Beirut – Declassified US spy satellite images from the 1970s have led a British-Iraqi archaeological team to what they believe is the site of a seventh-century battle that became decisive in the spread of Islam in the region.
The Battle of al-Qadisiyah was fought in Mesopotamia – in modern-day Iraq – in the 1930s between Arab Muslims and the army of the Sassanid Persian dynasty during a period of Islamic expansion. The Arab army had the upper hand and continued its march towards Persia, now Iran.
A joint team of archaeologists from Britain’s Durham University and Al-Qadisiyah University came across the site while conducting a remote sensing survey to map the Darb Zubaydah, a pilgrimage route from Iraq’s Kufa to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that takes more than 1,000 was constructed years ago. . The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity.
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While mapping the route, the team noticed that a site about 20 miles south of Kufa in Iraq’s southern Najaf province – a desert area with scattered plots of farmland – showed features that closely matched the description of the battlefield of Al-Qadisiyah, described in the historical documents. texts.
William Deadman, a specialist in archaeological remote sensing at the University of Durham, said Cold War-era satellite images are commonly used tools by archaeologists working in the Middle East because the older images often show features that have been destroyed or altered and not would appear. on contemporary satellite images.
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“The Middle East has developed enormously in the last fifty years, both in terms of agriculture and urban development,” he said. Some of the distinguishing features of Al-Qadisiyah’s site, such as a distinctive trench, were “much more pristine and clear” in the 1970s images, he said.
An on-site investigation confirmed the findings and convinced the team that they had correctly identified the location.
Key features included a deep trench, two forts and an ancient river that was reportedly once forded by Persian troops on elephants, said Jaafar Jotheri, professor of archeology at Al-Qadisiyah University, who is part of the team that made the discovery . . The research team also found pottery shards consistent with the period in which the battle took place.
A revealing, well-known battle
Jotheri said Iraqis of his generation, who grew up under Saddam Hussein’s rule, were all familiar with the battle in great detail, down to the names of the generals on both sides.
The battle had political connotations at the time: Iraq was engaged in a devastating war with Iran for much of the 1980s. Saddam pointed to the Battle of Qadisiyah as a harbinger of victory for Iraq.
Like most children growing up at that time, Jotheri said he had seen a popular movie about the battle several times, as it was regularly shown on television.
In the post-Saddam era, Al-Qadisiyah has become something of a political litmus test. Iraqis’ views on the battle vary depending on their feelings toward Iran, which has expanded its influence in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam.
“There is a political and religious context in this struggle because now of course we have religious differences, ethnic differences, political differences in Iraq and we read or view everything based on our… differences,” Jotheri said. But he added: “We all agree that it is a very important battle, a decisive battle, and we all know about it.”
Discovery was part of a regional trend
The team plans to begin excavations at the site in the coming year, Jotheri said.
The discovery is part of a wider project launched in 2015 to document endangered archaeological sites in the region.
It also comes at a time of a resurgence in archeology in Iraq, a country often called the “cradle of civilization” but where archaeological research has been hampered by decades of conflict that halted excavations and led to the plundering of tens of thousands of people. of artifacts.
In recent years, excavations have returned and thousands of stolen artifacts have been repatriated.
