A huge statue of a deity is being excavated in Iraq (8 photos)

In the ancient Iraqi city of Dur-Sharrukin there is a huge statue of a deity - lammasu. It turned out that it is 2700 years old and has survived many military conflicts in its lifetime, but is perfectly preserved.





A team of French and Iraqi archaeologists discovered an Assyrian lamassu - a statue of a deity that was perfectly preserved - in the ancient city of Dur Sharrukin in northern Iraq. The 2,700-year-old statue was hidden for three decades to protect it from looting. Iraqi authorities last excavated the sculpture in 1992 and then reburied it to preserve its integrity. In 2014, local residents hid the sculpture near Khorsabad from militants, who then massively destroyed archaeological sites.



Scientists said they discovered the lamassa as part of a larger project to study recent military activity and the ancient city. Lammasu are winged deities, often depicted as lions or bulls with human faces. They represent protection, and are installed at palace gates throughout Assyria. This sculpture was installed at the entrance to the house of King Sargon II, who came to power in 722 BC. Although the local cultural heritage was damaged after various military conflicts, especially the Gulf War, this lammasu has been perfectly preserved.





Only his head was damaged: in 1995, it was damaged by smugglers trying to take part of the statue out of the country. The thieves were stopped at the border, and the head itself was sent to the collection of the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. Later, on April 10, 2003, looters entered the museum. Over the course of two days, they removed about 15 thousand works of art from it, but the head of the Lammasu remained untouched. Soon the unearthed statue will finally be connected to the head so that the lammasu will return to its original form. Archaeologists are still deciding what to do with it next.