DUR-SHARRUKIN
![](dursharrukin.png)
Dur-Sharrukin
shown within Iraq
![](565px-Lammasu.jpg)
A
human-headed winged bull known as a lamassu from Dur-Sharrukin.
Neo-Assyrian Period, ca. 721 - 705 BC
Alternative
name :
Khorsabad
Location
:
Khorsabad, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
Region
:
Mesopotamia
Coordinates
:
36°30'34 N 43°13'46 E
Type
:
Settlement
Length
:
1,760 m (5,770 ft)
Width
:
1,635 m (5,364 ft)
Area
: 2.88 km2 (1.11 sq mi)
History
:
Founded
: In the decade preceding 706 BC
Abandoned
: Approximately 605 BC
Periods
: Neo-Assyrian Empire
Cultures
: Assyrian
Site
notes :
Excavation
dates : 1842–1844, 1852–1855
1928–1935, 1957
Archaeologists
: Paul-Émile Botta, Eugène Flandin,
Victor Place, Edward Chiera, Gordon Loud, Hamilton Darby, Fuad Safar
Condition
: Severely Damaged
Public
access : Inaccessible
Dur-Sharrukin
("Fortress of Sargon"), present day Khorsabad, was the
Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad
is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. The great
city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC. After the
unexpected death of Sargon in battle, the capital was shifted 20
km south to Nineveh.
History
:
![](625px-Human_headed_winged_bull_profile.jpg)
Lamassu
found during Botta's excavation, now in the Louvre Museum
![](640px-Villes_assyriennes.png)
Mesopotamia
in the Neo-Assyrian period (place names in French)
Sargon II ruled from 722 to 705 BC. The demands for timber and other
materials and craftsmen, who came from as far as coastal Phoenicia,
are documented in contemporary Assyrian letters. 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 great city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC,
when the court moved to Dur-Sharrukin, although it was not completely
finished yet. Sargon was killed during a battle in 705. After his
unexpected death his son and successor Sennacherib abandoned the
project, and relocated the capital with its administration to the
city of Nineveh, 20 km south. The city was never completed and it
was finally abandoned a century later when the Assyrian empire fell.
Destruction
by ISIL :
On 8 March 2015 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant reportedly
started the plunder and demolition of Dur-Sharrukin, according to
the Kurdish official from Mosul Saeed Mamuzini. The Iraqi Tourism
and Antiquities Ministry launched the related investigation on the
same day. Most of the damage was in actuality done by Kurdish Peshmerga
forces who militarized the site whilst fighting against ISIL. Only
one looting tunnel has been found.
Description
:
![](561px-Plan_of_Palace_of_Sargon_Khosrabad_Reconstruction_1905.jpg)
Plan
of Palace of Sargon Khorsabad Reconstruction 1905
![](640px-Reconstructed_Model_of_Palace_of_Sargon_at_Khosrabad_1905.jpg)
Reconstructed
Model of Palace of Sargon at Khorsabad 1905
The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1758.6 by 1635 metres.
The enclosed area comprised 3 square kilometres, or 288 hectares.
The length of the walls was 16280 Assyrian units, which according
to Sargon himself corresponded to the numerical value of his 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. A temple tower, ziggurat, was also constructed.
The palace complex was situated on the northern wall of the city.
At the entrance of the palace were a ramp and a large doorway with
the god-protector of the city Lamassu on one side. The palace was
adorned with sculptures and wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked
with winged-bull shedu statues weighing up to 40 tons. Sargon supposedly
lost at least one of these winged bulls in the river.
In
the south-west corner of the city was located a secondary citadel,
used as a control point against internal riots and foreign invasions.
In addition to the great city, there was a royal hunting park and
a garden that included "all the aromatic plants of Hatti and
the fruit-trees of every mountain", a "record of power
and conquest", as Robin Lane Fox has observed. Surviving correspondence
mentions the moving of thousands of young fruit trees, quinces,
almonds, apples and medlars.
"On
the central canal of Sargon's garden stood a pillared pleasure-pavilion
which looked up to a great topographic creation: a man-made Garden
Mound. This Mound was planted with cedars and cypresses and was
modelled after a foreign landscape, the Amanus mountains in north
Syria, which had so amazed the Assyrian kings. In their flat palace-gardens
they built a replica of what they had encountered."
Archaeology
:
Dur-Sharrukin is roughly a square with a border marked by a city
wall 24 meters thick with a stone foundation pierced by seven massive
gates. A mound in the north-east section marks the location of the
palace of Sargon II. At the time of its construction, the village
on the site was named Maganuba.
