(CNN) A sprawling 3,400-year-old city emerged in Iraq after a reservoir's water level swiftly dropped due to extreme drought. Kurdish and German archaeologists excavated the settlement in the Mosul reservoir, along the Tigris River in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, in January and February. The project was in partnership with the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage in Duhok to preserve the area's cultural heritage for future generations. The archaeological site, Kemune, is believed to be the Bronze Age city Zakhiku, a major hub of the Mittani Empire that reigned from 1550 to 1350 BC. A race against timeZakhiku was submerged underwater after the Iraqi government built the Mosul Dam in the 1980s and has rarely seen the light of day since then.

Source: CNN June 21, 2022 09:19 UTC