50 km from Mosul , ten Assyrian rock reliefs from the eighth-seventh century BC. win the sixth edition of the International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad".
They were unearthed by the team of archaeologists “ IAMKRI Italian Archaeological Mission to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ”, Coordinated by Daniele Morandi Bonacossi of the University of Udine , with the Directorate of Antiquities of Duhok , led by Hasan Ahmed Qasim .
They consist of impressive panels, 5 meters large and 2 meters wide , carved along an ancient 8.5 km long irrigation canal, fed by a system of karst springs, today buried under thick layers of earth deposited by the erosion of the hillside.
In ancient times, a network of smaller canals branched off from the canal, making it possible to irrigate the fields surrounding areas, making the cultivated countryside in the hinterland of Nineveh even more fertile , Capital of the empire.
Assyrian mythology depicted on the rock is a significant collection of gods and sacred animals. The divine figures represent the god Assur , the main deity of the Assyrian pantheon, on a dragon and a lion with horns, his wife Mullissu , seated on an elaborate throne supported by a lion, the god of the moon, Sin , also on a lion with horns, the god of Wisdom, Nabu , on a dragon, the sun god, Shamash , on a horse, the god of the Storm, Adad , on a lion with horns and a bull and Ishtar , the goddess of Love and War on a lion.
The rock reliefs of Kurdistan Iraqi also won the "Special Award", the discovery award with the greatest consensus on the Facebook page of the Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism, whose XXIII edition will take place in Paestum from 19 to 22 November 2020.
The five finalists candidates for victory for 2020 were :
- Cambodia :the lost city of Mahendraparvata, capital of the Khmer empire in the forest on the hills of Phnom Kulen north-east of Angkor;
- Iraq :in Kurdistan at the site of Faida, 50 km from Mosul, ten Assyrian rock reliefs, the gods of Ancient Mesopotamia;
- Israel :in Motza, 5 km north-west of Jerusalem, a 9,000-year-old Neolithic metropolis;
- Italy :in Rome the Domus Aurea unveils a new treasure, the Sala della Sfinge;
- Italy :in the ancient city of Vulci a statue of Etruscan origin depicting a winged lion from the 6th century BC
The award named after Khaled al-Asaad, Director of the archaeological area and of the Museum of Palmyra from 1963 to 2003 , which paid for the defense of cultural heritage with its life, is the only recognition at world level dedicated to the world of archeology and, in particular, to its protagonists:the archaeologists , who with sacrifice, dedication, competence and scientific research face their task every day in the double role of scholars of the past and professionals at the service of the territory.