The walls of Uruk, east of Samawa, were first built 4,700 years ago by the Sumerian King Gilgamesh. More than 40,000 archaeological sites in Iraq are still untapped. [Essam al-Sudani/AFP] The Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Monday (February 18th) announced it has authorised the return of six foreign teams to start archaeological excavations at a number of ancient sites.
![The walls of Uruk, east of Samawa, were first built 4,700 years ago by the Sumerian King Gilgamesh. More than 40,000 archaeological sites in Iraq are still untapped. [Essam al-Sudani/AFP] The Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Monday (February 18th) announced it has authorised the return of six foreign teams to start archaeological excavations at a number of ancient sites. Ancient Near East, Ancient Ruins, Ancient Artifacts, Ancient Cities, King Gilgamesh, Epic Of Gilgamesh](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/09/67/dd/0967dd3bb25779e95c686fc9a02cfaa0--ancient-ruins-ancient-art.jpg)
