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Archaeologists make new discoveries in ancient Iraqi cities

Foreign missions continue their survey and excavation operations in the central and southern regions of Iraq, while also training native Iraqis in the latest standards of professional archaeology.

Iraq archaeology
An Iraqi soldier walks inside an underground tunnel in east Mosul on March 6, 2017. Two winged bulls dating from the Assyrian empire were found in a labyrinth of narrow underground tunnels dug by the Islamic State group in east Mosul. — ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Archaeological excavation missions in cooperation with local teams continue their work in Iraq, most notably the Tello site in Dhi Qar province (south), and the historic city of Charax in Basra (south). These missions have made astonishing discoveries dating back to about 2,000 years BC.

The director of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, Laith Majid Hussein, told Al-Monitor, “A British Museum excavation mission discovered a mud mosque dating back to the Umayyad period 1,400 years ago, while the Russian mission continues its work in the Al-Duhaila area in Dhi Qar, and the German mission in Uruk. The Louvre Museum team is carrying out maintenance and rehabilitation works at the Mosul Museum.”

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