Biblical city first probed by Lawrence of Arabia excavated in war-torn Syria

Nov. 2, 2011: This is a Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition of the South Gate of the Inner Town of Karkemish seen in Gaziantep province, Turkey. Few archaeological sites seem as entwined with modern conflict as the ancient city of Karkemish, itself the scene of a battle mentioned in the Bible. (Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition)

Nov. 2, 2011: This is a  Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition showing experts working  on protecting through ethyl-silicate decayed mudbrick walls in King's Gate area, in background the Great Staircase and the acropolis of Karkemish in Gaziantep province, Turkey. (AP Photo / Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition)

Nov. 6, 2011: An ancient  funerary assemblage with glazed jars, stone weights, bronze fibulae and granulated gold earring from two cremation burials in a pithos in the Outer Town of Karkemish are seen in Gaziantep province, Turkey. (AP)

The mound of Karkemish on the Euphrates, seen in 2008. Few archaeological sites seem as entwined with modern conflict as this ancient, itself the scene of a battle mentioned in the Bible. (AP Photo/Joint Turco-Italian Archaeological Expedition)

1913:  A young T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), left, and C.L. Woolley pictured in front of the Long Wall of Sculpture at Karkemish in Gaziantep province, Turkey. (AP)

Nov. 1, 2012:  A reconstruction of the lion head fragment set into the slab now in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)