‘Close To A Miracle’: Drought Reveals Submerged Ancient City

Pottery vessels, in which cuneiform tablets were stored, are standing in the corner of a room from the Middle Assyrian period (c. 1350-1100 BC). (Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO).

An extreme drought in Iraq helped a team of Kurdish and German archaeologists to uncover what is believed to be the ancient city of Zakhiku. Zakhiku had long been lost underneath the waters of the Mosul reservoir, according to a press release from the University of Freiburg.

Zahkiku, which is believed to be at least 3,400 years old, would have been located in the territory of the former Mittani Empire. In that empire, which held onto power from about 1600 to 1200 BC, Zahkiku likely played an important role as a trading hub, with the city sitting alongside the critically important Tigris River.