlled large parts of northern Mesopotamia and Syria.
“The huge magazine building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region,” Jun.-Prof. Dr. Ivana Puljiz of the University of Freiburg said.
Kurdish archaeologist Hasan Qasim said the excavation results showed that the site was “an important center in the Mittani Empire,” according to the University of Tubingen.
The university stated that the walls were made of sun-dried mud bricks and were under water for more than 40 years. The city was destroyed in an earthquake around 1350 BC, it said.
The team also discovered five ceramic vessels contained an archive of more than 100 cuneiform tablets, it added. They date to the Middle Assyrian period.
