Drought Reveals Ancient Iraqi Necropolis Beneath Reservoir

Archaeology Magazine ^ | September 2, 2025 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Al Jazeera reports that a historic drought in northern Iraq has lowered water levels in the country's largest reservoir, unexpectedly revealing parts of a 2,300-year-old ancient cemetery. An archaeological team investigated approximately 40 tombs around the edges of the Mosul Dam Lake near the Tigris River. Researchers were first made aware of the potential site in 2023 when a survey identified a few graves, but it was only during the recent dry spell that they realized how extensive it really was. "The droughts have a significant impact on many aspects, like agriculture and electricity," said Bekas Brefkany, the director of antiquities in Duhok. "But, for us archaeologists, it allows us to do excavation work." The team unearthed clay coffins and other artifacts that they believe date to the Hellenistic or Seleucid periods, from approximately 330 to 30 b.c. Experts are hoping that the new discovery will provide more information about this historical period when local traditions became heavily influenced by Greek culture following the region's conquest by Alexander the Great. To read about a 2018 drought that exposed some 5,000 years of history throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, go to "The Marks of Time."

[SunkenCiv]

A man works on a grave unearthed on the banks of Mosul Dam on an archaeological site in the Khanke sub-district of Dohuk Governorate, Iraq, August 30, 2025 [Al Jazeera]

Ismael Adnan/AFP

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the 'Curse of Agade' keyword, sorted:

• Sodom and Gomorrah? Evidence That a Cosmic Impact Destroyed a Biblical City in the Jordan Valley [09/23/2021]
• Research links Southeast Asia megadrought to drying in Africa [mid-Holocene] [08/22/2020]
• Strong winter dust storms may have caused the collapse of the Akkadian Empire [10/30/2019]
• How climate change caused the world's first empire to collapse [01/07/2019]
• Evidence of Sodom? Meteor blast cause of biblical destruction, say scientists [11/22/2018]
• Welcome to the Meghalayan Age - a new phase in history [07/19/2018]
• The Best Radiocarbon-dated Site in Recent Iberian Prehistory [sudden end] [07/15/2018]
• 4,000-year-old Sumerian port found in southern Iraq [03/22/2018]
• Did Egypt's Old Kingdom Die -- or Simply Fade Away? [12/28/2015]
• Have archaeologists discovered the biblical city of Sodom? [10/14/2015]
• Archaeologists Claim to Have Found Ancient City of Sodom (and Gomorrah) [10/11/2015]
• Archaeologist Believes Remains of Sodom's Fiery Destruction Have Been Found [10/07/2015]
• Archaeologists discover possible ruins of ancient Sodom in the Holy Land [10/03/2015]
• Possible site of ancient Sodom yields more finds [09/29/2015]
• Archeologists Explain Historical Climate Change 4,000 Years Ago [06/17/2015]
• Ancient megadrought entombed dodos in poisonous fecal cocktail [04/30/2015]
• New Thoughts on the Impact of Climate Change in Neolithic China [01/12/2015]
• Climate change caused empire's fall, tree rings reveal [05/31/2014]
• The Ghost Empire - Climate Change, Global Warming, Drought and Desertification [06/09/2013]
• Drought May Have Killed Sumerian Language [12/05/2012]
• 200-year-long drought may have killed Sumerian language [12/05/2012]
• Climate and Drought Lessons from Ancient Egypt [08/18/2012]
• Ancient Egypt was destroyed by drought, discover Scottish experts [08/04/2011]
• Ancient City Mysteriously Survived Mideast Civilization Collapse [07/30/2011]
• Clay tablet holds clue to asteroid mystery [03/30/2008]
• Comets And Disaster In The Bronze Age [04/30/2007]
• Climate Key To Sphinx's Riddle [01/08/2007]
• Charcoal reveals wildfire history [07/16/2006]
• Jordan site may be Biblical city of Sodom [05/10/2006]
• The Roots Of Civilization Trace Back To ... Roots [09/19/2005]
• Ancestors Of Turks Came To Anatolia In 2000s BC [08/27/2004]
• Mesopotamian Climate Change (8,000 Years Ago) [02/15/2004]
• Drought That Destroyed A Civilisation [11/16/2003]
• The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined? [06/08/2003]
• Meteor Clue To End Of Middle East Civilisations [06/08/2003]
• Dawn Of American Religion Found (2,250 BC) [04/14/2003]
• An Impact Event in 3114BC? The beginning of a Turbulent Millennium. [01/03/2003]
• Evidence for Major Impact Events in the late Third Millennium BC [09/04/2002]
• The Law Code of Hammurabi. (Complete Translation) [08/27/2002]
• Comets,Meteors & Myth: New Evidence For Toppled Civilizations And Bibical Tales [08/11/2002]
• Deconstructing the Walls of Jerico [06/22/2002]
• Archaeologists Unearth 1,700 Year-Old Canal System Near Lake Okeechobee (Florida) [06/07/2002]
• Meteor Clue To End Of Middle East Civilisations [01/03/2002]
• Disaster That Struck The Ancients [12/08/2001]
• Comets, Meteors & Myth: New Evidence for Toppled Civilizations and Biblical Tales [11/13/2001]
• Slam, bang, thanks Saddam: new meteor theory [11/05/2001]

[SunkenCiv]