Idu – An 3,300-Year-Old Prehistoric City Revealed In Iraq Found Underneath A Mound

posted by Chesa Castro
Remains of a 3300 year old Ancient City have been discovered under a mound in Iraq. The details were discovered in 2008 but the proper excavation was started only in 2010. The excavation was delayed due to the political instability in Iraq.The findings has been reported in the current edition of of Anatolica, LiveScience.

The remains seem to be of the ancient city of Idu which had flourished some 3300 to 2900 years ago. The remains have been sitting below a mound of what seems to be a recently discovered kingdom called Tell Qarqur, located 32 feet above ground.

3,300-Year-Old Ancient City Discovered In Iraq

The city was controlled by the Assyrians who administered the territories. There was a brief interlude when the Assyrian Empire became weak and the territory gained independence for 140 years before it was re-conquered once again by the Assyrians.

The ancient inscriptions which were dug out from the site will shed more light on the life when Idu was independent. Glazed bricks bear a bearded sphinx drawing along with an inscription “Palace of Ba’auri, king of the land of Idu, son of Edima, also king of the land of Idu.”

Other glazed plaque were also discovered which bears figures of palmette, pomegranates and zigzag patterns has a partial inscription that reads, “Palace of Assurnasirpal, (king of the land of Assur).” It could be of the period when Assyrians were in control of the territories.

There were other artifacts also which included a 2,600-year-old cylinder which depicts a mythological scene of an archer crouching before a griffon along with symbols of a lunar crescent, a solar disc for the sun god and a rhomb.

Cinzia Pappi, an archaeologist at the Universität Leipzig in Germany, told LiveScience said, “The image of the crouching hero with the bow is typical for warrior gods. The most common of these was the god Ninurta, who also played an important role in the [Assyrian] state religion, and it is possible that the figure on the seal is meant to represent him.”

The location is close to the regions which suffered the brunt of Saddam Hussein’s poison gas attacks in the Kurd campaign in 1987.
http://www.pentagonpost.com/3300-year-old-prehistoric-city-revealed-in-iraq/83412407