Drought in Iraq reveals tombs created 2,300 years ago

96 pointsposted 8 hours ago
by pseudolus
(smithsonianmag.com)

13 Comments

alsetmusic

7 hours ago

I hope it's not considered inappropriate to mention the Fall of Civilizations podcast ep about Assyria here. I'm not affiliated. I just love history and this podcast is deeply researched and highly entertaining to a history nerd.

https://soundcloud.com/fallofcivilizations/13-the-assyrians-...

jtwaleson

4 hours ago

It's an incredible podcast. A great combination of research, history, and nostalgia. The versions with accompanying video on YouTube are good too.

adolph

5 hours ago

They are thought to be more than 2,300 years old, likely from the Hellenistic period, when Iraq was under the rule of the Seleucid empire.

So similar territory and genetic people but well after the Assyrians.

  Assyrian city-state: 2100 - 1400 BC
  Assyrian empire: 1400 - 700 BC (thru the Bronze age collapse circa 1200 BC)
  Seleucid empire: 312 - 63 BC
(rough dates from wikipedia)

expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC to the 7th century BC

bn-l

17 minutes ago

There is an amazing bit in the fall of civs podcast of a Greek military leader’s account who over 2000 years ago is retreating from battle in Iraq and comes across an entire ancient city. He doesn’t know it but the ruins for him are already over a 1000 years old.

kwk1

4 hours ago

Tangentially but somewhat interestingly, I was reading the other day that the field of "Assyriology" goes all the way up to the Islamic conquest, about a thousand years after the end of the Neo-Assyrian Empire mentioned above.

staplers

6 hours ago

It might be inappropriate to advertise it without explaining why it's relevant to the subject..

boringg

6 hours ago

The Assyrians were an ancient civilization in the area about the same time...

somewholeother

2 hours ago

One thing that seems to link many past great civilisations is their discovery of forces or powers that eventually consume them.

The challenge seems to be how to wield the fire without yourself getting burned. Some would say this is an impossible task given the relative nature of our definitition of what is considered "new", as once again we extend our hand to the flame.

What past lessons may we bring to this experience which can allow us deeper insights, and the hope of a less destructive outcome?

hydrogen7800

5 hours ago

Was this site known before the Mosul dam was built? It's only been about 40 years.

rdc12

14 minutes ago

It's very common that both historical artifacts and natural wonders have been consumed by reservoirs, I suspect it would be almost impossible to avoid this.