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Tell Muhammad excavations reveal clues to ancient Babylonian life
Tell Muhammad excavations reveal clues to ancient Babylonian life
28 Oct 2026BAGHDAD — Archaeological excavations at Tell Muhammad, southeast of Baghdad, are shedding new light on urban and economic life in Beth Nahrin (Mesopotamia) approximately 4,000 years ago. Recent discoveries include defensive walls and gates, facilities potentially used for food production, evidence of metalworking and burials associated with ancient funerary practices.
The Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage announced the architectural discoveries on Monday as part of a joint project with an Italian archaeological mission from the University of Catania. The announcement coincided with the unveiling of a protective covering system intended to safeguard the remains ahead of plans to establish an archaeological park.
The findings offer insights into a settlement that flourished during the Old Babylonian period, when Babylon expanded its political and economic influence across the region.
Settlement Near Ancient Babylon
Located in Baghdad’s southeastern suburbs, Tell Muhammad was inhabited from the late third millennium BC through the Old Babylonian and Kassite periods. Its archaeological remains provide evidence of urban development in central Beth Nahrin centuries before Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
According to the University of Catania’s Baghdad Urban Archaeological Project, the site has undergone multiple periods of investigation, revealing architectural remains and artifacts that help reconstruct its history.
Nineteenth-century excavations uncovered objects bearing Akkadian inscriptions associated with King Hammurabi, including mace heads with an inscription interpreted as meaning “Palace of Hammurabi.” These discoveries suggest a possible connection between the settlement and royal authority during the Old Babylonian period, although they do not establish that every structure at the site dates to Hammurabi’s reign.
Subsequent Iraqi excavation campaigns between 1978 and 1985, followed by another in 1999, uncovered further architectural remains and cuneiform tablets. Some tablets, preserved at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, contain commercial records and contracts that provide evidence of economic activity and administrative practices.
The site’s history spans several periods, making it important to distinguish individual discoveries from the broader archaeological sequence. Researchers must combine architectural evidence, inscriptions, and artifacts to establish how the settlement developed and how its inhabitants interacted with surrounding political and economic centers.
Research resumed in 2022 under the Baghdad Urban Archaeological Project, led by Italian archaeologist Nicola Laneri of the University of Catania in cooperation with Iraqi antiquities authorities. The first two excavation seasons, in 2022 and 2023, investigated residential and commercial areas, water-management facilities, fortifications, and production activities.
The team’s findings are documented in its 2024 preliminary excavation report, which examines the site’s archaeological features and the results of the renewed investigations.
Fortifications, Food Production, and Metalworking
Among the recent discoveries are sections of a defensive system, including a substantial wall and gates. The structures could help researchers understand how the settlement was organized and how its inhabitants controlled movement into and out of the city.
The location and design of the entrances may indicate different functions, although their precise purposes require further investigation. Their relationship to nearby residential and production areas could also reveal how defensive infrastructure was integrated into the settlement.
Excavations have additionally identified rooms, ovens, and installations associated with the use of fire inside buildings near the northern defenses. Some appear to have served craft or manufacturing purposes.
A nearly complete ceramic crucible containing residues associated with metal smelting provides further evidence of production activities at Tell Muhammad. Analysis of the crucible and related remains may help researchers determine how metals were processed and how craftwork contributed to the settlement’s economy.
Other facilities have been interpreted as possible areas for producing bread and beer, staples of ancient Beth Nahrinian diets. One interpretation draws partly on a clay tablet reportedly referring to a person who receives barley and makes beer.
The relationship between the tablet and the associated structures remains subject to further archaeological and textual analysis. Nevertheless, the evidence offers an opportunity to investigate how food production was organized and how grain and other resources were processed and distributed.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ report on the archaeological project describes the architectural and production discoveries, highlighting their importance for understanding the settlement’s organization.
Taken together, the findings suggest that Tell Muhammad combined residential life with food production, metalworking and defensive infrastructure. Further analysis may clarify how these activities were organized and how they changed over the settlement’s long history.
Burials and Funerary Practices
Archaeologists have also uncovered burials beneath the floors of several buildings. The graves contain the remains of children and adults, while another room is believed to have been associated with rituals commemorating the dead.
An altar bearing residues of liquid substances was discovered in the room. The substances may have been used in offerings, although the precise nature of the rituals remains uncertain.
These discoveries provide evidence of the relationship between domestic spaces, burial practices and religious observances in ancient Mesopotamian communities.
Research on earlier excavation records has further demonstrated the importance of Tell Muhammad for understanding funerary customs. A study published in Near Eastern Archaeology, titled Intramural Nonadult Burials at Tell Muhammad (in Baghdad) during the Old Babylonian Period (1894–1595 BCE): A Preliminary Assessment of Legacy Data, examines 53 burials of infants and children documented at the site.
The research identifies jar burials as a prominent form of burial for children and considers how their locations and chronology can contribute to understanding funerary practices during the Old Babylonian period.
The newly investigated structures and earlier burial records offer complementary perspectives on life at Tell Muhammad. While architectural remains and commercial documents reveal aspects of economic activity, burials, and ritual installations provide clues about how inhabitants treated their dead and incorporated funerary practices into their living environments.
Further analysis of the archaeological context will be necessary to establish the functions of individual rooms and the significance of particular objects and burial arrangements.
Protecting an Archaeological Heritage
The renewed excavations form part of a broader effort to document and preserve Tell Muhammad as Baghdad’s urban expansion places pressure on surviving archaeological sites.
The settlement once covered approximately 25 hectares, but its surviving area has reportedly shrunk to around 5 hectares. Construction, changes in land use, and other pressures have damaged parts of the site, underscoring the need to document and protect its remaining structures.
The latest announcement included the unveiling of a protective covering system designed to reduce environmental exposure to the archaeological remains. Plans for an archaeological park are intended to support conservation while making the site accessible to researchers and visitors.
A 2026 study in the journal Heritage, titled Conserving the Memory of Hammurabi: A Sustainable Model for Ancient Heritage Management at the Old Babylonian Site of Tell Muhammad, Iraq, examines approaches to preserving the site’s archaeological remains and connecting research with public engagement.
Cooperation between Iraqi antiquities authorities and the University of Catania is central to the ongoing work. The project combines excavation and documentation with efforts to conserve surviving architecture and develop a long-term protection strategy.
If realized, the archaeological park could provide visitors with opportunities to explore the settlement’s history through its excavated structures and information about their uses and historical periods.
As excavations continue, researchers hope to develop a clearer picture of the settlement’s development and its place within the wider history of Beth Nahrin. Protecting the remaining site will be essential to preserving that evidence and making it accessible to future generations.