Archaeological Environmental Park of Sennacherib's irrigation system (Iraqi Kurdistan)

The project concerns the study and the valorization of the complex of canals built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib at the beginning of VII cent. B.C. The irrigation system measures approximately 150 m in length and extends over a vast territory between Dohuk and Mosul (Iraqi Kurdistan). The various parts of the waterworks and celebratory works were built to supply water to the royal palaces and gardens of Nineveh, the new capital, and to irrigate the land surrounding the city. The project carried on by the Institute for Technologies Applied to the Cultural Heritage is within the frame of the training program "Land of Ninive" entrusted to the University of Udine by the International Cooperation of the Italian Foreign Ministry. The planning of the Archaeological- Environmental Park is using advanced and integrated survey techniques for the 3D documentation of Khinis, Jerwan and Maltai, Kurdistan's most important and fascinating sites, and satellite images as basic cartography. The ongoing activities regard the defining of the Park's boundaries and actions to protect the landscape, to preserve the monuments and to improve their accessibility. Considering the vastness of the territory on which the canals are widespread, the Park is limited to the most important areas of Khinis and Jerwan but, via the Documentation Centre's Information System, it will be connected to the archaeological areas of Maltai, Faideh, Bandwai and other sites that may be identified in future surveys.