Mysteries of Hamoukar, world's oldest city

Syrian archeologists unearthed ruins of a city dating as far back as 6,000 years. It might be the oldest city in the world. The find has actually changed the traditional concept of the city appearance and the civilization on Earth. It makes scientists look at the development of the human civilization in a new light, taking into consideration the earlier time period.

	Mysteries of Hamoukar – oldest city in the world
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Prior to this discovery, the cities dated of the year 4000 B.C. had been found in ancient Sumer (between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, on the present-day Iraqi territory) and in south-eastern Syria under a huge hill near Hamoukar village. The recently-found mysterious city was also named Hamoukar.

Archeologists originally started excavating the site in the 1920s – 1930s. They assumed that it was the location of Washukanni, the capital of Mitanni (ca. the 15^th century B.C.) that still has not been found. But at that time they did not discover any features of settlements and discarded ‘the Washukanni theory’.

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Several years later scientists became interested in the place again. It was not for nothing, since it is located at one of the most important ancient transport corridors – the road from Nineveh to Aleppo, along which wayfarers and merchant caravans used to travel. Such a position was very advantageous - it stimulated the development of the city. Indeed, researchers discovered features indicating its existence in the mid-4^th century B.C.

At that time new cities started to emerge in South Iraq, and their colonies were established in Syria.

This time archeologists were firmly resolved to dig up the mystery in the proper sense of the word. A special American-Syrian expedition was formed to survey Hamoukar. It was headed by McGuire Gibson, a leading expert with the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. The expedition started in November, 1999. They needed time to accustom, settle, prepare the excavation site and hire locals for hard labour.

The first thing to do was to compile a comprehensive map of the place, only after that archeologists started their laborious work. It was necessary to survey the territory very carefully (almost with a magnifying glass) and gather various smithereens. Such research would give the whole picture concerning the size and the form of the settlement.

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