Kurdistan Landscape    Credit: kurdistaniraqtours.com

I was pleasantly surprised that excavations in Kurdistan continued throughout the recent war against ISIS. This was brought to my attention by the latest lecture at the Oriental Institute published 3 days ago on June 27, 2018. The presentation by Peter Pfalzner, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Tübingen, is titled “On the Fringe of Mesopotamia.”

The OI presentation optics are very good, however the audio could have been better refined—even though Dr. Pfalzner was suffering from a cold. That said, the OI leads the way in presentation format, especially the layout of optics. The scope of this presentation, and the new subject matter, is cutting edge.

You will note early in the presentation that the Ubaid had spread into this area during the Chalcolithic, which is an eyeopener to me and useful for my work-in-progress novel.

The latest news on Dr. Pfalzner’s excavations: “Ancient Lost City of Mardaman Uncovered in Iraq” (near modern Bassetki) is well-described in this article in Live Science (May 11, 2018).

Thanks for visiting,

R. E. J. Burke