Czech archaeologists have excavated remains of a prehistoric settlement in Arbil, north Iraq, which could date back as far back 200,000 years, placing it among the earliest evidence of hominid activity in the region.
The expedition, led by Dr. Karel Novacek from the University of West Bohemia in Plzen, unearthed clusters of stone artifacts at the bottom of a 9-meter-deep pit dug just outside the tell, or citadel, in Arbil.
Novacek recently explained to Heritage Key that the excavated stone tools, comprised of flakes, scrapers and cores, can be traced back to the Late Middle Paleolithic Age (200,000-40,000 years before present). These discoveries align with excavations carried out by Americans in the 1950s in the nearby plains between Kirkuk and Suleymaniya.
Dr. Karel Novacek is an archaeologist from the University of West Bohemia in Plzen, Czech Republic whose current research is based in Iraq. He is leading a expedition at Arbil, a city in the northern part of country, which is an archaeological treasure trove, having been continuously inhabited for at least seven millennia. His most recent finds at Arbil include Middle Paleolithic stone tools dating back as far 200,000 years and a previously unknown 3km-square Assyrian town.
With urban life in Arbil starting around the 23d century BC, it is one of the longest continuously inhabited sites in the world, having been occupied by Assyrians, Persians, Sasanians, Arabs and Ottomans. Today, it is the Most recently, Arbil has garnered attention for the Middle Paleolithic stone tools excavated by Czech archaeologist Karel Novacek from a 9-meter-deep pit within the citadel walls.
As we head into the second decade of the 21st century the Middle East continues to be the focus of attention for western foreign policy leaders. Whether it’s warfare in Afghanistan, troop pullouts in Iraq, oil supplies in Saudi Arabia or conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – this region continues to make the news.
I firmly believe that the Ancient Near East has much to teach us about the modern region. Trajan’s debacle in Iraq should have been required reading for George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. Also I think President Obama and Robert Gates would benefit from a few hours of study about attempts to control ancient Afghanistan.
Iraq and Afghanistan both represent crisis situations. But what lessons does the Ancient Near East have to tell us - on a more general level - about dealing with the modern? I came up with three:
Czech archaeologists have excavated remains of a prehistoric settlement in 
As we head into the second decade of the 21st century the Middle East continues to be the focus of attention for western foreign policy leaders. Whether it’s warfare in Afghanistan, troop pullouts in Iraq, oil supplies in Saudi Arabia or conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – this region continues to make the news.
