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This article presents the preliminary results of the joint Kurdish-Italian Faida Archaeological Project (KIFAP) conducted by the Duhok Directorate of Antiquities and the University of Udine at the Assyrian Faida canal and rock art complex in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Investigation of this extraordinary and seriously endangered archaeological site was launched in 2019 and has led to the exploration of an 8.6 km-long irrigation canal cut into the limestone bedrock of the Chiya Daka hill range in the outskirts of the village of Faida, south of Duhok. Ten monumental sculpted rock panels carved along the canal's eastern bank were brought to light, representing an Assyrian ruler depicted at both ends of each panel, framing the cult statues of seven deities standing on pedestals shaped like striding animals. This article discusses the canal's role in the wider context of the Northern Assyrian Irrigation System and the function of the Assyrian hydraulic networks as economic infrastructures with transformative effects on the landscape and staple food production of the empire's core. The Faida bas-reliefs are examined from an archaeological and art historical perspective, and hypotheses are proposed about their religious and ideological meaning, as well as their dating and the identity of the king or kings who commissioned them.

This paper presents a preliminary report on the first two seasons of work by The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project (LoNAP) of Udine University that aims to understand the formation and transformation of the cultural and natural landscape of northern Mesopotamia, (embracing large parts of the governorates of Ninawa and Dohuk) from the Palaeolithic to the Islamic period. Its purpose is to comprehend patterns of settlement, land use and management, based on a regional archaeological surface survey and excavation. These objectives are closely tied to the geoarcheological and bioarchaeological reconstruction of the ancient natural environment and its evolution as a result of global climatic fluctuations and human impact.