From the top of a mound of sand that covers a temple, Iraqi archaeologist Aqeel al-Mansrawi contemplates more than four millennia of history. "Umm al-Aqarib is one of the most important Sumerian cities in southern Mesopotamia," he explains.
Spread over 5 km2, Umm al-Aqarib (The Mother of Scorpions, in Arabic), in the desert of southern Iraq, reached its peak around 2,350 BC. It housed several temples, one of which was dedicated to Shara, a god of the land of Sumer.
Over the course of the missions, archaeologists have unearthed canals, pottery fragments, tablets, all vital pieces to write the history of the Sumerians.
But today, in addition to the looting, which is frequent at poorly monitored sites, Umm al-Aqarib is bearing the brunt of some indirect effects of climate change, including sandstorms, which are increasingly frequent in Iraq.
In 2022, a dozen of these gusts swept the country, according to an AFP count.
In Umm al-Aqarib, sand "covers a good part of the site," says Aqeel al-Mansrawi. And it has been "about ten years" that this phenomenon lasts.
To discover the terracotta bricks that form the façade of a temple, the archaeologist must first remove the sand.
"In the next ten years, it is estimated that sand could have covered 80 to 90 percent of the archaeological sites" in southern Iraq, he said. "Archaeological missions will have to put more effort" to clear before starting to excavate.
"Very dry" environment
The winds are now "more loaded with dust" and they "carry fragments of the soil, especially sand and silt, which produce erosion and the crumbling of ancient buildings," said Jaafar al-Jotheri, professor of archaeology at Iraq's Al-Qadisiyah University.
Photo taken on March 31, 2023 showing a view of an ancient structure at the archaeological site of Umm al-Aqarib, frequently buried by sandstorms due to desertification, in Iraq's Dhi Qar © province Asaad NIAZI / AFP
The fault, he says, is drier winters and longer, hotter summers where the temperature exceeds 50 degrees and which "weaken the soil and fragment them because of the lack of vegetation".
Another enemy is salinization, also due to a "very dry" environment, says Mark Altaweel, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at University College London. When "the water evaporates very quickly, only the salt residues remain".
And in too large quantities, salinization devours everything.
According to the UN, Iraq is among the five countries most vulnerable to some of the tangible effects of climate change, primarily prolonged droughts.
Nowhere is this disaster more visible than with the Tigris and Euphrates. The two mythical rivers, major sources of irrigation for Iraqi agriculture, are now reduced to frail rivers.
If the lack of rainfall is for many, the authorities condemn especially the dams built upstream of the rivers by Turkey and Iran, responsible according to Baghdad for a reduction in the flow of water.
"Worst hydraulic management"
Then, points out Jaafar Jotheri, Iraq has the "worst hydraulic management", which dates back to... of the Sumerian and Akkadian eras. Even today, farmers resort to flood irrigation, a technique widely considered a huge waste.
Without water, more and more Iraqi farmers and herders are migrating to cities in the hope of surviving. "After farmers have abandoned their land, the soil is more exposed to the wind" that carries sand and silt, points out Professor Jotheri.
At the end of 2021, former President Barham Saleh had argued that "desertification affects 39% of Iraqi land", a figure expected to increase.
In this photo taken on March 31, 2023, archaeologist Aqeel Mansarawi searches for pottery debris at the archaeological site of Umm al-Aqarib, frequently buried by sandstorms due to desertification, in the Iraqi province of Dhi Qar © Asaad NIAZI / AFP
So what can be done to try to safeguard Iraq's archaeological heritage?
In this country where corruption is omnipresent and where, despite the oil windfall, a third of the population lives in poverty, archaeological sites are neglected.
However, Shamel Ibrahim, director of antiquities in Dhi Qar, the province where Umm al-Aqarib is located, said the government was "working to contain the sand dunes".
A "green belt" made of trees is to be planted in the region at a cost of 5 billion dinars (about 3.5 million euros), he said.
Jaafar Jotheri remains doubtful, however, since to keep the vegetation alive, "you need a lot of water". "We are the country that suffers the most and the one that acts the least" against the effects of climate change, he summarizes.
© 2023 AFP