Arqueólogos estadounidenses e iraquíes han desenterrado antiguos grabados rupestres que se cree que tienen más de 2.700 años de antigüedad en la ciudad de Mosul, en el norte de Irak.
Las losas de mármol se descubrieron mientras se restauraba la Puerta Mashki, un antiguo monumento parcialmente destruido por los militantes del Estado Islámico (EI, antes Isis) cuando tomaron la ciudad en 2016.
Las tallas en relieve representan escenas de guerra del reinado de los reyes asirios en la antigua ciudad de Nínive, según un comunicado emitido el miércoles por la Junta Estatal de Antigüedades y Patrimonio de Irak.
According to the Director General of the Department of Investigation and Excavation, Ali Shalgham said: “the cuneiform engravings were discovered that they belong to the time of King Sennacherib, who led his people between 750 and 681 BC.”
Iraqi workers excavate a rock-carving relief recently found at the Mashki Gate, one of the monumental gates to the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh, on the outskirts of what is the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
The discovery consists of eight marble (alabaster) slabs, which bear carvings featuring Assyrian soldiers, one of whom is intent on shooting an arrow, as well as palm trees, grapes, pomegranates, and figs that were located inside King Sennacherib’s palace.
Sennacherib was responsible for enlarging Nineveh, the imperial capital and largest city of the Assyrians, which was situated on a significant intersection between the Iranian plateau and the Mediterranean. He also built a magnificent palace.
Fadel Mohammed Khodr, head of the Iraqi archaeological team working to restore the site, said the carvings were likely taken from Sennacherib’s palace and used as construction material for the gate.
“We believe that these carvings were moved from the palace of Sennacherib and reused by the grandson of the king to renovate the gate of Mashki and to enlarge the guard room,” Khodr said.
Detail of rock carvings at the Mashki Gate site in Mosul, Iraq. Photo: Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage
The Mashki Gate was one of the largest in Nineveh, and was an icon of the city’s size and power. The gate was reconstructed in the 1970s but was destroyed with a bulldozer by IS militants in 2016.
Mr. Khodr said that when the marble slabs were positioned at the gate, they were partly buried. The sections underground were preserved and bear the carvings seen today; whatever was above ground was wiped smooth over the centuries.
ALIPH, la Alianza Internacional para la Protección del Patrimonio en Áreas de Conflicto con sede en Suiza, dijo que la Puerta Mashki había sido un “edificio excepcional”. ALIPH está apoyando la reconstrucción de la Puerta Mashki por un equipo de arqueólogos de la Universidad Mosul de Irak junto con expertos estadounidenses de la Universidad de Pensilvania.
