Alexander the Great's lost city of two thousand years confirmed

Founded in the 4th century BC as a port city linking trade from India with Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world, the city fell into oblivion after the 3rd century AD, when the course of the Tigris changed. The city has been flooded several times, but is surprisingly well preserved.

(Fox News) – In southern Iraq, near the Persian Gulf, archaeologists have confirmed the location of a long-lost city founded by Alexander the Great, called Alexandria on the Tigris River. It is a once-thriving trading center that had been hidden for centuries, Fox News reported. Founded in the 4th century BC as a port city connecting trade from India with Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean world, the city fell into oblivion after the 3rd century AD, when the Tigris River changed course. Over the past few years, researchers have mapped the city’s defensive walls, road network and urban blocks, using drone imagery and high-resolution geophysical scans.

Archaeologists have been working at this site since 2010, at a time when the Islamic State terrorist organization controlled the area, but only now have the full extent of this lost metropolis been revealed.

The University of Konstanz in Germany announced that excavations are only allowed on the surface and under strict supervision of soldiers or police.

Researchers have identified temple complexes, workshops with kilns and hearths, as well as the remains of the city's port and canal system.

"The city has been flooded several times, but it is surprisingly well preserved," said Stefan R. Hauser, professor of archaeology at the University of Konstanz.

Hauser added that, like his better-known city of the same name in Egypt, Alexandria on the Tigris was founded at a junction between the river and the sea.

According to him, Alexander the Great personally chose this place in 324 BC, referring to the Roman author Pliny the Elder, who was based on even older sources.

The archaeologist said that the size of the urban blocks is extraordinary and exceeds even those of the great capitals of the time, such as Seleucia on the Tigris or Alexandria on the Nile.

"The quality of the geophysical evidence is astonishing. The preservation of the buildings is surprisingly good and we have begun to identify walls immediately below the surface, which also explains the good results of the geophysical research," Hauser said.

As noted, the research team plans to explore the city's neighborhood, its workshops, and its kilns in the future, depending on funding.

Hauser said that this site is "suitable for this type of research because there has been no construction activity since antiquity."