Artifacts dating to 5000 BC discovered in Iraq's Dohuk

By Idris Okuducu

DOHUK, Iraq

Scores of historical artifacts have been unearthed in Dohuk province in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, according to Hassan Ahmad Kasim, director of Dohuk University’s archeology department.

Speaking at a Monday press conference, Kasim said German and Iraqi archeologists had discovered numerous items -- some of which are thought to date back as far as 5000 BC -- in the town of Semel.

According to Kasim, many of these artifacts bear writing in the Akkadian, Sumerian and Hurrian languages.

Located near the Turkish border, Iraq’s Dohuk province currently hosts roughly 700 different archeological sites.

* Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this story in Ankara