Dr. Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Udine
A C. Densmore Curtis Lecture, sponsored by the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology. In-person attendance at Old Library 110. Remote attendance via Zoom (register here).
Abstract
“The Governorates of Duhok and Ninawa in northern Iraq host the most unique and monumental irrigation system ever built by the Assyrians in the core of their empire. Between 703 and c. 688 BCE King Sennacherib created in four stages the ‘Northern Assyrian Irrigation System’, a ramified network of canals to water Nineveh’s extensive hinterland and bring water to his ‘Palace without a Rival’ and royal parks on the citadel of Nineveh. The creation of this new waterscape greatly transformed the rural landscape of the Assyrian core region, determining a shift from extensive dry farming to an intensive, predictable and high-yield cultivation system based on irrigation.
The talk presents the results of the work conducted since 2012 by the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project of the Udine University on the ‘Northern Assyrian Irrigation System’, with a particular focus on the newly discovered Assyrian Faida canal and rock art complex. Investigation of this extraordinary and extremely endangered archaeological site was launched in 2019 and has led to the exploration of an at least 10 km-long irrigation canal cut into the limestone bedrock of the Chiya Daka hill range. Thirteen monumental, sculpted rock panels carved along the canal’s eastern bank were brought to light, representing an Assyrian ruler depicted at both ends of each panel, framing the cult statues of seven deities standing on pedestals shaped like striding animals.”