Archaeological site in Iraq that dates back 2,700 years becomes heritage park

Area in Faida is made up of 13 monumental rock carved walls portraying the rule of the Assyrians

A tour is conducted during the opening of the first phase of the planned Faida archaeological park in Iraqi Kurdistan. All photos: AFP

A series of carved plaques lining an ancient irrigation canal are the central finds at the site.

The canal dates back to Assyrian times, specifically the reigns of Sargon II (721-705 BC) and his son Sennacherib.

Italian archaeologist Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, left, Italian ambassador in Iraq Maurizio Greganti, third left, Governor of Dohuk Ali Tatar, centre, Bishop of the Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh Mar Boulos Thabet, second right, and Director of Antiquities of Dohuk Governorate Bekas Brefkany, right, take part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the first phase.

An aerial picture shows a view of a dig revealing an ancient irrigation canal lined with rock carvings dating back to Assyrian times, in the archaeological site of Faydeh (Faida) in the mountains near the town of the same name in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, on October 16, 2022, during the opening of the first phase of a planned archaeological park in Iraqi Kurdistan. (Photo by Ismael ADNAN / AFP)

The Faida site is in mountains near the town of the same name in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.

Faida is the first of five parks the regional authorities hope to create.

Mr Bonacossi, a professor at the Italian University of Udine and co-director of an excavation team, speaks about the carved plaque.

The 13 stunning monumental rock-carved bas-reliefs were cut into the walls of an irrigation canal that stretches for 10 kilometres.

Mr Greganti looks at one of the carved plaques, which measure five metres wide and two metres tall.

Mr Brefkany, director of antiquities for the Dohuk Governorate, speaks at the opening.

An archaeological park unveiled in northern Iraq this week dates back more than 2,700 years to the rule of the Assyrians.

The area in Faida, located in the south of Dohuk governorate, comprises 13 monumental rock-carving reliefs in the walls of an irrigation canal that stretches for about 10 kilometres.

The carvings show kings praying to gods.

Officials said "other parts will be discovered in the future".

"Perhaps in the future others will be discovered", Bekas Brefkany, from the department of antiquities in Dohuk, told AFP.

Regional authorities hope to create the first of five parks at Faida, part of a project aimed at creating "a tourist attraction and a source of income", Mr Brefkany said.

An inauguration ceremony was held at the site on Sunday that included senior officials from Kurdistan region, Italian Consul General Michele Camerota, and the Italian ambassador to Iraq Maurizio Greganti.

The site was discovered in several stages over the last few years through excavations by a joint mission of Italian archaeologists from the University of Udine and their counterparts from the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage of Duhok Governorate in the Kurdistan Region.

The project was launched in 2019 to save the archaeological Assyrian complex at Faida.

Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Udine, said, last year that while there were other rock reliefs in Iraq, none were so "huge and monumental" as these.

Iraq was the site of some of the world's earliest cities.

As well as Assyrians it was once home to Sumerians and Babylonians, and to among humankind's first examples of writing.

But in recent years it has suffered at the hands of smugglers of ancient artifacts.

Looters have robbed Iraq of its ancient heritage, most notably after the 2003 US-led invasion.