Iraq, remains found of a city possibly founded by Alexander the Great

A team of archaeologists from the British Museum has found in Iraq, to be precise 10 kilometers southeast of the town of Rania in the province of Sulaimaniya (Iraqi Kurdistan), the remains of an ancient fortified city, possibly founded by Alexander the Great: the settlement of Qalatga Darband had been completely lost for centuries until the current discovery. However, the existence of a city had already been known since the 1960s, when military satellite photos had provided evidence of the existence of an ancient urban layout. The discovery was only made known to scholars in 1996: however, due to Saddam Hussein’s regime and the subsequent war in Iraq, archaeological missions were unable to work on the site. The city is thought to have been erected by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., during his campaign against Darius III. Mission manager John MacGinnis told the Times that “it is too early to tell, but we think it was a busy city on the road between present-day Iraq and Iran. It is possible to imagine the inhabitants supplying wine to soldiers passing through.” Indeed, the city, which stood on the shores of Lake Dokan, was probably also important for wine production.

A complete reconnaissance of the site was made possible by the use of drones, but confirmations also came from excavations from which terracotta tiles and Greek and Roman statues emerged: finds, the latter of which suggested that the city may have been under the influence of Alexander the Great. Among the statues unearthed was a female figure that may depict the goddess Persephone, and another that most likely represents the mythological Adonis. Also discovered were some coins and the remains of some buildings, including a large fortified wall. Operations at the site, which began in the fall of 2016, will continue until 2020.The project received grants from the British government as part of the aid plan for Iraq to rebuild historic sites destroyed by Isis. The next step will be to find inscriptions or otherwise linguistic confirmation to shed more light on the city’s origins.

Sources: Times - Daily Mail - Independent

Image: the site on which Qalatga Darband stood (copyright British Museum)

Iraq, remains found of a city possibly founded by Alexander the Great

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