Joint international excavation mission discovers eight wall sculptures in Mosul

The Antiquities and Heritage Authority revealed that the joint Iraqi-American mission, in the second phase of its work at the Al-Masqa Gate in the city of Mosul, discovered a number of Assyrian wall sculptures.

The Director of the Antiquities and Heritage Authority, Dr. Laith Majid Hussein, said in a statement that “a number of important historical sculptures were discovered that contain war scenes and marble paintings. These sculptures were identified by reading the cuneiform writings, and it was found that they belong to King Sennacherib (705-681 BC).”

He added, “Work is underway to clean and sort these sculptures and register them within the world heritage to preserve the great cultural heritage, as the American University of Pennsylvania mission will carry out the maintenance work for these sculptures.”

Ali Shalgham, Director-General of the Department of Investigations and Excavations, said, “These works aim to prepare for the maintenance of the foundations and walls of the Al-Masqa Gate in the second phase and to return them to what they were before they were bulldozed by ISIS criminal gangs in 2016.”