CHI – Incident Report Feature -The Malthai Reliefs - American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR)

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CHI – Incident Report Feature -The Malthai Reliefs

INCIDENT REPORT FEATURE: THE MALTHAI RELIEFS

U. S. DEPT. COOPERATION AGREEMENT NUMBER: S-IZ-100-17-CA021

BY Jamie O’Connell

Vandalism damages ancient reliefs.

* This report is based on research conducted by the “Safeguarding the Heritage of the Near East Initiative,” funded by the US Department of State. Monthly reports reflect reporting from a variety of sources and may contain unverified material. As such, they should be treated as preliminary and subject to change.

The Malthai Reliefs are a series of four Neo-Assyrian bas-reliefs carved into the cliff-side above the village of Malthai (in the suburbs of Dohuk) on the south bank of Dohuk River. Three reliefs are grouped close together while the fourth is located about 50 meters to their right. Each relief is approximately six meters long and two meters high. The same composition of nine figures in a procession is repeated on each panel with small variations.

A photograph taken by Gertrude Bell in May 1909 shows Relief 2.

A photograph taken by Gertrude Bell in May 1909 shows Relief 3. This panel was damaged in antiquity when it was turned into a tomb.

The black and white photographs, taken by Gertrude Bell in May 1909, are likely the earliest photographs of the reliefs. The scenes depict the king as a worshipper facing right toward a line of five deities—Assur, Ninlil, Sin, Anu (or Enlil), Shamash, Adad, and Ishtar—mounted on animals. Another figure of the king is depicted at the end of this row of deities, so that the line of divinities is flanked on either side by two identical royal images. The king depicted is Sennacherib (reigned ca. 704–681 BCE), who had these and other rock reliefs carved at points along his northern canal system.

A pre-damage photograph of Relief 2 from 2014.

All four relief panels have sustained damage, but not all of this is recent. Sometime during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, for example, large holes were cut in two of the panels to make tombs. Relief 3 was damaged in the 1920s when antiquities thieves cut out part of the panel next to the tomb entrance. This stolen section was later recovered and is reportedly in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The small holes seen on all four reliefs are due to the natural porosity of the rock.

In February 2016, the Assyrian International News Agency reported that one of the panels at Malthai had been vandalized with a spray-painted Kurdish flag. This graffiti was not present when an ASOR CHI source visited Malthai in late December 2015.

A Kurdish flag spray-painted on Relief 3.

Graffiti and a spray-painted Kurdish flag discovered on Relief 2 in April 2016.

On March 31, 2017 Shwenawarakany Kurdistan published photographs on Facebook showing conservators removing spray paint and other graffiti from the reliefs. The work was reportedly carried out with the help of unidentified European scholars, the Dohuk Directorate of Antiquities, and experts from the University of Dohuk.

Conservators work to mitigate damage to Relief 1.

Conservators remove spray-paint graffiti from Relief 2.

Damage to face of Sennacherib on Relief 4 (Babylon FM; May 8, 2017)

In March 2018, Rudaw reported that the reliefs had been damaged once again. Nivin Mohammed, head of legal affairs for the Directorate of Antiquities of Dohuk reported, “On February 25, one of our guards informed us that some people had damaged the archeological items in Halamat cave. Later, a team visited the site and prepared a report on this issue. It was revealed later that some people had taken part in stealing the archeological items of the cave. The archeological piece stolen is called Sanharib [Sennacherib].”

Photographs posted with the report show a large missing piece of sculpture from Relief 1, specifically the carving of the goddess Ninlil, wife of Assur. Her lower legs, part of her throne, and the face of the lion on which her throne rests were removed.

A photograph shows the damage to Relief 1 (Rudaw; March 6, 2018)

The report also quotes Kovan Ihsan, an archaeologist in the Dohuk Directorate, who states, “Since 2014 there have been efforts to steal and damage 212 archaeological sites in Dohuk.” There are a reported 456 archaeological sites in the Dohuk Governorate.

For more information on previous damage to the Malthai Rock Reliefs, see ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0005 in Weekly Report 81–82, ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0011 in Weekly Report 89–90, ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 17-0021 in Monthly Report March 2017, ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 17-0026 in Monthly Report May 2017, and ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 18-0005 in Monthly Report March 2018.