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Πέμπτη 24 Μαρτίου 2011

Ancient town discovered in Karbala

Erbil, March 23 (AKnews)- The relics of an ancient town, dating back to two centuries BC- to the Aramean era, was discovered in the suburbs of Karbala, 108 km southwest of Baghdad.

Iftikhar Abbas, the chairwoman for the tourism and archeology committee in Karbala Provincial Council told AKnews the site is located near Al-Zaraza Lake. Abbas said the site which was called the House of Wisdom during the Islamic era was covered by the lake water. However, with the draughts and the recession of the water the ancient site became evident. Some residents in the nearby areas informed the tourism and archeology committee in Karbala about a hill near the lake which eventually led to the discovery. Some fences and substantial hills are discovered in the site. Abbas urged the federal government to allocate a budge to protect the site against looting.

The Aramaeans, also Arameans were a northwest Semitic semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who originated in what is now modern Syria during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia (Iraq) where they intermingled with the native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to a number of Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC.

Reported by Hasun Haffar
Lh/AKnews