Archaeologists Unearth a War Zone 5,500 Years Old

NY Times ^ | December 16, 2005 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

[Pharmboy]

Whatta find...

[Pharmboy]

Ping for you, friend...

[beyond the sea]

the oldest known excavated site of large-scale organized warfare

I don't see the torture rooms.

[Publius6961]

Have muslim shiites been around that long?
Did they find any IEDs?

[Larry Lucido]

John Kerry remembers it like it was yesterday - it's seared into his mind.

[Fierce Allegiance]

The residents had a heck of an exit strategy, i'm sure

[Publius6961]

It was previously thought that the culture had spread north through colonization, trade or conquest.

The new research revealed that relations between north and south were not without major conflict.

It is surprising, though not unexpected, that in this part of the world with the biological deficients we know exist there, that the concept of "conquest" is not considered a "major conflict"

Or is this more of that elusive muslim humor?

[Fraxinus]

The location is said to be the oldest known excavated site of a large battle.

Beware of duds. They can ruin the rest of your life,when they go off unexpectedly.

[1FASTGLOCK45]

NYTimes is the source, are you sure they didn't fabricate parts of this story? hehehehe.

--Finding a 5,500 year old warzone is going to devastate the peace lovers.

[libertylover]

archaeologists have uncovered what they say is substantial evidence of a fierce battle fought there in about 3500 B.C.

Hmmmp! I had no idea Bush was that old.

[Hardastarboard]

"Only the dead have seen the last of war"

[Pharmboy]

Great quote, and how appropriate for this thread. Plato said it, for those interested.

[familyop]

Uruk, also known as the biblical city of Erech.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the info. Where in the bible is that city mentioned and was anything significant said about it? Also, was it in "The Fertile Crescent?" It seems to be near there based on the description...(Syria/Iraq border).

[R. Scott]

Finding a 5,500 year old warzone is going to devastate the peace lovers

This shows that there may have been peace lovers for as long as 5,500 years.
Warfare is a natural state of affairs – I’m hard pressed to think of a truly “peaceful” group of animals in nature. From humans to apes to dog and cats and ants they protect their territory and conquer their neighbors. I even watch the local squirrels at war on a regular basis.

[familyop]

I don't remember where it is in the Bible, offhand, and will have to look again. From a quick search, Gilgamesh didn't reign for 800-900 years after the dating of the posted dig. Abraham didn't come along for about 1500 years (~ year 2000, if the searched info is correct). The dig mentioned might possibly have been one of the first Sumerian cities.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the follow-up. Any further Biblical references you find to this area would be interesting to many who read this thread.

[familyop]

Here it is. It speaks of Nimrod.

Bereshit (Genesis) 10:10 (Tanakh, Jewish Virtual Library)
"And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

[familyop]

...10:9-11 for minimum context--10:1-11 for more. It appears that Nimrod might have been a grandson of Noah, if I'm reading it correctly. Nimrod, a disobedient tyrant, probably reigned a little over 3700 years ago, long after the estimated date of items in the current archeological dig.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Warfare is a natural state of affairs – I’m hard pressed to think of a truly “peaceful” group of animals in nature. From humans to apes to dog and cats and ants they protect their territory and conquer their neighbors. I even watch the local squirrels at war on a regular basis

Your assessment may be correct. Other animals go to war only over access to resources. Do humans go to war for any other reasons?