A British-Iraqi archaeological team has identified what they believe to be the site of the historic Battle of al-Qadisiyah, a decisive seventh-century clash that shaped the spread of Islam in the Middle East. Using declassified satellite imagery from the 1970s, provided by U.S. Cold War reconnaissance, archaeologists from Durham University in the U.K. and Iraq’s University of Al-Qadisiyah matched geographic features with historical descriptions of the battle’s location, approximately 30 kilometers south of Kufa in Iraq’s Najaf province.
The Battle of al-Qadisiyah took place around 636–637 AD, pitting Arab Muslim forces against the Sasanian Empire, which ruled Persia. The Arab army’s victory at al-Qadisiyah marked a significant turning point in the Muslim expansion, allowing them to continue their advance into Persian territory, now Iran. Despite the battle’s historical importance, its precise location had remained unknown for centuries.
According to Dr. William Deadman, a specialist in remote sensing at Durham University, the team discovered the site while conducting a broader survey to map the Darb Zubaydah, an ancient pilgrimage route from Kufa to Mecca. During this mapping effort, Deadman noticed features in a desert area near Najaf, including a trench, fortresses, and remnants of an ancient river that matched historical accounts of the al-Qadisiyah battlefield.
Cold War satellite images proved critical for this research, as these older images reveal landscape features that have since been altered by urban and agricultural development. “Some of the distinguishing features at the al-Qadisiyah site, such as a distinctive trench, were much more pristine and clear in the 1970s images,” Deadman told CNN. These findings were later confirmed through ground surveys conducted by the team, which uncovered pottery fragments from the seventh century, consistent with the period of the battle.
The archaeological team plans to begin excavation work at the site in the coming year. Their findings contribute to a broader regional project, launched in 2015, to document endangered archaeological sites across the Middle East, where decades of conflict have disrupted excavation efforts and led to the looting of countless artifacts. As archaeological activity resurges in Iraq, which is often referred to as the “cradle of civilization,” thousands of looted items have been returned, and excavations are again underway.
