Oct. 22 – Reconstructing more than ten thousand years of history, from 8000 BC to today, in ancient Mesopotamia, or what is today known as Iraqi Kurdistan, is now possible thanks to the archaeological mission in Assyria of the University of Udine, which has identified nearly 500 sites. The results of three regional archaeological campaigns of the “Land of Nineveh” project, led by the Friuli University, and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, were presented in Udine at the presence of the Regional Cultural Heritage Councilor, Gianni Torrenti. “The Region – said Torrenti – is proud to support a project of this quality in such an extraordinary area for its archaeological richness.” Northern Iraq as a whole had never been the subject of modern and systematic studies before, for which the University of Udine received by the regional and central authorities of Iraq a grant for archaeological research in an area of 3.000 square kilometers. This is the largest license ever issued to a foreign mission in Iraq. Researchers met in Udine to assess the three-year long program and its future developments in the ancient Assyrian empire and its former capital Nineveh, known today as Mosul. The archaeological mission proved a real success, managing to bring to light a number of necropolis dating back to 2700-600 BC, as well as an extraordinary irrigation system with complex hydraulic structures that “has no equal in the ancient world,” emphasized the researchers. The third campaign, conducted by Daniele Morandi Bonacossi in Mosul’s outskirts, in the province of Dohuk, traced the settlements of thousands of war prisoners of the Assyrian kings, who, in the first millennium BC, deported more than 1.3 million people. “Laboratory tests – said prof. Bonacossi – will reveal whether we are dealing with individuals born and raised in Tell Gomel, a site famous for its plain in which in 331 BC Alexander the Great defeated the Persian king Darius III, or from more distant regions. The latter option would allow us to shed light on one of the oldest war crimes in history.” (red)