Villagers Discover Remains Of 2,500-Year-Old Temple In Northen Iraq

The remains of a long-lost temple belonging to an ancient polytheistic religion have been discovered in a hilly region of northern Iraq, Live Science reported Tuesday.

Villagers in the Kurdistan region accidentally uncovered remnants of the 2,500-year-old temple from the Iron Age, a place so sacred that a king was said to have killed himself when the temple was looted in 714 B.C.

Archaeologist Dlshad Marf Zamua, who has been doing field work in the region since 2005, said the unintended find turned out to be the best one yet.

"One of the best results of my fieldwork is the uncovered column bases of the long-lost temple of the city of Musasir, which was dedicated to the god of Haldi," Marf Zamua, a doctoral student at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told Live Science.

Marf Zamua recently presented the findings at the International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East in Switzerland.

In addition to the column bases, 7-foot tall human statues made of limestone and basalt as well as figures of animals were found in an area south of where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey meet- the ancient location of the city of Musasir.

Also known as Ardini and "the city of the raven," Musasir was part of the Urartu Kingdom, the supreme god of which was named Haldi.

The temple was considered the most sacred of places. When the Assyrians raided the temple in 714 B.C., the Urartu king Rusa I allegedly ripped the crown off his head before committing suicide.

He "threw himself on the ground, tore his clothes, and his arms hung limp. He ripped off his headband, pulled out his hair, pounded his chest with both hands, and threw himself flat on his face," Marf Zamua told Live Science.

Marf Zamua said the area where he conducts his fieldwork has been riddled with conflict between Iranian forces and Iraq for decades, as well as attacks that have been launched from Turkish planes.

Thousands of years ago, the Urtarians, Assyrians and Scythians fought for control in the same region.

To this day, the actual location of the Musasir temple structure remains a mystery, but with the new discoveries Marf Zamua said they are one step closer.