Nineveh – Iraqi News Agency (INA)
Iraq’s Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities, Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, announced on Friday the discovery of the largest winged bull ever found from the Assyrian Empire. The statue, standing at nearly six meters in height, was uncovered inside the royal hall of King Esarhaddon’s palace, located behind the Prophet Jonah Mosque in Mosul.
Al-Badrani told INA that this remarkable finding adds significant historical value to Assyrian heritage. He noted that excavation teams also identified smaller versions of the winged bull and were able to define the dimensions of the throne hall, a central element of Assyrian royal architecture. The site, he added, includes several adjacent halls leading to the throne room, with pairs of winged bulls guarding the palace gates.
Rowaid Mowafaq, Director of Nineveh Antiquities and Heritage, explained that one bull had been discovered in the 1990s, while the most recent excavations revealed its counterpart. He emphasized that the find will enhance the site’s cultural and touristic importance. According to Mowafaq, the State Board of Antiquities, in cooperation with Heidelberg University in Germany and the Ministry of Culture, is planning to establish a museum at the site to connect Assyrian antiquities with the Islamic heritage of the Prophet Jonah Mosque.
Meanwhile, Peter Nicholas, an archaeology expert at Heidelberg University, said that excavation teams also uncovered clay tablets inscribed with writings of prominent Assyrian kings such as Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, along with small artifacts believed to be war spoils taken from Egypt and the Levant.
