Decoding the unknown temple of Zagros; Traces of Uruk civilization in an unexpected place

According to ISNA; By exploring Iraq, archaeologists discovered the remains of a 5,000-year-old “ritual enclosure” in Iraq, which probably dates back to the formation of the world’s first cities.

Excavating in Iraq, archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 5,000-year-old building that may have been used as a “ritual space” or a temple for prayer.

“Live Science” wrote:

This buried structure was identified in September in the ancient site of “Kani Shaie” located in the province of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, at the foot of the Zagros mountain range. If it turns out that this building is truly monumental in nature, which we are currently investigating in detail, this discovery could transform our understanding of the Uruk civilization’s relationship with the surrounding regions.

According to preliminary estimates, the age of this structure reaches around 3300 to 3100 BC; That is, the “Uruk” era, an era that takes its name from the ancient city of “Uruk” in the southern Mesopotamia.

The ancient city of Uruk had about 80,000 inhabitants and covered an area of ​​about 400 hectares. The city was organized with a grid of streets and sections for different functions, including administrative and residential areas. This description is based on the German archaeologist Hans Nissen’s important book, The Early History of the Ancient Near East (University of Chicago Press, 1988).

The leaders of the excavation announced that this structure was found in the upper part of a hill in the area of ​​”Kani Shai” and its architectural style shows that it was probably an official building and maybe it was used as a “ritual space” or a temple for worship.

Archaeologists have also found fragments of a gold pendant that may indicate a social display of wealth in that society. In addition, several “cylinder seals” related to the Uruk period have also been discovered, which were related to administrative affairs and political power.

The research team also found ancient “wall cones,” decorations made of clay or stone cones that were driven into the fresh plaster of the wall with their tips and then painted on their flat surfaces. This created a mosaic effect with geometric designs such as triangles and zigzags on the wall. According to the researchers, the existence of these decorations is another proof that this building was a “public or ritual” building.

The Kani Shai mine site is about 480 kilometers (nearly 300 miles) north of Uruk, a distance that takes about 15 days to walk. The new findings show that this region was not a marginal region in the Uruk period, contrary to the previous idea, but was a part of a wide network of cultural and political ties that covered the entire ancient Middle River.

In the statement of the researchers, it is stated:

Kani Shai is considered the most important archaeological site east of the Tigris River for understanding the sequence of human settlement from the early Bronze Age to the third millennium BC.

Archaeological excavations in this area began in 2013 and evidence of human habitation from the Copper Age, from about 6500 BC to about 2500 BC, has been obtained.

“Uruk” (which today is called “Verkeh” in southern Iraq) was probably the first city in the world and had a deep impact on the Sumerian civilizations and then on other Mesopotamia cultures. The Uruk people are considered to be the founders of cuneiform and probably the world’s first writing system, which was used throughout Mesopotamia for thousands of years. They also developed the first form of numerology, which was apparently used to record agricultural products.

The “Uruk” civilization also established the model of the first “ziggurats”, which is a type of stepped structure that was later popularized as a temple in the Mesopotamian civilizations, and was probably the first place where the clergy were distinguished from other people with special religious clothes and symbols.