The past couple of weeks in Iraq have seen extremely heavy and prolonged rains which have not only put an end to the drought they were facing, but have also excitingly uncovered lost and ancient Babylonian artifacts.

The Tigris River was previously reported as being at its lowest level yet in Baghdad, with numerous other rivers having dried up completely in other parts of Iraq, but the much needed rains have averted a major crisis here while also helping to recover precious relics.

Hussein Fleih, who holds the revered position of Babylon’s director of antiquities, has revealed that coins, pieces of metal, and pottery utensils have all been discovered with the latest rains, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Among the findings were pottery utensils, coins and metal pieces. The discoveries will be examined to determine the exact historical period they date back to.”

While these latest Babylonian finds are awe-inspiring to many, it is not uncommon for artifacts like these to be discovered in Iraq after substantial rains. In fact, last year 1,000 pieces of ancient history were found under exactly the same circumstances, as Fleih explained.

“Last year, 1,000 pieces were discovered this way, which proves that the ruins may be close to the surface and not always buried deep in the ground.”

With the ancient ruins of Babylon just 55 miles away from Baghdad, this area is particularly rich when it comes to history.

Rain in #Iraq Ends Drought, Uncovers Historic Ruins https://t.co/gaubaF35il — Asharq Al-Awsat English (@aawsat_eng) February 28, 2018

Kurdistan 24 reports that the Iraqi Archaeological Protection Police has just announced that so far 75 Babylonian relics have been retrieved from the southern region of Baghdad.

While these artifacts were all discovered in different areas, the vast majority of them have been said to have been found close to where the shrine of the prophet Abraham is located, according to archaeologist Dr. Zain El Abidine Moussa Jaafar.

“This was the site of Borsippa Kingdom, to which belonged Prophet Abraham, who was born in Nimrud in Babylon.”

In keeping with protocol, the Iraqi Archaeological Protection Police commented that “all the artifacts were handed over to the Department of Antiquities,” for purposes of investigation and preservation.

At least 75 different antiquities and artifacts from the ancient ruins of #Babylon, south of #Baghdad, were retrieved after being swept away by torrential rain last week.https://t.co/tGsIIHILYB — Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) February 24, 2018

When it comes to the discovery of ancient artifacts in Iraq such as these Babylonian ones, Dr. Jaafar explained that finding these items comes about not only through experts spearheading archaeological expeditions, but also in other ways such as citizens stumbling upon artifacts and the recovery of relics during work on rivers and roads.

The recent Babylonian artifacts discovered in Iraq after heavy rains will now be studied and scrutinized in order to determine which era of history they belong to.