Abu Tbeirah. Preliminary report of the first campaign (January-March 2012)

An Italian-Iraqi team, directed by Franco D’Agostino, has started in January-March 2012 an excavation in the site of Abu Tbeirah, southern Iraq. The site is known popularly as the ‘Ibrahim’s Mounds’ and is located 7 km South of Nasiriyah, in a petrol area known as Al-Rafidayn. The Tell, ca. 45 ha of area, has never been excavated before but its surface is disturbed by modern activities connected with petrol and gas exploitation, though not showing traces of any intentional looting. The paper will introduce the results of the first excavation campaign, revealing the historical and cultural frame of the site