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Duhok's 2700-year old aqueduct shows history of Kurdistan

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Duhok's 2700-year old aqueduct shows history of Kurdistan

PostAuthor: Anthea » Mon Nov 29, 2021 1:30 am

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Breathtaking history of Kurdistan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – One of the oldest extensive archaeological sites in the Kurdistan, Khinnis, dates back to 700 BC when a powerful Assyrian king had it built to provide water to his ancient palace

King Sennacherib, who is mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible, chose a location that was both utilitarian and visually breathtaking to build his kingdom’s main aqueduct system.

Its water systems and diversion projects were designed to feed the Khosr River, which runs through Mosul, the largest city by far in modern Iraq’s nearby Nineveh province. The canal system and much of the rest of the project can still be recognized through various kinds of carvings that show King Sennacherib, the winged bull Lamassu, and fascinating scenes from everyday life shown in relief sculptures.

The site, also known as Bavian, is located 13 km (8 miles) from Sheikhan and some 10 km (6 miles) from the Yezidi religion’s most holy site of Lalish and features an elaborate entrance gate that is connected to a long fence used to protect the site from intruders.

Although it is presently far more secure than in recent years because the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has provided full-time guards, many think that it is still not yet sufficient.

“The government is protecting the site, but it needs to do more,” local archeologist Arzhin Khalid told Kurdistan 24, saying that it needs to implement plans it has already drawn up for the site despite “already planting trees” to “make it a tourist site.”

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The KRG has plans to link Khinnis and another nearby archeological site of note known as Jirwana by either connecting or by encircling both locations which, according to Khalid, would be a massive achievement. Since the government built a small dam in 2013 on the stream to retain and gather water during rainy winter weather, plans to increase the number of trees there have slowly been realized.

Khinnis gets its name from a nearby village that has been continuously inhabited for multiple centuries and links the palace of King Sennacherib in Mosul to sources of water in the extensive mountains of the Kurdistan Region. Additionally, the system has also provided water to the farmers in Mosul even in the dry, scorching summer.

The aqueduct proved to have such an extensive supply of water that, eventually, a portion of it had to be diverted en route to Mosul into what became a huge swamp, home to a number of striking birds the ecosystems they support.

Austen Henry Layard, who excavated the ancient cities of Ur, Nimrud, and Library of Ashurbanipal, describes Khinnis in detail in his 1853 book, “Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon.”

In it, he writes, “There were four cylinders and several beads, with a scorpion in lapis lazuli, all apparently once strung together. On one cylinder of translucent green feldspar (sometimes called Amazon stone), which I believe to have been the signet, or amulet, of Sennacherib himself is engraved with the king standing in an arched frame on the rock tablets.”

One of the most famous aspects of the site has since fallen into nearby water flows, a large rock representing a Llamsu, the legendary ancient Mesopotamian winged bull, plus multiple other relief carvings that have partially split and then largely sunk into the shallow part of the riverbed that passes by the site.

Now, not only water, but tourists flow through the site, mostly in summer to enjoy swimming as well as the rich history of the area, although winter visitations have picked up as well.

“This is my first time seeing that Kurdistan has such great historical sites,” Rajih Bassim, a tourist from Mosul.

“This rare and amazing site tells me a lot about the history of Duhok and Mosul,” he added. “It tells me that we have roots in the past; that thousands of years ago we had such an advanced irrigation system.”

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/26 ... tan-Region
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Duhok's 2700-year old aqueduct shows history of Kurdistan

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