Ancient mounds destroyed in southern Iraq
A senior Antiquities Department official says three ancient mounds have been destroyed in southern Iraq following the construction of a rural road.
“We warn all authorities that encroaching on ancient sites is illegal,” said Sabah Mahdi, representative of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the southern Province of Missan.
“The ministry will take legal measures to stop any violation of these sites,” he added.
The three ancient sites which have been destroyed by the construction of a new road belong to Islamic civilization which flourished in Iraq in the 7th century.
“These mounds have already given the scientists gold coins and other artifacts,” Mahdi said.
Missan is the site where Iraq’s Sumerian civilization emerged. The Sumerians, who inhabited largely the provincial borders of Missan, were the world’s first nation to have invented writing and a civil system of government more than 5,000 years ago.
The Sumerian capital, Ur, lies within Missan’s provincial borders.
The head of the Antiquities Department in Missan was furious about the encroachment on ancient sites.
He said the department would file a suit against “the road authority” for planning the road to pass through archaeologically significant sites.
Legally, no building or construction can take place in Iraq without prior permission from the Antiquities Department.
There are at least 10,000 archaeologically significant sites of which 400 are in Missan.
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