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News Archive: November 2016


Charax Spasinou

23rd November2016

This year we started an exciting new project at the ancient city of Charax Spasinou, located in Basra province. The city was founded in 324 BC by Alexander the Great and later became the capital of the kingdom of Characene and an important trading port. You can read more about our work at Charax, in English and Arabic, at the links below or visit our new website at www.charaxspasinou.org. English version: Charax Spasinou 2016 Arabic version: Charax Spasinou 2016


The Mysterious Sealand kings

20th November2016

All ancient places have hidden secrets. We knew from the outset that Tell Khaiber was occupied during the second millennium BC, and suspected that it concealed a large public building, but have been greatly surprised at what it contains. Now we know, from dated documents left in its long-abandoned offices, that it was part of the administration not of Hammurabi, as we first thought, but of the Sealand kings. Three texts have a date in the ‘year of the accession of King Ayadaragalama’. He was the eighth king of this dynasty, and came to the throne in 1500BC, give or take a year or two. Very little is known about the world of the Sealand kings, who took over southern Babylonia when Hammurabi’s son lost control of the area in the 1730s BC. Our discoveries point to a complex, settled, ... Read More »