Between 2014 and 2017, the Islamic State imposed a reign of terror in Mosul, the fourth most populous city in Iraqlocated next to the Tigris River, an enclave that is also called al-Faiha (“Paradise”) or al-Khaḍrah (“the Green”) and is sometimes even called “The Pearl of the North”.
The eastern part of Mosul, which is located on the famous archaeological mound of Kuyunjik, corresponds to ancient Nineveh, one of the most important centers of Middle Eastern history, an essential crossing point on the trade routes that crossed the Tigris.
Ancient Nineveh
Unfortunately, Islamic State was especially primed with the ruins of the capital of the Assyrian Empire, first mentioned around 1,800 BC. The jihadist group destroyed or defaced large statues and other unique artifacts such as the historic monumental gate of Mashki, which was later demolished. A
Once the IS militiamen were expelled from Mosul, the Iraqi authorities have worked side by side with American archaeologists to try to recover as much as possible of the ancient sites. This is how, excavating where the Mashki door was, they have found eight marble bas-reliefs that are 2,700 years old.
An Iraqi worker excavates one of the bas-reliefs
The images depict war scenes from the era of powerful Assyrian kings, sources with the Iraqi Council of Antiquities and Heritage said in a statement. The bas-reliefs date specifically to the time of King Sennacherib (705-681 BC), the man who rebuilt and enlarged Nineveh as soon as he came to the throne.
Sennacherib turned the enclave into the capital and most beautiful city of his kingdom. He expanded the perimeter of the city, enlarged squares and streets and even built a spectacular palace which he baptized as “Palace without rival”. For its construction, he imported materials from all over the known world and placed monstrous winged bulls with the heads of bearded kings (the Shedu) flanking its main gates.
Only the lower part of the reliefs has been preserved
Among the representations unearthed just a week ago, that of a soldier in profile preparing to fire a shot with an arch stands out. Palm trees and finely chiseled trees also appear in the images. “We believe that these plates were moved from Sennacherib’s palace and reused by the king’s grandson to renovate the Mashki gate and enlarge the guard room,” said Fadel Mohamed Khodr, head of the archaeological mission restoring the site.
The first builders had knowingly erased the carved decorations on the bas-reliefs, adds the expert. “Only the part buried underground has preserved its carvings,” Khodr added. In addition, these vestiges “are the first relatively intact and conserving their original appearance discovered in this site”, he adds.
The bas-reliefs were in the area where the Mashki gate was demolished
Nineveh was “the oldest and most populous city of the Assyrian Empire, imperial capital and great crossroads between the eastern Mediterranean and the Iranian plateau,” the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) recalls on its website.
After the destruction inflicted by Islamic State, ALIPH has been funding the reconstruction of the Mashki gate since 2021. This work is being carried out by a team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania along with Iraqi experts.
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