A dig in northern Iraq has unearthed a 2,700-year-old alabaster sculpture of the winged Assyrian deity Lamassu, which was found largely intact despite its large dimensions.
Only the head was missing, which was already in the collection of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad after being confiscated by customs officers from smugglers in the 1990s.
The sculpture escaped destruction by Islamic State jihadists which overran the area in 2014, thanks to the city’s residents who hid it before fleeing to government-held areas.