Kemune: Difference between revisions

'''Kemune''' (believedthought to be the ancient city of '''Zakhiku''')<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dwindling water levels reveal another surprise: An ancient lost city |url=https://news.yahoo.com/ancient-city-iraq-unearthed-extreme-180558360.html |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref> is an [[archeologicalarchaeological site]] discovered during a low water level in the [[reservoir]] of the [[Mosul Dam]] in the [[Nineveh Governorate]], part of the [[Iraqi Kurdistan|Kurdistan region of Iraq]] in 2013.<ref>Sconzo, Paola, Francesca Simi, and Andrea Titolo, "Drowned Landscapes: The Rediscovered Archaeological Heritage of the Mosul Dam Reservoir", Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 389.1, pp. 165-189, 2023</ref> The [[Mitanni]] era city was destroyed by an earthquake around 1350 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/university/news-and-publications/press-releases/press-releases/article/archaeologists-uncover-palace-of-the-mittani-empire-in-the-duhok-province-of-the-kurdistan-region-iraq/|title=Archaeologists uncover palace of the Mittani Empire in the Duhok province of the Kurdistan Region/ Iraq|work=Eberhard Karls University Tübingen|date=27 June 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/4/786/htm]{{Cite journal |last=Titolo, A.|first=Andrea |date=January (2021). |title=Use of Time-Series NDWI to Monitor Emerging Archaeological Sites: Case Studies from Iraqi Artificial Reservoirs. |journal=Remote Sensing, |language=en |volume=13( |issue=4), |pages=786 |doi=10.3390/rs13040786 |issn=2072-4292|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The site was first [[Archaeological excavation|excavated]] by German and Kurdish archaeologists in Autumn 2018. The excavation was led by Ivana Puljiz of the [[University of Tübingen]]. The work concentrated on the remains of the palace. Ten Mitanni-era tablets were discovered.<ref>Puljiz, Ivana, 1987-et al., (2019). [https://www.academia.edu/42013483/A_New_Mittani_Centre_on_the_Middle_Tigris_Kurdistan_Region_Report_on_the_2018_Excavations_at_Kemune_2019_ "A New Mittani Centre On the Middle Tigris (Kurdistan Region): Report On the 2018 Excavations At Kemune."], in: Zeitschrift Für Orient-Archäologie 12, pp. 10-43, (2019).</ref> In 2021 extremely low water levels in the reservoir, due to a severe drought, again exposed the site. In January and February 2022 the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization and University of Tübingen conducted additional emergency [[Rescue archaeology|rescue excavations]]. In addition to mapping the majority of the site, about 100 [[cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] were recovered. The tablets date from the early Middle Assyrian period, just after the destruction of the city by an earthquake. The site has now again flooded.<ref>[{{Cite web |last=Tübingen |first=University of |title=A 3,400-year-old city emerges from the Tigris River |url=https://phys.org/news/2022-05-year-old-city-emerges-tigris-river.html A 3,400|access-yeardate=2022-old city emerges from the Tigris River 06-03 University of Tübingen - Phys|website=phys.org - May 30, 2022]|language=en}}</ref>

The site held a palace constructed on the banks of the [[Tigris]] River during the days of the [[Mitanni|Mitanni Empire]] rule over [[Assyria]].<ref name="cnn1">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/iraq-palace-drought-scli-intl/index.html |title=Ancient palace emerges from drought-hit Iraq reservoir |publisher=CNN.com |date= |accessdate=2009-06-28}}</ref> The remains of the palace conserved to a height of about seven meters. According to Dr. Ivana Puljiz, the two usage phases are clearly noticeable, indicating that the building has been in use for a very long time. Archaeologists unearthed several rooms inside the palace and partially reviewed eight of them. They also uncovered big, fired bricks that were used as floor slabs in some places. Ten cuneiform clay tablets belonged to Mittani people and were translated by Betina Faist of [[Heidelberg University]]. According to one of the tablets, Kemune was probably the ancient city of Zakhiku.<ref>[https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/1957170/1/MittaniCuneiformDocuments.pdf]de Martino, Stefano, "The Mittanian Cuneiform Documents: The Interplay between Content, Language, Material, Format, and Sealing Practices", The Ancient World Revisited: Material Dimensions of Written Artefacts 37, pp. 207-219, 2024</ref> Well-preserved [[Mural|wall paintings]] were also found in some rooms, which are two meters thick and more than two meters high.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nield|first=David|title=Archaeologists at Tigris Uncover Grand Palace Ruins of a Mysterious Ancient Empire|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/archaeologists-uncover-a-grand-mysterious-palace-on-the-tigris-river|access-date=2020-09-17|website=ScienceAlert|language=en-gb}}</ref>