Middle Eastern Mythos and Mysteries

I'm unsure if this goes to Writer's Block or World Building, in case it's the wrong section, apologies.

Okay, I'm theorizing a Adventurer Archaeologist sort of deal (Indiana Jones, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, e.t.c) in modern-day Middle East. What would be some good artifacts, lost treasures, temples and so forth sort of stuff for a Adventurer Archaeologist to go after in these areas?

In short, I'm looking for Middle Eastern legends, myths, treasures and lore.

edited 24th Jun '14 3:00:47 PM by Gaon

There's a legendary lost city in the Empty Quarter, the Atlantis of the Sands, which is often identified with Iram of the Pillars. Tim Powers took it a step further in Declare and identified it with the Wabar meteor craters. All of these would be great adventure hooks. (I do suggest reading Declare for inspiration—Powers is a great writer, and he does a lot of research to write his secret histories. As a bonus, one prominent Arabian explorer was Harry St. John Philby—father of the infamous Kim Philby.)

Thanks to some archeological finds, we have the names of a great many city-states and regional powers in ancient mesopotamia (ancient mesopotamian kings liked to keep records of their diplomatic and military dealings)...but only a handful of these have actually been definitely identified and located. Depending on how many of those sources use different names for the same location, there might be anywhere from half a dozen to several dozen lost cities in the area around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Of course, most of these would likely be very minor settlements, maybe just a trading post with a mud-brick fort. But there's always the possibility that there's still some major finds out there buried in age-old river mud...

Excellent suggestions, I will try checking out Power's work as well.

Good point.

The Garden of Eden, perhaps?

Irem was an inspiration for HP Lovecraft's "The Nameless City", in case you are looking for a supernatural tie-in.

Well you've got all of the major early bronze age civilisations in that region. Even if they don't have any known myths linked to them it is easy to say there is some unknown city/technology discovered which changes things.

You've also all the Jewish, Christian and Islamic mythologies to scan through.

Also the 1,001 Nights and the Persian Shahnameh.