Archaeologists have uncovered a massive 4,000-year-old building complex in southern Iraq near the ancient city of Ur that may have been home to Abraham, a team of researchers from Manchester University announced Thursday.
(See pics of the complex here)
Roughly the size of a football field at about 260 feet on each side, the complex, which features several impressive rooms surrounding a courtyard, was built around 2,000 B.C. and is an exceptionally rare find because of its uniquely large size, said leader of the dig said Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archaeology Department.
"This is a breathtaking find," Campbell said, adding that complexes of similar size and age aren't common.
The newly discovered complex was likely used as an administrative center for Ur, said Campbell, around the same time Abraham - believed to be the father of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - is said to have lived in the city of Ur of the Chaldees prior to going to Canaan, according to book of Genesis in The Bible.
"The surrounding countryside, now arid and desolate, was the birthplace of cities and of civilization about 5,000 years ago and home to the Sumerians and the later Babylonians," explained Campbell to Phys.org.
While the site is about 12 miles away from the city of Ur, it remains unclear at this time if there is any connection between the site and the Mesopotamian civilization.
"It appears that it is some sort of public building. It might be an administrative building, it might have religious connections or controlling goods to the city of Ur," Campbell theorized.
The first British-orchestrated archaeological dig in southern Iraq since the 80s, Campbell's team found numerous artifacts at the site, including a 3.5-inch clay plaque that vividly displays a worshipper dressed in a flowing, fringed robe, walking to a "sacred site."
Ripped apart by war in recent decades, Iraq has faced a tremendous problem in protecting much of its ancient history. Campbell says he hopes his dig will encourage the country, and scientists abroad to fight for further preservation efforts.
"This has been an opportunity to get back to an area very close to our heart for a long time," Campbell said.