An exhibition on Assyrians in Bologna, on the sidelines of the return of a Mesopotamian artifact to Iraq

In the Lapidary Hall of Bologna’s Museo Civico Medievale, the exhibition The Assyrians in the Shadow of the Two Towers will be on view from June 14 to September 17. An inscribed brick from the Kalkhu ziggurat in Iraq and the excavations of the Iraqi-Italian Archaeological Mission in Nineveh, on view from June 14 to Sept. 17, 2023. The exhibition initiative, curated by Nicolò Marchetti, is promoted by Settore Musei Civici Bologna | Musei Civici d’Arte Antica, King Abdulaziz Chair for Islamic Studies | Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna and the Iraqi-Italian Archaeological Mission in Nineveh on the occasion of the return toIraq of a Mesopotamian object seized in Italy by the Nucleo Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale of Bologna and the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan city of Bologna and the provinces of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara. It is a baked brick of Assyrian King Salmanassar III (858-824 B.C.) with a cuneiform inscription revealing its safe provenance from the ziggurat (stepped temple-tower) of ancient Kalkhu (modern Nimrud), the first capital of the Neo-Assyrian empire, destroyed in 2016 by ISIS iconoclasm.

The official act of handing back the artifact took place in the presence of H.E. the President of the Republic of Iraq, Abdul Latif Rashid, who opened the exhibition in strict confidence on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 5:30 p.m., on the occasion of the State Visit to Italy that will touch the cities of Rome and Bologna. The event was attended by Matteo Lepore, mayor of Bologna; Elena Di Gioia, delegate for Culture of Bologna and Metropolitan City; Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Culture; Eva Degl’Innocenti, director of the Bologna Civic Museums Sector; and Nicolò Marchetti, full professor Uni-versity Bologna and curator of the exhibition; Giuseppe De Gori, commander Nucleo Carabinieri Tutela Pa-trimonio Culturale Bologna; Piera Bossi, judge for preliminary investigations at the Court of Busto Arsizio; Massimo De Filippo, deputy public prosecutor at the Court of Busto Arsizio; Francesca Tomba, superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the me-tropolitan City of Bologna and the provinces of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Ferrara.

The project has been conceived with a new sustainable exhibition formula with the aim of communicating to the public historical content related to theNeo-Assyrian empire (Mesopotamia, 9th-7th centuries B.C.), through 3D printed digital models, recounting some specificities and challenges of Italian scientific collaboration and cooperation with the Republic of Iraq and the city of Mosul in particular. After the liberation of the metropolis in June 2017 from the occupation by ISIS that had lasted since 2014, the Iraqi-Italian Archaeological Mission was called to make a contribution to the exploration and protection of the eastern sector corresponding to ’ancient Nineveh, the legendary capital of Assyria now severely threatened by urban sprawl, so much so that today more than a third of the site can be said to be all but lost to archaeological exploration.

Between 2019 and 2022, four annual joint campaigns were conducted between the University of Bologna and Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, directed by Nicolò Marchetti, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, as well as the Volkswagen Foundation, with the KALAM project, and the J. M. Kaplan Fund as part of restoration projects and training of local personnel.

36 life-size replicas of Neo-Assyrian seals and cretulae and cuneiform texts from the excavation project in the 750-hectare, 12-km walled mega-site of Nineveh were chosen to tell ancient and modern stories. Among them is a reproduction of the brick of Assyrian King Salmanassar III from the ziggurat of ancient Kalkhu seized by the Carabinieri. It belonged to a monument destroyed in 2016 by ISIS bulldozers, so the return to Iraq of an architectural element of a lost structure is also an important element on a symbolic level.

Also on display are two fragments of Palatine reliefs from the mid-7th century B.C. discovered by the Italian mission in 2022 in the North Palace of Assurbanipal and an additional fragment from the collections of the Archaeological Museum of Venice, almost identical to the other two and also from the acropolis of Nineveh. The exhibition is rounded out by the display in the Archaeology Room, within the museum’s permanent collection, of three sculptures created by contemporary artists of Iraqi origin Bal-din Ahmad, Resmi Al Kafaji and Qassim Alsaedy, who have been living in exile in Europe for more than four decades and have combined their research and common biographical stories in the traveling exhibition project Two Shores.

The exhibition is placed under the High Patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Iraq, under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, Embassy of Iraq in Italy, Embassy of Italy in Iraq and Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

Opening hours: Tuesday, Thursday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Friday 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, holidays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays not holidays Admission Full € 6 | reduced € 4 | reduced special youth between 19 and 25 years € 2 | free Culture Card holders Information Sector Civic Museums Bologna | Musei Civici d’Arte Antica Via Manzoni 4 | 40121 Bologna Tel. +39 051 2193923 museiarteantica@comune.bologna.it www.museibologna.it/arteantica Facebook: Musei Civici d’Arte Antica Instagram: @museiarteanticabologna TiKTok: @museiarteanticabologna Twitter: @MuseiCiviciBolo Settore Musei Civici Bologna www.museibologna.it Instagram: @bolognamusei Twitter: @bolognamusei

An exhibition on Assyrians in Bologna, on the sidelines of the return of a Mesopotamian artifact to Iraq

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