Previously untouched 600BC palace discovered under shrine demolished by Isil in Mosul

Just a quick post to share this discovery, I couldn't see it posted already.
Too bad it came at the price of Isis' destruction of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah.

Archaeologists documenting Isil’s destruction of the ruins of the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah say they have made an unexpected discovery which could help in our understanding of the world’s first empire. The Nebi Yunus shrine - containing what Muslims and Christians believe to be the tomb of Jonah, as he was known in the Bible, or Yunus in the Koran - was blown up by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants soon after they seized huge swathes of northern Iraq in 2014.

But local archaeologists have told the Telegraph that Isil also dug tunnels deep under the demolished shrine and into a previously undiscovered and untouched 600BC palace.

It is the first evidence of Isil’s use of tunneling in ancient grounds in their hunt for artefacts to plunder. Inside one of the tunnels, Iraqi archaeologist Layla Salih discovered a marble cuneiform inscription of King Esarhaddon thought to date back to the Assyrian empire in 672BC.While the king’s name is not visible on the cuneiform slab, a historian who has seen photographs of it says phrases are legible which were used only to describe him, in particular his rebuilding of Babylon after his father Sennacherib had it destroyed.

The palace was built for Sennacherib, renovated and expanded by Esarhaddon (681-669 BC), and renovated again by Ashurbanipal (669-627). It was partly destroyed during the Sack of Nineveh in 612 BC.

In another part of the tunnel they discovered Assyrian stone sculptures of a demi-goddess, depicted sprinkling the “water of life” to protect humans in her care. “I’ve never seen something like this in stone at this large size,” said Prof Eleanor Robson, chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, suggesting they may have been used to decorate the women's quarter of the palace. “The objects don’t match descriptions of what we thought was down there, so Isil’s destruction has actually led us to a fantastic find. “There’s a huge amount of history down there, not just ornamental stones. It is an opportunity to finally map the treasure-house of the world’s first great empire, from the period of its greatest success.” Ms Salih, a former curator of the Mosul museum who is supervising a five-man team carrying out the emergency documentation, said she believes Isil looted hundreds of objects before Iraqi forces recaptured the eastern side of the city.

Article

a reply to: athousandlives

Wow good find I sure hope someone finds the tailings of all that tunnel work ISIL did .Sifting through that could give up some nice tiny pieces .I am sure ISIL were not on a excavation but creating safe places against bombs .

Nice to see out of the bad something good comes
I'm sure Isis will be well hacked off

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
Nice to see out of the bad something good comes
I'm sure Isis will be well hacked off

The findings were destroyed by ISIL no?

That's not a good thing. In fact it's pretty awful when artifacts are destroyed due to people's beliefs.

a reply to: AgarthaSeed

Eh? Did you read the article?
Out of the bombing of the shrine, further amazing artifacts were discovered that wouldn't have been had Isis not bombed the shrine. Of course its bad but out of it we've learnt more about the ancient civilisation that lived there and managed to save some of the ancient artifacts that Isis were trying to steal to sell

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
a reply to: AgarthaSeed

Eh? Did you read the article?
Out of the bombing of the shrine, further amazing artifacts were discovered that wouldn't have been had Isis not bombed the shrine. Of course its bad but out of it we've learnt more about the ancient civilisation that lived there and managed to save some of the ancient artifacts that Isis were trying to steal to sell

Ahhh i see.. No i didnt read the article. Just based my comment on the title of the thread

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

the ancient artifacts that Isis were trying to steal to sell

We don't know that ,the tunnels were dug for that purpose and its safe to say they were not . Even the archaeological community didn't know it was there so its more likely they built the tunnels under the site for protection .Not that they wouldn't sell things they may have found ...That part is unknown .

a reply to: AgarthaSeed

jeez posting on the title of a thread?????

a reply to: the2ofusr1

It has been asserted for a long time that Isis were looting monuments and tombs to sell on the black market. Items have been found online in nefarious auction sites. Whilst they don't know for certain that's what Isis were doing, it seems to be quite likely

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

Yes I am aware of the looting that has been going on .I just find it a bit of a stretch that the tunnels were for that purpose . It could very well have been but if so then the professionals who should have known it was there are not looking too professional because they didn't know it was there and have had digs before . Could have been a fluke and a windfall for ISIL .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

The article states

But local archaeologists have told the Telegraph that Isil also dug tunnels deep under the demolished shrine and into a previously undiscovered and untouched 600BC palace.

There had been limited archaeological digs there previously the last in 1950s but none reached as far as the buried Palace so the tunnels are "new"

a reply to: PhyllidaDavenport

There had been limited archaeological digs there previously the last in 1950s but none reached as far as the buried Palace so the tunnels are "new"

ISIL is known for "digging in" and creating tunnel networks in a lot of places ..Aleppo for instance .They have taken control of Mosques ,schools ,hospitals but have also dug tunnels beneath them as part of their defensive strategy . The use humans as shields and sites for cover ... What they might find while digging these tunnels is something else ... I am thinking it was a fluke find .

a reply to: the2ofusr1

Maybe so but if there's money to be made I'm sure they will have appropriated what they could. Someone has to feed the lovely boys of Isis/Isil/insert appropriate terror group here

Really cool find i didn't know about that place.