Iron Age complex found under house in Turkey village

In a major discovery, an underground Iron Age complex has been found in Turkey, media reports said.   

The ancient complex is yet to be fully probed as the structure is unstable.  

It may have been used by a fertility cult during the first millennium BC, says a new study.  

The research was published in the journal ‘Antiquity’ on Wednesday.   

In the complex, archaeologists have found rare rock art drawings on walls, which show a procession of deities depicted in an Assyrian style.  

"The finding bears witness to the exercise of Assyrian hegemony in the region in its early phases," Selim Ferruh Adalı, one of the authors of the study and associate professor, ancient history, Social Sciences University of Ankara, told Live Science.  

"The wall panel contains a depiction of divine procession with previously unknown elements, with Aramaic writing to describe some of the deities while combining Neo-Assyrian, Aramaean and Syro-Anatolian divine iconography," Adalı added.  

In 2017, the ancient underground complex was unearthed when looters found it beneath a two-storey house in Başbük village, Turkey. They had decided to target its treasures. But the plan was foiled by police, who notified the Şanlıurfa Archaeological Museum.   

Currently, the area is under the legal protection of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey.