Scientists have found what they have described as a "unique time capsule" in the bricks of the ancient palace of King Ashurnasirpal II.
Using modern biotechnology, researchers from the University of Oxford and Aalborg University in Denmark were able to extract and study the ancient DNA in the 2,900-year-old bricks to reveal hints of what life would have looked like in ancient Iraq.
Ashurnasirpal II ruled over a kingdom in ancient Mesopotamia from 883 B.C. to 859 B.C. The kingdom, Assyria, was located across modern day Iraq and southeastern Turkey and became the center of one of the great empires of the ancient Middle East, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.
King Ashurnasirpal II was vital in expanding this empire. He built an impressive palace in the city of Nimrud, Iraq, near the River Tigris. Only a small portion of the palace is still visible today, with sections of its carved walls appearing in museums.
These stone inscriptions give us clues into life and rituals at the time, but there is still a lot we don't know. For example, what might the surrounding plants have looked like back then? This information is of great interest to scientists.
In a new study, published on August 22 in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the team from the universities in Oxford and Denmark found that DNA from these ancient ecosystems had been preserved in the bricks of the grand palace.
The genetic material was protected from contamination by the thick clay surrounding it. Through extraction and genomic sequencing, the team were able to detect DNA from over 30 unique plant groups in the single brick alone.
The most abundant DNA in their samples was that belonging to plants in the families of cabbage and heather. DNA from birches, laurels and cultivated grasses was also present.
The study's authors indicate that learning about ancient plant life could help us understand long-lost medical traditions, as well as the development of plant domestication.
"The clay brick serves as a time capsule providing a unique insight into the biodiversity of a specific time and location," the study's authors said.
The researchers hope that this pioneering method will encourage others to study DNA in this way to improve our understanding of ancient life and civilizations.
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Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
