Excavated 4,500-year-old palace in Iraq may hold clues to ancient civilization

Director of the British Museum named a 4,500-year-old excavated palace in Iraq is “one of the most breathtaking sites” he has ever visited. We are talking about the discovery of a lost Sumerian temple in the ancient city of Girsu.

Dr. Sebastien Rey led a project to discover a 4,500-year-old palace in present-day Iraq, believed to be the key to learning more about one of the first known civilizations.

The palace of the kings of the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, now located at Tello in southern Iraq, was discovered during field work last year by British and Iraqi archaeologists. More than 200 cuneiform tablets containing administrative records of the ancient city have been discovered near the ancient city.

Ray said that when he first presented the project at international conferences, no one believed him. “Everyone basically told me ‘Oh no, you’re making this up, you’re wasting your time, you’re wasting public funding for the British Museum’ – that’s what they told me,” he said.

Girsu, one of the earliest known cities in human history, was built by the ancient Sumerians who, between 3500 and 2000 BC, invented writing, built the first cities, and created the first codes of law. The ancient city was first discovered 140 years ago, but it has been the subject of looting and illegal excavations.

The discovery is the result of the Girsu Project, an archaeological collaboration established in 2015 led by the British Museum and funded by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Along with the discovery of the palace and tablets, the main temple dedicated to the Sumerian god Ningirsu was also identified. Prior to these pioneering field studies, its existence was known only from ancient inscriptions discovered during the first successful excavations of the ancient city.

The project follows an Iraqi scheme funded for the first time by the British government in response to the Islamic State’s destruction of important heritage sites in Iraq and Syria. Since its inception, more than 70 Iraqis have been trained to conduct eight seasons of field work in Girsu.

The first mud-brick walls of the palace, discovered last year, have since been kept in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.

The Sumerians inhabited the ancient eastern Mediterranean region of Mesopotamia and made many technological advances, including time measurement as well as writing.

The ancient Sumerians may not be as well known as the ancient Egyptians or Greeks, but according to Dr. Timothy Potts, director of the Getty Museum, Girsu “is probably one of the most important heritage sites in the world.”

Iraqi Culture Minister Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani concluded: “British archaeological excavations in Iraq will further reveal important Mesopotamian ancient eras as they are a true testament to the strong ties between the two countries to enhance cooperation.”