Thanks to an archaeological discovery in Kurdistan, the University of Udine received the world prize for archeology named after Khaled al-Asaad
The University of Udine received the world prize for archeology named after Khaled al-Asaad.
The recognition came thanks to the discovery of ten impressive rock reliefs dating back to the eighth century BC. and depicting the ruler and the great gods of Assyria in the archaeological site of Faida, located about 20 km south of the city of Duhok and 50 km from Mosul, in northern Iraqi Kurdistan. That of the Friulian university was judged by the international jury of the prestigious award for archeology, now in its sixth edition, as the most important archaeological find of 2019.
To receive the International Archaeological Discovery Award “Khaled al-Asaad” 2020 will be Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, professor of the Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage of the University of Udine. The award ceremony is scheduled for November 20 in Paestum, on the occasion of the XXIII Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism to be held in the town in the province of Salerno from 19 to 22 of the same month.
Along with the Feida reliefs, there were four other archaeological discoveries that took place in 2019 candidates for the victory of the prestigious award: the lost city of Mahendraparvata, capital of the Khmer empire in the forest on the hills of Phnom Kulen in Cabodia; the 9,000-year-old Neolithic metropolis of Motza, Israel, 5 km from Jerusalem; the treasure of the Sala della Sfinge unveiled at the Domus Aurea in Rome; the gigantic Etruscan statue depicting a winged lion from the 6th century BC unearthed in Italy in the ancient city of Vulci.
The extraordinary importance of the archaeological discovery made by the University of Udine has also been recognized by Aliph, the only global fund dedicated exclusively to the protection and rehabilitation of cultural heritage in conflict and post-conflict areas. Aliph financed the documentation of the Assyrian reliefs of Faida, together with the elaboration of a restoration and protection project of this monumental rock art complex seriously threatened by vandalism and by the expansion of the productive activities of the nearby village.
The Friulian university, included in the Arwu ranking of the best universities in the world, has been operating in the Near East for more than 25 years: first in Syria and then in Iraqi Kurdistan, where a group of archaeologists, students and specialists of various disciplines, led by the professor Morandi Bonacossi, worked tirelessly making an archaeological discovery of fundamental importance.