Image: A cuneiform inscription on a ceremonial clay nail dating to 1800 BC from the surface at Sakhariya.

Credit: Stony Brook (N.Y) University

Archaeologist Elizabeth Stone of Stony Brook (N.Y.) University has returned to Iraq to dig at some of the important sites in ancient Mesopotamia. In her recent visit, Stoned excavated as the site of Ga’esh, “a place where Ur’s kings went every year for a festival renewing their rulership.”

According to a report published in USA Today, Stone described some of the findings at the site:

Among the discoveries were parts of inscriptions on 10 clay bricks and markers found at the platform level. They suggest a ceremonial platform built by the kings of Ur around 2000 B.C. At the time, Ur was one of the largest cities of the world, with tens of thousands of citizens, great record-keepers of ancient days who marked cuneiform symbols in mud bricks to record their business dealings. Which is why we know so much about them, now.

Let us hope that Iraq allows archeologists to return and dig at the historical sites of ancient Mesopotamia so that the remains of the history and culture of many ancient civilizations may be preserved and restored.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary