Spy satellite images leads to the site of a historic battle in Iraq

BEIRUT — 

Declassified 1970s-era U.S. spy outer imagery has led a British-Iraqi archeological squad to what they judge is the tract of a seventh-century conflict that became decisive successful the dispersed of Islam passim the region.

The Battle of al-Qadisiyah was fought successful Mesopotamia — successful present-day Iraq — successful the A.D. 630s betwixt Arab Muslims and the service of the Sassanid Persian dynasty during a play of Muslim expansion. The Arab service prevailed and continued connected its march into Persia, present Iran.

A associated squad of archeologists from the U.K.'s Durham University and the University of Al-Qadisiyah stumbled crossed the tract portion undertaking a distant sensing survey to representation the Darb Zubaydah, a pilgrimage way from Iraq's Kufa to Mecca successful Saudi Arabia built much than 1,000 years ago. The findings were published Tuesday successful the diary Antiquity.

While mapping the route, the squad noticed that a tract immoderate 30 kilometers southbound of Kufa successful Iraq's confederate Najaf state — a godforsaken country with scattered plots of cultivation onshore — had features that intimately matched the statement of the al-Qadisiyah conflict tract described successful historical texts.

William Deadman, a specializer successful archaeological distant sensing astatine Durham University, said the Cold War epoch outer images are a commonly utilized tools by archeologists moving successful the Middle East, due to the fact that the older images often amusement features that person been destroyed oregon altered and would not amusement up connected present-day outer images.

"The Middle East has developed truthful overmuch successful the past 50 years, some cultivation enlargement and municipality expansion," helium said. Some of the distinguishing features astatine the al-Qadisiyah site, specified arsenic a distinctive trench, were "much much pristine and clear" successful the 1970s images, helium said.

A survey connected the crushed confirmed the findings and convinced the squad that they had correctly identified the site.

The cardinal features were a heavy trench, 2 fortresses and an past stream that was reportedly erstwhile forded by elephant-mounted Persian troops, said Jaafar Jotheri, a prof of archeology astatine the University of Al-Qadisiyah who is portion of the squad that made the discovery. The survey squad besides recovered pottery shards accordant with the clip play erstwhile the conflict took place.

Jotheri said that Iraqis of his generation, who grew up nether the regularisation of Saddam Hussein, were each acquainted with the conflict successful infinitesimal detail, down to the names of the generals connected some sides.

The conflict astatine the clip had governmental connotations — Iraq was engaged successful a devastating warfare with Iran done overmuch of the 1980s. Saddam pointed to the Battle of Qadisiyah arsenic a harbinger of triumph for Iraq.

Like astir children increasing up successful that era, Jotheri said helium had watched a fashionable movie astir the conflict aggregate times arsenic it was connected regular rotation connected television.

In the post-Saddam era, al-Qadisiyah has go thing of a governmental litmus test. Iraqis' views of the conflict alteration depending connected their feelings toward Iran, which has expanded its power successful the state since the 2003 U.S.-led penetration of Iraq that toppled Saddam.

"There is immoderate governmental and spiritual discourse successful this battle, due to the fact that now, of course, we person spiritual differences, taste differences, governmental differences successful Iraq and we work oregon we presumption everything based connected our … differences," Jotheri said. But helium added, "We each hold that it is simply a precise important battle, a decisive one, and we each cognize astir it."

The squad plans to statesman excavations astatine the tract successful the coming year, Jotheri said.

The find comes arsenic portion of a broader task launched successful 2015 to papers endangered archaeological sites successful the region.

It besides comes astatine the clip of a resurgence of archeology successful Iraq, a state often referred to arsenic the "cradle of civilization," but wherever archeological exploration has been stunted by decades of struggle that halted excavations and led to the looting of tens of thousands of artifacts.

In caller years, the digs person returned and thousands of stolen artifacts person been repatriated.