Iraqi archaeological marvels that have survived millennia and the ravages of war now face a modern threat: being blasted and slowly buried by sandstorms linked to climate change.

Ancient Babylonian treasures, painstakingly unearthed, are slowly disappearing again under wind-blown sand in a land parched by rising heat and prolonged droughts.

Iraq is among the countries worst-hit by climate change. It endured a dozen major sandstorms last year. When the storms clear, layers of fine sand cover everything, including the Sumerian ruins of Umm al-Aqarib, "the Mother of Scorpions," in the southern desert province of Dhi Qar.

Sandstorms have slowly begun to reverse years of work there to unearth the temples' terracotta facades and many priceless artifacts, said archaeologist Aqeel al-Mansrawi. Archaeologists in Iraq have always had to shovel sand, but now the volumes are growing.

After a decade of worsening storms, sand at Umm al-Aqarib now "covers a good part of the site," that dates back to around 2350 BC and spans more than five square kilometers, he said.

In the past, the biggest threat was looting of antiquities at the ruins, where pottery fragments and clay tablets bearing ancient cuneiform script have been discovered. Now the changing weather and its impact on the land, especially creeping desertification, spell an additional threat to ancient sites all across southern Iraq, said Mansrawi.

"In the next 10 years," he said, "it is estimated that sand could have covered 80 to 90 percent of the archaeological sites."

Last year, a study published in the journal Antiquites found that climate change is affecting archaeological sites and landscapes around the world. As well as desertification, extreme weather events such as increased rainfall, coastal erosion and rising sea levels have threatened archeological treasures globally. 

(With input from AFP; cover image a screenshot)

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