(6 Mar 2025)
IRAQ ARCHAEOLOGY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 3:19
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eridu, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq – 16 February 2025
1. Landscape around Eridu
2. Various of ancient irrigation canals found in open fields in Eridu
3. Various of archaeologist Ali al-Ghanim looking at maps of the area
4. Traffic sign showing direction to the city of Eridu
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali al-Ghanim, archaeologist and master’s student at Qadisiyah University:
"We worked on discovering the irrigation canals belonging to the city of Eridu, totaling 4,200 canals. These include 200 main canals and 4,000 sub-canals connected to the main ones. They flowed from the old Euphrates River and used to supply the city (of Eridu) and its agricultural fields with water."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Diwaniya, Iraq – 24 February
6. Qadisiyah University in Diwaniya
7. Various of people exploring a gallery inside university
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jaafar al-Jotheri, professor at the archeology department of Qadisiyah University:
"We found that these networks of irrigation system is too old, may be around Babylonian (civilization) until the first millennium BC. So it is so old… irrigation system. And it is the first time in southern Iraq we found this remarkable irrigation system."
9. Various of people looking at pictures in gallery
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jaafar al-Jotheri, professor at the archeology department of Qadisiyah University:
"We used to know this information from cuneiform tablets. So they wrote actually this on cuneiform tablets, but it is the first time to see them on the ground."
11. Various of scientific conference at the university
12. Foreign archaeologists attending the conference
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Augusta McMahon, professor at the University of Chicago:
"We are also interested in learning more about the off-site archeology of Mesopotamia, particularly things like the irrigation systems. Our colleague Jafaar is working around Eridu, which is another very important city, right in the south in Dhi Qar province, and has revealed a really fascinating irrigation system there, ancient irrigation system there. As you know, Iraq has very limited rainfall now and in the past. And so, irrigation was incredibly important. It was invented here for the first time."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eridu, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq – 16 February 2025
14. Various of al-Ghanim walking in empty field
15. Walk by shot of trenches and canals
16. Trench
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ali al-Ghanim, archaeologist and master’s student at Qadisiyah University:
"We call on the relevant authorities to fence off these irrigation canals because their importance is no less than that of the city (of Eridu). They are part of the city’s heritage, so we urge that they be added to the World Heritage List."
18. Landscape in the ancient city
19. Cars on highway passing by open fields in Eridu
STORYLINE:
Archaeologists say irrigation was first invented in the now-barren land of ancient Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq, giving life to the earliest civilizations.
Iraqi archaeologists from the University of Qadisiya said they discovered what are believed to be irrigation canals used by ancient Mesopotamians in the city of Eridu in southern Iraq.
Founded around 5400 BC, Eridu is one of the earliest known urban centers and was considered by the ancient Sumerians to be the first city in the world.
The research was conducted by a joint team of researchers from Qadisiya, Newcastle and Durham universities.
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