US EditionAlexander the Great's Lost City Found in Iraq After 1,700 Years
The ancient city covers about 2.5 square miles and features fortifications, industrial zones, and canals, revealed by modern surveys led by the University of Konstanz.
- Archaeologists have confirmed the location of Alexandria on the Tigris in southern Iraq, using high-resolution geophysical scans and drone imagery to map fortification walls, street grids, and industrial districts across the long-lost ancient port.
- Founded in 324 BC by Alexander the Great, the settlement functioned as a strategic port bridging Mesopotamia with maritime trade routes spanning from the Persian Gulf to Greece and India.
- Stefan Hauser of the University of Konstanz described the preservation as 'absolutely stunning,' with the metropolis spanning approximately 2.5 square miles and likely supporting 400,000 to 600,000 inhabitants.
- The Tigris River shifted course by the 3rd century, isolating the port; modern regional conflict and summer temperatures exceeding 49 degrees Celsius challenged the British-led team's field surveys.
- This discovery creates immediate priorities for heritage management and conservation in Iraq, offering researchers a 'time capsule' to study urban planning and trade dynamics hidden for centuries.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Alexandria on the Tigris: Exploring the forgotten and rediscovered metropolis
What was the political and economic importance of the ancient city Alexandria on the Tigris? How was the city laid out? And what does the material culture of the international trade hub look like? These are the questions that Stefan Hauser, professor of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Konstanz, and his British colleagues Jane Moon, Robert Killick and Stuart Campbell have been working on since 2016. With the
The lost Alexandria on the Tigris founded by Alexander the Great discovered in Iraq: Its enormous size surprised archaeologists - ProtoThema English
The ancient city was founded in the 4th century BC as a port linking trade from India with Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world, and it fell into obscurity after the 3rd century AD
Archaeologists Rediscover the Ancient City of Alexandria on the Tigris
A section of the Alexander Mosaic, an ancient Roman floor mosaic depicting Alexander the Great in battle, wearing elaborate armor and riding his horse, Bucephalus. Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons. After centuries lost beneath layers of sand, war, and shifting rivers, an ancient city once central to East-West trade has resurfaced. A team of international researchers has confirmed the rediscovery of Alexandria on the Tigris, a major p…
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