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Archaeologists Unearth a War Zone 5,500 Years Old
NY Times ^ | December 16, 2005 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

Posted on 12/16/2005 2:51:40 AM PST by Pharmboy


University of Chicago
Architectural remains in Syria from the fourth millennium B.C. Those at lower left were excavated in 2001,
and those at top center this year. The location is said to be the oldest known excavated site of a large battle.

In the ruins of an ancient city in northeastern Syria, archaeologists have uncovered what they say is substantial evidence of a fierce battle fought there in about 3500 B.C.

The archaeologists, who announced the find yesterday, described it as the oldest known excavated site of large-scale organized warfare. It was a clash of northern and southern cultures in ancient Mesopotamia, the land where urban civilization began, in a region that includes Iraq and parts of Syria.

snip... The ruins are in the upper fringes of the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, near the Iraq border and within sight of the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey.

"The whole area of our most recent excavation was a war zone," Dr. Reichel said in the announcement, made jointly by the University of Chicago and the Department of Antiquities in Syria.

snip...

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.

The archaeologists reported finding collapsed mud-brick walls that had undergone heavy bombardment and ensuing fire. All around, they collected more than 1,200 oval-shaped "bullets" used with slings and some 120 larger round clay balls. The layer of ruins from that time also held vast amounts of pottery from the Uruk culture of southern Mesopotamia.

"The picture is compelling," Dr. Reichel said. "If the Uruk people weren't the ones firing the sling bullets, they certainly benefited from it. They took over this place right after its destruction."

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Syria
KEYWORDS: archaeology; godsgravesglyphs; habubakabira; hamoukar; mesopotamia; milhist; obsidian; syria; telhamoukar; tellbrak; tellhamoukar; war
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Whatta find...
1 posted on 12/16/2005 2:51:43 AM PST by Pharmboy
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping for you, friend...


2 posted on 12/16/2005 2:52:10 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy
the oldest known excavated site of large-scale organized warfare

I don't see the torture rooms.

3 posted on 12/16/2005 2:55:58 AM PST by beyond the sea (Murtha: Redeployment - What .......Surrender? // “Victory is not a strategy”)
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To: Pharmboy
Have muslim shiites been around that long?
Did they find any IEDs?
4 posted on 12/16/2005 2:56:43 AM PST by Publius6961 (The IQ of California voters is about 420........... .............cumulatively)
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To: Pharmboy

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


5 posted on 12/16/2005 2:57:43 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Pharmboy

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


6 posted on 12/16/2005 2:59:02 AM PST by Fierce Allegiance (I miss my dad.)
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To: Pharmboy
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?

7 posted on 12/16/2005 3:01:06 AM PST by Publius6961 (The IQ of California voters is about 420........... .............cumulatively)
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To: Pharmboy
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.

8 posted on 12/16/2005 3:04:41 AM PST by Fraxinus
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To: Pharmboy

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.


9 posted on 12/16/2005 3:10:10 AM PST by 1FASTGLOCK45 (FreeRepublic: More fun than watching Dem'Rats drown like Turkeys in the rain! ! !)
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To: Pharmboy
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.

10 posted on 12/16/2005 3:14:52 AM PST by libertylover (Abortion is a crime against humanity.)
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To: Pharmboy

"Only the dead have seen the last of war"


11 posted on 12/16/2005 3:17:22 AM PST by Hardastarboard
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To: Hardastarboard

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


12 posted on 12/16/2005 3:32:32 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

Uruk, also known as the biblical city of Erech.


13 posted on 12/16/2005 3:35:20 AM PST by familyop
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To: familyop

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).


14 posted on 12/16/2005 3:39:33 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: 1FASTGLOCK45
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.
15 posted on 12/16/2005 3:43:41 AM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: Pharmboy

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.


16 posted on 12/16/2005 4:04:40 AM PST by familyop
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To: familyop

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


17 posted on 12/16/2005 4:07:18 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy
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."
18 posted on 12/16/2005 4:11:32 AM PST by familyop
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To: Pharmboy

...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.


19 posted on 12/16/2005 4:26:54 AM PST by familyop
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To: R. Scott
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?

20 posted on 12/16/2005 4:27:30 AM PST by Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit ("A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight D. Eisenhower)
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