{"id":136459,"date":"2025-11-06T00:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T00:30:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T21:30:46","slug":"iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/archaeology\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah<br \/>\n&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Archaeologists in Iraq have announced the discovery of a massive 5,000-year-old structure at the &#8220;Kani Shai&#8221; site in Sulaymaniyah province, believed to be one of the oldest temples in human history. The find offers new insights into the early stages of civilization during the Uruk period (3300\u20133100 BCE), which saw the emergence of the first cities in Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers say the building\u2019s size and architectural precision indicate it was likely a major religious or official complex, possibly used for rituals and worship. The excavation has also yielded remarkable artifacts, including a gold necklace reflecting the social status and wealth of the era, cylinder seals used for administrative purposes, and decorative clay cones forming geometric mosaics\u2014among the earliest examples of architectural art in the ancient world.<\/p>\n<p>Located approximately 480 kilometers north of the ancient city of Uruk, the site demonstrates the extensive cultural and political networks linking northern and southern Mesopotamia. Excavations at Kani Shai, ongoing since 2013, have revealed layers of continuous human settlement dating back to the Copper Age around 6500 BCE through the third millennium BCE. Experts note that each stratum provides valuable insights into the development of architecture, writing, and early urban life in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. Archaeologists in Iraq have announced the discovery of a massive 5,000-year-old structure at the &#8220;Kani Shai&#8221; site in Sulaymaniyah province, believed to be one of the oldest temples in human history. The find offers new insights into the early stages of civilization during the Uruk period (3300\u20133100 &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[10878],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archaeology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah - Shia Waves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah - Shia Waves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. Archaeologists in Iraq have announced the discovery of a massive 5,000-year-old structure at the &#8220;Kani Shai&#8221; site in Sulaymaniyah province, believed to be one of the oldest temples in human history. The find offers new insights into the early stages of civilization during the Uruk period (3300\u20133100 &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shia Waves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T21:30:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"modir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"modir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/\",\"name\":\"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah - Shia Waves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/file_3773.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-05T21:30:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-05T21:30:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/9f68d5023e948086b9348fba5aebd954\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/file_3773.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/11\/file_3773.jpg\",\"width\":1250,\"height\":938},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/\",\"name\":\"Shia Waves\",\"description\":\"Just another ShiaWaves site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/9f68d5023e948086b9348fba5aebd954\",\"name\":\"modir\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/author\/modir\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah - Shia Waves","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/shiawaves.com\/english\/uncategorized\/136459-iraq-uncovers-5000-year-old-monumental-temple-in-sulaymaniyah\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah - Shia Waves","og_description":"Iraq Uncovers 5,000-Year-Old Monumental Temple in Sulaymaniyah &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. 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