Iraqi-Russian multidisciplinary project

Iraqi-Russian multidisciplinary project

Archaeology - Biology - Dialectology - Folkloristics

Among the many sites of the rich Iraqi historical and cultural heritage, the Marshes of Southern Iraq occupy a very special place. Numerous studies show a consensus, that the first states in the human history, the Sumerian city-states, were formed thanks to the interaction between the interwoven agricultural and marsh areas, with mutual assistance and mutual dependence. The Marsh area is a geographical and cultural entity constantly changing through the millennia because of the shifting and changing of the natural river beds and the construction, silting and abandonment of the artificial canals serving for irrigation, drainage and transportation. These deltaic processes are connected to another important problem in the history of mankind, particular to the Ancient South Mesopotamia: the initial settlement of the Mesopotamian alluvium. Several Russian academic institutions started cooperation with the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq for a detailed study of the Marsh area and two adjacent archaeological sites in this context.