The recent discovery of 40 ancient tombs at Iraq’s Mosul Dam has underscored the effect of the climate crisis on the drought ravaged nation’s ancient heritage.
The 2,300-year-old tombs were unearthed at the edge of the dam in the Khanke region of the city of Duhok, following a significant decline in water levels. The country’s largest reservoir, which was completed in 1986, has previously flooded several villages and submerged many archaeological sites.
Bekas Brefkany, the director of antiquities in Duhok and the leader of the archaeological work at the site, explains that the ebb and flow of climate change is a double edged sword for archaeologists. He tells The Art Newspaper: “While the receding waters have had negative impacts, for us as archaeologists, they have also provided an opportunity to rediscover areas that had long been hidden underwater.”
In recent years, Brefkany says the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok has conducted archaeological surveys to identify sites reemerging due to the receding waters, and to study how they are impacted by the climate crisis.
In 2023, while surveying newly exposed areas, he says he identified a very large archaeological site where only small parts had become visible. “After collecting and analysing pottery fragments, I realised the site held significant importance,” he explains.
However, at that time, Brefkany lacked the financial resources to begin excavations, and rising water levels again prevented further work. But this year, as the water reached its lowest levels, with the support of the governor of Duhok archaeologists were able to resume exploration.
“We discovered important remains,” Brefkany says, “including a cemetery near the site first identified in 2023. Several ceramic coffins, partly visible above ground, immediately caught my attention and motivated me to investigate further.”
During his excavations, Brefkany says a large cemetery was uncovered, containing numerous oval-shaped ceramic graves, all aligned in the same orientation, with distinct upper and lower sections. The tombs were identified as being from the Hellenistic Seleucid period, around 300BC, and the cemetery was organised with the upper section designated for adults and the lower section for children.
After careful recovery work, the tombs will be sent to the Duhok National Museum where they will eventually be preserved and displayed. Brefkany hopes that future research will “shed more light on causes of death, family ties, and the broader social context of these burials”.
According to Brefkany, the site itself was likely an acropolis, with a city located nearby. Survey work on the tell—a mound or hill that indicates occupation—adjacent to the cemetery revealed continuous habitation for about 5,000 years.
Pottery finds confirm this, spanning multiple cultural phases: the Nineveh V period, the Early and Middle Bronze Age, the Mitanni period, and the Neo-Assyrian period. Brefkany also discovered large quantities of Hellenistic pottery, and later Islamic ceramics. This sequence, he says, “demonstrates the exceptional importance of the site”.
Brefkany explains that the receding waters of the Mosul Dam bring both opportunities and dangers. “On the one hand, they allow us to explore hidden archaeological treasures,” he says. “On the other, they place these fragile sites at considerable risk.”
