3000-Yr-Old Carvings of Procession of Assyrian Gods and Kings Discovered, Sculpted Along Rock-Cut Irrigation Canal

Italian archaeologists from the University of Udine discovered impressive 3,000-year-old rock carvings featuring Assyrian gods and kings in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The panels were found in a rock-cut irrigation canal where the ancient carvings were intentionally hidden for several years—in the Faida district, approximately 300 miles north of Baghdad—to save them from ISIS, according to Live Science. The joint excavation team led by the Italian archaeologist, Daniele Morandi Bonacossi and Kurdish archaeologist, Hasan Ahmed Qasim, discovered ten stunning rock reliefs of the eighth-seventh century B.C. "There is no other Assyrian rock art complex that can be compared with Faida," said Morandi Bonacossi, except for the carvings found near Mosul at Khinnis in 1845.

These 5-meter-high, 2-meter-wide panels depict an intricate procession of seven main Assyrian deities astride their sacred animals. The divine figures in the procession have their faces looking toward the left to express the direction of the water that used to flow down the canal below. Among the deities facing left is Ashur, the principal Assyrian god, shown here astride a dragon combined with a horned lion. His wife, Mullissu, is shown seated on a richly ornamented throne, standing on a lion. The other deities include the moon god Sin, riding a lion with horns, and Ishtar, the love and war goddess, on a lion, according to Qui Uniud.

The ancient irrigation canal ordered by Assyrian King Sargon, probably from 720 to 705 B.C., of about 7 km in length, was dug in the limestone bedrock. Several small channels took off from this major conduit to water the surrounding fields, greatly improving agricultural output in the hinterland of Nineveh. The extent of this canal is evidence of the high degree of developed engineering skills and knowledge about water management developed by the Assyrians.

The site was first noted decades ago. In 1973, the British archaeologist, Julian Reade, recognized three panels, but he could not study the place further because of regional fighting between the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Baathist regime. In 2012, an Italian archaeological mission led by Morandi Bonacossi found six more reliefs, but the presence of ISIS in nearby Mosul forced them to postpone their work until 2019.

Today, these beautiful carvings are under various threats, especially vandalism, illegal excavations, and expansion. These joint Italian-Kurdish excavations do not only unearth these very valuable Assyrian reliefs but preserve them with the help of sophisticated technology. It is in that endeavor that Harvard University's Professor, Jason Ur, contributed to the high-resolution aerial mapping of the whole canal system with the use of drone technology.

The Faida site will house an archaeological park to allow for tourism at the site, though the proper protection of these ancient treasures will be observed accordingly. Thus, the site will be grouped with other well-known Assyrian monuments in Duhok province—such as those at Khinis, Maltai, and Shiru Malik Relief—within a broader historical framework. This framework documents evidence of exceptional skill in hydraulics under the Assyrian Empire.