4,500-year-old Sumerian temple dedicated to mighty thunder god discovered in Iraq

[Judi Lynn]

By Sascha Pare published about 12 hours ago

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a 4,500-year-old Sumerian temple at the heart of the ancient city of Girsu, in southeastern Iraq.



An aerial photo showing the mudbrick remains of a Sumerian temple in what is now Iraq. (Image credit: British Museum)

Archaeologists in Iraq have unearthed the remains of a 4,500-year-old Sumerian temple dedicated to Ningirsu, the Mesopotamian god of springtime thunder, the British Museum has reported.

The long-lost temple was built out of mud brick and was the spectacular centerpiece of the ancient city of Girsu, now an archaeological site known as Tello.

"At the heart of the city of Girsu, we have discovered — and are still currently excavating — one of the most important sacred spaces of all ancient Mesopotamia: a temple dedicated to the chief god of Girsu," Sebastien Rey(opens in new tab), a curator of ancient Mesopotamia and lead archaeologist at the British Museum in London, said in a presentation(opens in new tab) of the findings.

Girsu was a bustling cultural center at the heart of Mesopotamia — a broad area between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris including Iraq, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, part of western Iran and Kuwait, and home to some of the first civilizations. The Sumerians were possibly the oldest civilization in the world and the first to establish religion and a code of law.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/4500-year-old-sumerian-temple-dedicated-to-mighty-thunder-god-discovered-in-iraq

[Timeflyer]

1. If Ningirsu looked like Chris Hemsworth, I'd worship him.

[JoeOtterbein]

2. K n R ! Thanks for posting!...

...a really cool find!

[slightlv]

3. I hope this sacred space

doesn't get blown up. Such a volatile region to be advertising this find. I think it's great. Added to those they're discovering and rededicating in Italy and Sicily. And even the new discoveries in Mexico and South America. So much sacred history and anthropological, cultural importance.

Thank you for posting this, Judi Lynn. It's a peak interest of mine!

[Judi Lynn]

6. The accelerated pace of the work available through new technology promises breakthroughs

which may really blow our socks off no doubt.

Discoveries are appearing so much faster now than at any time earlier in our lifetimes. It's really easy to be excited by the possibility our entire grasp of human history can be rearranged.

Think how much faster it is to locate "lost" structures buried under centuries of overgrown jungles or drifting sand by now, not to mention the very sad possibility of discoveries which will be revealed as the ice melts at the poles.... That part is scary, but it will possibly slam some respect for life on earth into the idiots who've assumed the entire world was meant to be exploited to the max.

Let's hope awakening of common sense will come to the human race before it's even more "too late."

[slightlv]

8. I share your worry about what the ice melts,

but looks forward to what they find. Just as they find more and more info that the Neanderthals weren't the brutish beasts we "modern humans" have made them out to be, I look forward to see more info to the cultural awareness the ancients have to give us. We can learn much about ourselves and where we can go from here by understanding our ancestors, their dreams and achievements, IMO.

[markodochartaigh]

4. "...first to establish...a code of law."

Well, they needed a code of law. People still talk about Sumerian business practices.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complaint_tablet_to_Ea-nasir

[wnylib]

7. Thunder made quite an impression on people

around the world, apparently. From Sumeria to the Nordic countries to Native Americans there have been thunder gods.

If I remember correctly, I think Jane Goodell reported on chimps doing a sort of "ceremonial" dance reaction to thunder. Seems to be in our primate genes.