Revolutionary Discovery in Mesopotamia: Eridu's Ancient Irrigation System Revealed

A revolutionary archaeological discovery has been made in Mesopotamia, the land where human history and urbanization were born, shedding light on the origins of civilization. Research conducted in the city of Eridu, located in the south of Iraq and described as "the first city where kingship descended from the sky" in ancient Sumerian texts, revealed how the area survived for thousands of years. According to the study published in Iraq magazine, experts mapped a huge irrigation canal system surrounding the city with high-resolution satellite images and field dating.

It was known that agriculture was impossible in Eridu, which was founded in the 6th millennium BC and where uninterrupted life continued for approximately 6 thousand years, due to insufficient rainfall during the Holocene period.

Radiocarbon dating on seashells taken from ancient canals connected to the dried branches of the Euphrates River showed that the irrigation system was actively used from at least 4540 BC. This finding confirmed that a massive water engineering and management project was implemented in the region more than 6,500 years ago.

Researchers determined that starting from the 3rd millennium BC, the canal system gained a more complex structure and turned into a grid-planned architecture that divided the land into regular fields.

Advanced engineering network; It has been documented that it continuously nourishes huge date palm groves, wheat, barley and vegetable fields, which are vital for the nutrition of the urban population.

The study's authors declared that this infrastructure built around Eridu created an advanced agricultural economy that operated uninterrupted for thousands of years.

It was noted that the Sumerians, who built humanity's first large metropolis in the arid Mesopotamian geography, laid the foundations of urbanization, bureaucracy and written culture thanks to these artificial oases they created by channeling river waters.