The tombs, believed to date back to the Hellenistic period, were unearthed along the Mosul Dam reservoir.
Ismael Adnan/AFPArchaeologists found 40 Hellenistic tombs after water levels lowered at the Mosul Dam reservoir.
Forty ancient tombs have been uncovered in Iraq due to a severe drought that has lowered the water levels in a reservoir.
Archaeologists discovered the tombs along the Mosul Dam reservoir, located in the Duhok province in the northern part of the country. The tombs likely date back to the Hellenistic period and are about 2,300 years old.
Parts of the tombs were spotted by a team of archaeologists back in 2023, when the reservoir’s water levels were also low. But this year, levels were even lower, with Iraq experiencing one of its driest years in a century.
Lower Water Levels At Mosul Dam Reveal 40 Hellenistic Tombs
Ismael Adnan/AFPAfter water levels at the reservoir dipped in 2023, archaeologists spotted parts of the ancient tombs for the first time, but they couldn’t properly excavate them.
The extremely low water levels in the reservoir allowed the archaeological team to properly excavate the tombs. They determined the tombs were from the Hellenistic period, when Iraq was controlled by the Seleucid Empire.
According to Agence France-Presse, the archaeological team is working to transfer the tombs to Duhok Museum, where they will be studied further. The team has to quickly finish their excavation work before water levels rise, once again covering the area where the tombs were found.
“The droughts have significant impact on many aspects, like agriculture and electricity. But, for us archaeologists… it allows us to do excavation work,” Bekas Brefkany, the director of antiquities in Duhok, explained. He also said, “So far, we have discovered approximately 40 tombs.”
The tombs are oval-shaped ceramic graves. They’re all aligned in the same orientation, and there is a distinct organization to the ancient graveyard, with the upper section for adults and the lower section for children.
The site was probably once an acropolis with a nearby city. The archaeologists’ work on the tell, or the mound, next to the cemetery shows that the area was continually inhabited for over 5,000 years.
The archaeological team hopes that further study of the tombs will reveal more details regarding the social contexts of these burials, as well as the causes of death for those buried there. Despite the negative impacts of the drought, it has presented a unique opportunity for archaeologists.
“On the one hand, they allow us to explore hidden archaeological treasures,” Brefkany told The Art Newspaper about the receding waters. “On the other, they place these fragile sites at considerable risk.”
Severe Drought Poses Many Crises For Iraq Amidst Ongoing Climate Change
Ismael Adnan/AFPArchaeologists have to move quickly to fully excavate the tombs before water levels rise again.
Iraq is currently experiencing one of the driest years it has seen in a century. According to Al Jazeera, it’s the driest year on record since 1933 — and people in the country are certainly feeling the effects.
The drought has caused severe water shortages, with the country’s water reserves decreasing to just eight percent of their full capacity. The impacts have been the most severe in Basra, which has seen a humanitarian crisis due to water shortages and inadequate water management.
In recent years, Iraq has been named by the United Nations as one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The country has seen an increase in rising temperatures, the frequency of sandstorms, and water shortages. Considering the many crises, it’s clear that the recent archaeological discovery is a bittersweet one.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tombs discovered at the Mosul Dam reservoir are not the only discoveries to be made due to Iraq’s recent droughts. City ruins over 3,400 years old were uncovered along the Tigris River near a dried-up section of Mosul Dam in 2022, another bittersweet find.
After reading about the ancient tombs discovered in Iraq due to a severe drought, take a look at the 2,500-year-old beer cups found in northern Iraq. Then, learn about the 5,000-year-old structures found in Iraq that provide evidence of history’s first known governmental collapse.
