Archaeology
Since the late 19th century various locations on the outskirts of the town were excavated by Hormuzd Rassam. In Balawat (the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil), a number of Assyrian artifacts was excaveted, which are currently displayed in the British Museum and Mosul Museum. There is a lot of interest in the archaeology of Baghdida today. It has many Assyrian archaeological remains, like those of Tell Bashmoni (Beth Shmoni), tell Muqortaya, tell Karamles, tell Mar Bihnam and others. These mounds were fortresses, temples, or buildings that belonged to the Assyrian capital of Nimrud. Throughout 1922, 1927, and 1935, excavators found gold pieces, cylinder seals, and they found an Assyrian statue in a well in the church of Mar Zina, which is displayed in Mosul Museum. In 1942, an Assyrian bathroom and several graves were found near the church of Bashmoni. Furthermore, during the 1980s excavations in the grounds of the Church of Mar Youhanna (Saint John), archaeologists found human remains inside graves in the eastern side and at a depth of one and a half meters. These graves were built with typical Assyrian large sized rectangular shaped bricks.
References to Athur (Assyria) continued in texts from Baghdeda. Mapharian Athanasius Ibrahim II of Tur Abdin visited Tikrit, Baghdad, and Arbil to attend to his congregation. According to Afram Abdal al-Khouri and his book al-Lu'lu' al-Nadheed fi Tareekh Deir Mar Bihnam al-Shaheed (The Layers of Pearls in the History of the Monastery of Martyred Mar Bihnam), 1951, p. 219, Sony writes: "in 1365, the mapharian came to Athur or Mosul and was welcomed by Nour al-Din the Chief of Baghdeda …" (Sony 1998, 699). Lastly but not least, according to Mar Bihnam monastery archives, Sony writes that in 1294–1295, a certain king "came to Lower Athur, the city of Saint Mar Bihnam …" (Sony 1998, 95).
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