Podcast Episode
The city, later known as Charax Spasinou, had vanished from historical memory for roughly 1,700 years. Its rediscovery is the result of a decade of painstaking fieldwork led by Professor Stefan Hauser of the University of Konstanz.
Population estimates range from 400,000 to 600,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities of the ancient world.
Alexander the Great's Lost City Resurfaces in Iraq After 1,700 Years
March 14, 2026
0:00
2:40
An international archaeology team has confirmed the location of Alexandria on the Tigris, a massive port city founded by Alexander the Great in three twenty four B C. Buried beneath the Iraqi desert for roughly one thousand seven hundred years, the city was mapped using drones and magnetometers, revealing a sprawling metropolis that once rivalled Alexandria in Egypt.
A Lost Metropolis Rediscovered
Archaeologists have confirmed the location of one of history's most elusive ancient cities. Alexandria on the Tigris, founded by Alexander the Great in 324 BC, has been identified at a site called Jebel Khayyaber in southern Iraq, near where the Tigris and Karun rivers once met.The city, later known as Charax Spasinou, had vanished from historical memory for roughly 1,700 years. Its rediscovery is the result of a decade of painstaking fieldwork led by Professor Stefan Hauser of the University of Konstanz.
Mapping a Giant
Using thousands of drone photographs, caesium magnetometers, and surface surveys covering more than 500 kilometres on foot, the team mapped a carefully planned urban centre spanning approximately 2.5 square miles. The surveys revealed a dense grid of streets, massive residential blocks, temple complexes, workshops with kilns and furnaces, a canal and harbour system, and what appears to be a palace complex.Population estimates range from 400,000 to 600,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities of the ancient world.
A Vital Trade Hub
Alexander founded the city after realising southern Mesopotamia lacked a suitable harbour for maritime trade with India. From roughly 300 BC to 300 AD, it served as the principal gateway for goods flowing from India, Afghanistan, and possibly China into Mesopotamian markets.Why It Disappeared
The city's decline began when the Tigris River gradually shifted westward and the Persian Gulf shoreline retreated southward, leaving the settlement stranded and economically isolated. The role it once played was eventually assumed by modern-day Basra.What Comes Next
Further excavations are planned with support from the Gerda Henkel Foundation, the German Research Foundation, and the British Council's Cultural Protection Fund. Because no later construction has disturbed the ancient layers, researchers have a rare opportunity to reconstruct an entire ancient city plan.Published March 14, 2026 at 10:11pm
