Ancient City discovered in Kurdish Iraq

[Ichingcarpenter]

In the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq archaeologists have discovered an ancient city called Idu, hidden beneath a mound.

Cuneiform inscriptions and works of art reveal the palaces that flourished in the city throughout its history thousands of years ago.

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The city thrived between 3,300 and 2,900 years ago, said Cinzia Pappi, an archaeologist at the Universität Leipzig in Germany. At the start of this period, the city was under the control of the Assyrian Empire and was used to administer the surrounding territory. Later on, as the empire declined, the city gained its independence and became the center of a kingdom that lasted for about 140 years, until the Assyrians reconquered it. (See Photos of Discoveries at the Ancient City of Idu)

The researchers were able to determine the site's ancient name when, during a survey of the area in 2008, a villager brought them an inscription with the city's ancient name engraved on it. Excavations were conducted in 2010 and 2011, and the team reported its findings in the most recent edition of the journal Anatolica.

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Ancient palaces

The art and cuneiform inscriptions the team uncovered provide glimpses of the ancient city's extravagant palaces.

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Two works of art hint at the decorations adorning the palaces at the time Idu was independent. One piece of artwork, a bearded sphinx with the head of a human male and the body of a winged lion, was drawn onto a glazed brick that the researchers found in four fragments. Above and below the sphinx, a surviving inscription reads, "Palace of Ba'auri, king of the land of Idu, son of Edima, also king of the land of Idu."

Another work that was created for the same ruler, and bearing the same inscription as that on the sphinx, shows a "striding horse crowned with a semicircular headstall and led by a halter by a bearded man wearing a fringed short robe," Pappi and colleague Arne Wossink wrote in the journal article.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/ancient-kingdom-found-in-iraq-131001.htm

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MORE PHOTOS AND LINK
http://www.livescience.com/40043-photos-ancient-iraq-city-discovered.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wonderful artifacts, images to be examined. What a discovery.

Thank god the site wasn't bombed to a fine powder by US planes, and wasn't completely destroyed by Hussein, either.

What remains to be learned is beyond price. Everyone would benefit.

Beautiful workmanship, artistry. We need to know all we can learn.

Thank you.