Lost Royal Sumerian Palace and Temple Discovered in Iraq’s Ancient City of Girsu

A team of archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lost palace of the kings of Girsu, in modern day Tello, Southern Iraq. Dating back at least 4,500 years to the third millennium BCE, this significant discovery is a result of the Girsu Project, a joint initiative and new holistic approach to saving endangered heritage sites between the British Museum, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) of Iraq, and Getty. Tello is the modern Arabic name of the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu, one of the earliest known cities in the world. Sumer is one of the first civilisations of the ancient world and the site is one of the greatest treasures of Iraq. Between 3,500 and 2,000 BCE, the Sumerians invented writing, built the first cities and created the first codes of law. Girsu’s discovery 140 years ago, revealed to the world the existence of the Sumerian civilisation, and brought to light some of the most important monuments of Mesopotamian art and architecture. Last year, preliminary remote sensing work at Girsu, using cutting-edge technology and drone photos, located important subsurface remains of a vast complex, previously unknown, at the site of Tablet Hill. The site had been ravaged by destructive 19th-century excavations and 20th century conflict. The palace is a significant new discovery, suggesting that still-undisturbed ancient remains lie at the heart of Tablet Hill. In the autumn of 2022, the first mudbrick walls of the palace were identified and more than 200 cuneiform tablets, administrative records of the great city, discarded in 19th-century spoil heaps, were rescued and taken to the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Another exciting discovery is the main sanctuary of the great Sumerian god, Ningirsu – from whom the city takes its name. The temple has been identified in the sacred precinct called the Urukug. The temple is named Eninnu, the White Thunderbird, and was revered as one of the most important temples of Mesopotamia. Until the renewed fieldwork of the Girsu project, the Eninnu temple was only known from ancient inscriptions unearthed at the site 140 years ago. The search for the Eninnu has obsessed generations of archaeologists and its recent recovery is an important milestone in the renewed exploration of southern Iraq after decades of fieldwork interruption.