A 4000-YEAR-OLD BOAT HAS BEEN EXCAVATED NEAR THE ANCIENT CITY OF URUK BY A TEAM OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM THE IRAQI GERMAN MISSION OF THE STATE BOARD OF ANTIQUITIES AND THE ORIENT DEPARTMENT OF THE GERMAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
An ancient city of Sumer (and afterwards of Babylonia), Uruk, also known as Warka, was located on the dried-up course of the Euphrates River.
Midway through the fourth millennium BC, Uruk played a key role in the early urbanization of Sumer. It grew into a significant population center before being abandoned sometime before or after the Islamic conquest in AD 633-638.
A rescue excavation has been conducted to preserve the boat’s remains after it was initially found in 2018 during a study of the Uruk-Warka region. The boat was photogrammetrically documented at that time.
The boat was made of reed, palm leaves, and wood, and its outside was coated with bitumen, an adhesive and waterproofing material made by distilling crude oil.
The archaeological context reveals that the boat, which is 7 meters long and 1.4 meters broad, sank on riverbanks about 4000-years-ago and was buried in layers of sediment.
It was brought to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad for additional scientific investigation and conservation in compliance with Iraqi antiquities law.