Visitors explore ancient Iraqi site where Hammurabi-era wall was discovered

Visitors on Monday (October 26) toured Tell Mohammed, an ancient site southeast of Iraq's capital Baghdad, where an Italian-Iraqi mission said it had uncovered a city wall from the time of Babylonian king Hammurabi and signs of bread and beer production.

Nicola Laneri, an archaeologist and professor at Italy's University of Catania, said the team's collaborative work with the Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage had revealed the wall that once protected the city in Hammurabi's time, along with areas where goods were made.

Laneri said the team believed one of the areas discovered was used for making bread and beer, explaining that a tablet discovered inside one of the houses referred to beer being produced and sold.

Iraqi archaeologist Intisar Helou said the site had many rooms and temples, adding that the tablets and pottery found there pointed to the Old Babylonian era and to a connection with King Hammurabi.

Visitors at the site held up their phones to film the excavated mudbrick rooms, while others viewed artefacts on display in a light box. 

Laneri said the team was finishing the restoration of two temples that Iraq excavated in the 1980s.

He said a park at the site had six interactive panels allowing visitors to explore Babylonia's ancient past in the time of Hammurabi and the period shortly before it.

Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said interest in Tell Mohammed had been revived through the Baghdad Urban Archaeological Project, promoted by Italy's University of Catania in collaboration with Iraq's State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

The mission returned to excavations there in 2022, uncovering findings that included defensive walls from the Old Babylonian period (around 1900 to 1600 BC), the ministry said. 

It described the site as one of ancient Mesopotamia's most significant settlements.

Camera: Ahmed Saad; Editing and Production: Mohammed Benmansour/Reuters