3 ms·

How old is this reservoir? Why wasn’t the archeology done before it was first flooded?

ch4s3 4y ago
The dam was built in the 80s by Saddam, and it isn't clear why they didn't excavate the palace which was known to be there. There was some work in the area in 82[1], but I don't know what they excavated. I imagine the Iran-Iraq war made it impractical. There were bombings and missile attacks in Mosul and Kirkuk at the time. [1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200223 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200223
xeromal 4y ago
If I recall correctly, these were built during Saddam's era to ensure water for his people. Iraq doesn't have many, if any, water sources that aren't controlled by other countries so they were in a rush to build these to ensure a national water supply. They didn't have the luxury to do archeology.
mistrial9 4y ago
my (distant) understanding -- reasons include that various waves of modern political movements attack and destroy archeological artifacts of the past, as a rite of passage to modern power.
- munk-a 4y ago
  In some areas of the world, with some of their histories, sure - but Iraq tends to be pretty proud of their ancient heritage.
  - mistrial9 4y ago
    this https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33369701 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33369701
    - munk-a 4y ago
      If you're talking about ISIS please just specifically call out ISIS, it's arguable whether they ever achieved statehood but their terror base approach (toward their citizens rather than global terrorism) seems like a pretty big outlier in the modern world so I don't know if their state would have been sustainable even if major powers hadn't stepped in to erase them from the face of the earth. Even ideologically extreme countries like Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia have placed a strong emphasis on historical preservation - there are always compromises and violations, but I think that's a pretty safe broad generalization.
      - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
        > arguable whether they ever achieved statehood The Taliban, who've achieved statehood at least twice, blew up the absolutely amazing Buddhas of Bamiyan during their earlier reign in 2001. "The statues were destroyed in March 2001, after the Taliban government declared that they were idols. International and local opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan

The dam was built in the 80s by Saddam, and it isn't clear why they didn't excavate the palace which was known to be there. There was some work in the area in 82[1], but I don't know what they excavated. I imagine the Iran-Iraq war made it impractical. There were bombings and missile attacks in Mosul and Kirkuk at the time. [1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200223 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200223

xeromal 4y ago

If I recall correctly, these were built during Saddam's era to ensure water for his people. Iraq doesn't have many, if any, water sources that aren't controlled by other countries so they were in a rush to build these to ensure a national water supply. They didn't have the luxury to do archeology.

mistrial9 4y ago

my (distant) understanding -- reasons include that various waves of modern political movements attack and destroy archeological artifacts of the past, as a rite of passage to modern power.

munk-a 4y ago
In some areas of the world, with some of their histories, sure - but Iraq tends to be pretty proud of their ancient heritage.
- mistrial9 4y ago
  this https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33369701 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33369701
  - munk-a 4y ago
    If you're talking about ISIS please just specifically call out ISIS, it's arguable whether they ever achieved statehood but their terror base approach (toward their citizens rather than global terrorism) seems like a pretty big outlier in the modern world so I don't know if their state would have been sustainable even if major powers hadn't stepped in to erase them from the face of the earth. Even ideologically extreme countries like Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia have placed a strong emphasis on historical preservation - there are always compromises and violations, but I think that's a pretty safe broad generalization.
    - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      > arguable whether they ever achieved statehood The Taliban, who've achieved statehood at least twice, blew up the absolutely amazing Buddhas of Bamiyan during their earlier reign in 2001. "The statues were destroyed in March 2001, after the Taliban government declared that they were idols. International and local opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan