In Turkey’s Mardin province, the world’s oldest and largest underground city, recently named “Madit” by modern historians, has been discovered.
The find occurred in an unexpected way: a man searching for his chickens uncovered a hidden door behind a wall in his house, which led to an extensive tunnel system.
This tunnel system revealed an expansive subterranean city. Excavations, which began in 2020, have uncovered a network of dozens of tunnels and more than 50 rooms. The tunnels, carved from rock, intricately connect these rooms, with the longest tunnel discovered so far stretching 120 meters.
Experts estimate that Madit could have housed approximately 70,000 people. The ancient inhabitants constructed grain storage facilities, dug wells for water, and built kitchens with smoke ventilation systems. The city also included places of worship, sacrificial sites, and animal facilities for transportation.
A significant portion of Madit remains unexplored and inaccessible. Located around 280 feet below the surface, historians date the city to around 900 BC. The entire city covers an estimated 900,000 square meters, though only a small fraction has been excavated to date.
Marwan Yavez, the excavation director, proposes that the subterranean nature of the city may have provided protection from harsh weather or enemy attacks. The narrow, rocky entrance suggests it served as a defensive refuge.
Madit is believed to date back to the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, who ruled from 883 to 859 BC, and his empire spanned from the Gulf in the east to Egypt in the west. The region, historically known as Mesopotamia, is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, having seen various cultures including the Arabs, Romans, and Byzantines.
Historian Ikram Akman suggests that the caves might also have offered refuge during the spread of Judaism and Christianity, protecting those fleeing persecution. The city thrived for about 2,000 years, with its last known inhabitants leaving around 1920, after which it remained hidden for decades.
Interestingly, Madit is not alone; approximately 40 other underground cities have been identified in the region, but Madit is the largest and most significant among them.
