Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Sargon II ( Akkadian Šarru-kinu "legitimate king" reigned 722 – 705 BC was an Assyrian king Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul, which is still today inhabited by Assyrians. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. For the village in Azerbaijan see Mosul Azerbaijan. Mosul (الموصل Al Mūṣul, Kurdish: Mosul/Ninawa, Musul The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria.
In 713 BC, Sargon ordered the construction of a new palace and town 20 km north of Niniveh at the foot of the Gebel Musri. Events and trends Judah, Tyre and Sidon revolt against Assyria. Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) Land was bought, and the debts of construction workers were nullified in order to attract a sufficient labour force. The land in the environs of the town was taken under cultivation, and olive groves were planted to increase Assyria's deficient oil-production. The Olive ( Olea europaea) is a Species of small Tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern
The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1760 * 1635 m. The enclosed area comprised 3 square kilometres, or 700 acres. The length of the walls was 16280 Assyrian units, which corresponded to the numerical value of Sargon's name. The city walls were massive and 157 towers protected its sides. Seven gates entered the city from all directions. A walled terrace contained temples and the royal palace. The main temples were dedicated to the gods Nabu, Shamash and Sin, while Adad, Ningal and Ninurta had smaller shrines. Nabu is the Babylonian god of Wisdom and Writing, worshipped by Babylonians as the son of Marduk and his consort Sarpanitum, For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. This article is about the Sumerian god Adad also known as Ishkur. Ningal ("Great Lady" in Sumerian mythology was a goddess of reeds daughter of Enki and Ningikurga and the consort of the moon god Nanna Ninurta ( Nin Ur: Lord of the Earth/Plough in Sumerian and Akkadian mythology was the god of Nippur, identified with Ningirsu A temple tower, ziqqurat, was also constructed. A ziggurat ( Akkadian ziqqurrat, D-stem of zaqāru "to build on a raised area" was a Temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian The palace was adorned with sculptures and wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked with winged bulls shedu statues. The Sumerian word lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity
The court moved to Dur-Sharrukin in 706 BC, although it was not completely finished yet. Sargon was killed during a battle in 705 BC. His son and successor Sennacherib abandoned the project, and relocated the capital with its administration to the city of Nineveh. Sennacherib ( Akkadian Sîn-ahhe-eriba "(moon god Sîn has replaced (lost brothers for me" was the son of Sargon II, whom he Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) The city was never completed and was finally abandoned a century later when the Assyrian empire fell.
Reconstruction drawing of the imperial complex at Khorsabad.
Discovery
The town was first discovered by the French consul at Mosul, Paul-Émile Botta in 1843. For the village in Azerbaijan see Mosul Azerbaijan. Mosul (الموصل Al Mūṣul, Kurdish: Mosul/Ninawa, Musul Paul-Émile Botta ( December 6, 1802 – March 29, 1870) was French Consul in Mosul (then in the Ottoman Empire, now in Botta believed Khorsabad to be the site of biblical Nineveh. Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) The site was excavated in 1842-44 as well as in 1852-55, and artifacts from these excavations were brought to the Louvre in Paris after the discovery. The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The site of Khorsabad was excavated 1928-1935 by American archaeologists from the Oriental Institute in Chicago. The Oriental Institute ( OI) established in 1919, is the University of Chicago 's Archeology Museum and research center for ancient Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The primary discoveries from Khorsabad are within the study of Assyrian art and architecture. Few other objects from the short-lived city were discovered.
Bibliography
- G. Loud och C. B. Altman: Khorsabad, University of Chicago Press 1936-38.
- Fuchs, A. , Die Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad, Göttingen 1994.
External links
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