Iraq discovers Assyrian King Esarhaddon palace in east Mosul

The media official of the National Union of Kurdistan in Iraqi Nineveh Ghyath Alsurji announced the discovery of an ancient palace belongs to Assyrian King Esarhaddon below Prophet Yunis site in the city of Mosul, stressing that it includes treasures and antiquities.

According to the media official of the National Union of Kurdistan in Nineveh Ghyath Alsurji, an ancient palace belongs to Assyrian King Esarhaddon below Prophet Yunis site was found on the left coast in east of Mosul, Nineveh province in northern Iraq, which was liberated by Iraqi Joint Forces from the Islamic State (ISIS).

Alsurji added that the Iraqi army found the ancient palace which belongs to Assyrian King Esarhaddon below Prophet Yunis site during inspection operations held in the tunnels of ISIS, noting that it includes treasures and antiquities dating back to the era of the Assyrian. The Iraqi forces seized the palace until the arrival of antiquities experts in Iraqi.

The antiquities expert in Nineveh Ahmed Ammar said that Nineveh is one of the historical cities and the discovery of King Esarhaddon’s palace below Prophet Yunis site is important, pointing out that ISIS has detonated the cemetery of Prophet Yunis and stole many antiquities and transferred them to Syria.

He considered that the disclosure of King Esarhaddon Palace is an important step in the history of Assyrian civilization and will have an important role in the detection of the antiquities in this historic era.

ISIS had destroyed the antiquities of “Hadar” city in Nineveh which was listed on the World Heritage list and dates back to 2nd century BC. They also destroyed "Nimrod" archaeological site that dates back to the 3rd century BC, using heavy military vehicles. The terrorist group ruined rare artifacts in the Mosul Museum, and blew up the Historical Museum, looting and ruining the archaeological collections and historical manuscripts.

The Mosul Museum had 173 artifacts and statues date back to different historical periods, especially the civilization of Mesopotamia.