Archaeologists in Iraq find ancient wine press, rock carvings

An undated handout picture shows a view of carvings discovered on the walls of an ancient irrigation canal by a team of Kurdish and Italian archaeologists near Faydeh in the Nineveh area of northern Iraq. Photo: AFP

Archaeologists in Iraq revealed recently their discovery of a large-scale wine factory from the rule of the Assyrian kings 2,700 years ago, along with stunning monumental rock-carved royal reliefs.

The stone bas-reliefs, showing kings praying to the Gods, were cut into the walls of a nearly 9km-long (5.5 mile) irrigation canal at Faida in northern Iraq, the joint team of archaeologists from the Department of Antiquities in Dohuk and colleagues from Italy said.