Categories: Culture

2,700-year-old industrial scale wine factory discovered in Iraq

<p>
Archaeologists in Iraq have discovered a 2,700-year-old large-scale wine factory, along with huge rock-carved reliefs showing Assyrian kings of the times  praying to the gods.</p>
<p>
The royal reliefs were cut into the walls of a nearly nine-kilometre-long irrigation canal at Faida in northern Iraq, an AFP report cited the joint team of archaeologists from the Department of Antiquities in Dohuk and colleagues from Italy as saying.</p>
<p>
The carvings, 12 panels measuring five metres (16 feet) wide and two metres tall, show gods, kings and sacred animals. They date from the reigns of Sargon II (721-705 BC) and his son Sennacherib.</p>
<p>
"There are other places with rock reliefs in Iraq, especially in Kurdistan, but none are so huge and monumental as this one," said Italian archaeologist Daniele Morandi Bonacossi.</p>
<p>
"The scenes represent the Assyrian king praying in front of  the Assyrian gods," he said, noting that the seven key gods are all seen, including Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, who is depicted on top of a lion.</p>
<p>
<strong>Also read:</strong>  <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/culture-news/taliban-launches-hunt-for-ancient-bactrian-gold-worth-billions-of-dollars-115561.html">Taliban launches hunt for ancient Bactrian gold worth billions of dollars</a></p>
<p>
The irrigation canal was cut into limestone to carry water from the hills to the farms, and the carvings were made to remind people of the king who did this good work so that they remained loyal to him.</p>
<p>
"It was not only a religious scene of prayer, it was also political, a sort of propaganda scene," Morandi Bonacossi explained.</p>
<p>
"The king, in this way, wanted to show to the people living in the area that he was the one who has created these massive irrigation systems, so… the people should remember this and remain loyal," he added.</p>
<p>
At Khinis, also near Dohuk, the team unearthed giant stone basins cut into white rock that were used in commercial wine-making during the reign of Sennacherib, in the late 8th or early 7th century BC.</p>
<p>
"It was a sort of industrial wine factory," said Morandi Bonacossi, professor of Near Eastern archaeology at Italy's University of Udine, adding this was the first such discovery in Iraq.</p>
<p>
Earlier this BBC had reported of a 1,500-year-old wine-making complex, said to have been the world's largest at the time, that has been discovered in Israel.</p>
<p>
Five presses were unearthed at the huge Byzantine-era winery at Yavne, south of Tel Aviv, which is estimated to have produced two million litres a year.</p>
<p>
After a sophisticated production process it was exported around the Mediterranean.</p>
<p>
Those working at the site said they were surprised by its size.</p>

IN Bureau

Recent Posts

VINBAX 2024: Vietnam-India bilateral army exercise concludes at Kaushalya Dam

The fifth edition of the historic Indo-Vietnam Joint Field Training Exercise, VINBAX-2024, successfully concluded its…

15 hours ago

India-Russia strengthen defence ties at 22nd Working Group meeting on military technical cooperation

The 22nd meeting of the India-Russia Working Group on Military technical cooperation and defence industry…

15 hours ago

“I want to have strong representation of India at World Nuclear Exhibition 2025”: Sylvie Bermann

Sylvie Bermann, President of the World Nuclear Exhibition expressed confidence in India's nuclear supply chain…

17 hours ago

PoJK: Joint Awami Action Committee protests against government following new ordinance, many injured

Joint Awami Action Committee core member Shaukat Nawaz Mir has condemned the attack of police…

17 hours ago

PM Modi meets 31 world leaders, heads of organisations during his 3-nation foreign visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in 31 Bilateral Meetings and informal interactions with global leaders…

19 hours ago

India- Australia conduct 11th Indian Air Force-Royal Australian Air Force Air Staff Talks

India and Australia conducted the 11th edition of the Indian Air Force and Royal Australian…

19 hours ago