Two long-lost cities in Iraq have started to emerge: one in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan; the other is thought to be somewhere in the south.
The first suspicions of the existence of a city in the north of the country were aroused when fragment of a bronze statue of the Akkadian sun-king Naram-Sin was found during road building near the village of Bassetki in 1975. Dated from around 2250 BC, it had an inscription on the base indicating that it stood in the doorway of a palace.
In 2016, after five years of field work, archaeologists from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (IANES) at the University of Tübingen, under lead researcher Professor Peter Pfälzner, did indeed uncover a large Bronze Age palace here. Then, last year, 92 cuneiform tablets were found stashed inside a vessel covered in clay.
Now deciphered, they show that, several centuries after the collapse of the Akkadian empire, this was the royal city of Mardaman, which Babylonian sources date to around 1800 BC when it was a commercial hub and centre of the Assyrian kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I.
Bu hikaye Minerva dergisinin July/August 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Minerva dergisinin July/August 2018 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
ROMAN DISCOVERIES AT ANCIENT AUGUSTODUNUM
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SHAPING THE WORLD: SCULPTURE FROM PREHISTORY TO NOW
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The Great Royal Wife of Ramesses II, Nefertari, was buried in one of the most spectacular tombs of Egypt’s Valley of the Queens. Well-educated and well-travelled, Nefertari played a crucial part in the political life of the pharaoh, and her importance was reflected through her magnificently decorated tomb. Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Casler Price to find out more.
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CUZCO 'CENTRE AND HEAD OF ALL THE LAND'
Cuzco was the heart of the vast Inca empire, but all changed in the 16th century when the capital was conquered by Spanish invaders. Michael J Schreffler investigates the Inca city, and how it went from the centre of one empire to the periphery of another.
A STUDY IN PURPLE
A tiny speck of purple paint from the 2nd century AD may yield clues to how ancient artists created the extraordinary portrait panels that accompanied mummified bodies into the afterlife.
Rome In The 8th Century: A History In Art
John Osborne CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, £75 HARDBACK - ISBN 978-1108834582
