1,300-Year-Old Mud Mosque Discovered in South Iraq

A mud mosque that dates back about 1,300 years to the Umayyad era has been discovered in Iraq. Few archeological sites have been found in Iraq that date back to that era, which marks the early years of Islam. Part of the reason for that is the significant erosion in southern Iraq; in addition, there has been little in the way of financial allocations for excavation missions. The mosque was discovered in the middle of the town of al-Rafa’I, and is about 8 meters, or 26-feet, wide, and five meters, or 16-feet, long.  Much of the building had been washed away by erosion from water and rain. Ali Shalgham, the head of the Dhi Qar governorate’s investigation and excavation department, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency that the finding is “one of the most important and great discoveries,” according to Al Jazeera. The discovery was made by an excavation mission from the British Museum, together with a local Iraqi excavation team.