Colossal Neo-Assyrian Sculpture Unearthed in Mosul

MOSUL, IRAQ—According to a report by the Assyrian International News Agency, Iraqi authorities announced the discovery of a new monumental Assyrian sculpture at the Nabi Yunus site in ancient Nineveh, modern-day Mosul. The artwork depicts a lamassu, a hybrid creature that usually had the body of a bull or lion, the wings of an eagle, and a human head. These entities often served as protective deities in Mesopotamian culture. Measuring about 20 feet tall, the newly uncovered sculpture is the largest of its kind that has ever been unearthed. It likely dates to the reign of Esarhaddon, who ruled the Neo-Assyrian Empire between 680 and 669 b.c., a period when Assyria was the largest kingdom the world had ever seen. Archaeologists from a collaborative project between Germany’s Heidelberg University and Iraq’s Ministry of Culture discovered the massive statue in the ruins of what they believe was the throne room of Esarhaddon’s sprawling palace, where a pair of imposing lamassu would have once guarded the entranceway to the royal hall. To read about the discovery of another lamassu sculpture at Nineveh, go to "The Assyrian Renaissance."