The ancient city of Nineveh, whose ruins lie on the eastern side of the Tigris River within the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Mesopotamia. The city was the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the late 8th century BCE under the reign of King Sennacherib.

Since 2022, Aaron Schmitt and his team from the University of Heidelberg have been excavating the Kuyunjik mound in the central sector of the North Palace built by King Ashurbanipal. The excavations are part of the Heidelberg Nineveh project, launched in 2018 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Stefan Maul from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Heidelberg.

British researchers first explored the North Palace in the late 19th century, where they discovered large-scale reliefs, which are now on display at the British Museum in London. Three years ago, in 2022, archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania discovered the first major reliefs in the city in 75 years of excavations.

niveveh relief ashurbanipal
Heildelberg excavation work in anciente Nineveh. Credit: Aaron Schmitt / Universität Heidelberg

At the center of the relief now discovered by the University of Heidelberg is the figure of King Ashurbanipal, the last great ruler of the Assyrian Empire. He is flanked by two supreme deities, the gods Ashur and Ishtar, the patron goddess of Nineveh.

Both are followed by a fish-genie, who grants salvation and life to the gods and the sovereign, as well as by an auxiliary figure with raised arms who is probably to be interpreted as a scorpion-man.

These figures suggest that a large winged solar disk was originally mounted above the relief, explains Aaron Schmitt. In the coming months, based on the data collected on site, the researchers will study the representation and the context of the find in detail and publish the results in a scientific journal.

niveveh relief ashurbanipal
3D model of the relief: The finds are marked in dark gray, the light gray part represents a reconstruction based on the finds. King Ashurbanipal is depicted in the center, flanked by the god Ashur (left) and Ishtar, patron goddess of Niniveh (right). They are both followed by a fish genius and a supporting figure with raised arms. Credit: Michael Rummel / Universität Heidelberg

According to Prof. Schmitt, the relief was originally located in a niche opposite the main entrance of the throne room, that is, the most important place in the palace. The Heidelberg researchers discovered the fragments of the relief in a dirt-filled hole behind this niche.

They were probably buried during the Hellenistic period, in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. The fact that these fragments were buried is undoubtedly one of the reasons why British archaeologists did not find them more than a hundred years ago, assumes Prof. Schmitt.

As agreed with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the medium-term plan is to place the relief in its original location and open it to the public.

SOURCES

Universität Heidelberg

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