Early
Excavations :
While Dur-Sharrukin was abandoned in antiquity and thus did not
attract the same level of attention as other ancient Assyrian sites,
there was some awareness of the origins of the mound well before
European excavation. For instance, the medieval Arab geographer
Yaqut Al-Hamawi recorded that the site was called Saraoun or Saraghoun,
which demonstrates the original Assyrian name was not completely
forgotten before the city's rediscovery. He also reported that shortly
after the early Muslim conquests, “considerable treasures
were found amongst the ruins,” though the extent of these
early excavations are unknown. It was during the medieval period
as well when the village of Khorsabad was founded on the top of
the mound. Once the European presence in northern Iraq became more
substantial in the mid-nineteenth century, archaeological exploration
of the site of Dur-Sharrukin was neglected in favor of seemingly
more promising sites such as Nineveh or Nimrud. This situation changed
in April 1843, when the French Consul General at Mosul, Paul-Émile
Botta, who had been excavating at Kuyunjik (the contemporary village
atop the mound of Nineveh) without success, was approached by a
resident of the village of Khorsabad. The English archaeologist
Austen Henry Layard recorded the event as follows:
“The
small party employed by M. Botta were at work on Kouyunjik, when
a peasant from a distant village chanced to visit the spot. Seeing
that every fragment of brick and alabaster uncovered by the workmen
was carefully preserved, he asked the reason of this, to him, strange
proceeding. On being informed that they were in search of sculptured
stones, he advised them to try the mound on which his village was
built, and in which, he declared, many such things as they wanted
had been exposed on digging for the foundations of new houses. M.
Botta, having been frequently deceived by similar stories, was not
at first inclined to follow the peasant’s advice, but subsequently
sent an agent and one or two workmen to the place. After a little
opposition from the inhabitants, they were permitted to sink a well
in the mound; and at a small distance from the surface they came
to the top of a wall which, on digging deeper, they found to be
built of sculptured slabs of gypsum. M. Botta, on receiving information
of this discovery, went at once to the village, which was called
Khorsabad. He directed a wider trench to be formed, and to be carried
in the direction of the wall. He soon found that he had entered
a chamber, connected with others, and surrounded by slabs of gypsum
covered with sculptured representations of battles, sieges, and
similar events. His wonder may easily be imagined. A new history
had been suddenly opened to him-the records of an unknown people
were before him.”
The
interplay between local mediators and European archaeologists in
Layard’s account effectively captures the necessary cooperation
which enabled these early discoveries. With this initial excavation,
the archaeological investigation of ancient Mesopotamia began in
earnest. Unlike Kuyunjik, the Assyrian ruins at Khorsabad were much
closer to the surface of the mound, and therefore it was not long
before Botta and his team reached the ancient palace, leading to
the discovery of numerous reliefs and sculptures. Unfortunately,
this excitement was somewhat dulled by the destruction of many of
these early discoveries due to sudden exposure to the outside environment.
Botta’s consular duties also took up a majority of his time,
preventing him from organizing systematic excavations of the site,
and local Ottoman authorities grew suspicious of the true intentions
behind the excavations, which at this time were technically illegal,
as Botta had yet to receive official permission from Constantinople
for his work, a common situation with early European excavations.
These difficulties caused formal excavations to cease by October
1843. Still, Botta’s initial reports back to France sparked
considerable scholarly interest in the project, and eventually he
received more funding and an artist, Eugène Flandin, from
France. By spring of 1844 then, Botta resumed further excavations
of the site, which required him to purchase the village of Khorsabad
itself and resettle it at the foot of the mound. However, this new
site was in swampy terrain, and malaria and other diseases were
a constant threat to the residents and workers. The extensive finds
convinced Botta that he had uncovered the true site of Nineveh,
though this would be subsequently refuted by excavations at Kuyunjik
by Layard and others. By October of that year, Botta had uncovered
enough of the palace to cease further excavations and attempt to
deliver some of the findings to France, which required an extensive
operation of carts to transport the reliefs and sculptures to Mosul,
which were then transported by raft and ship to Basra on the Persian
Gulf and then to Paris, where they arrived in 1847. These were the
first major Assyrian finds to arrive in Europe, and they fuelled
a growing fascination with the ancient civilization which would
lead to further excavations.
The
Qurnah Disaster :
![](Place_V_1867_III_Plate_43_6.jpg)
Convoy
of rafts (Keleks) floating down the Tigris river loaded with antiquities
in 1855 (V Place 1867)
By 1852, excavations of the site had been resumed by the new French
consul, Victor Place, and in 1855 another shipment of antiquities
was ready to be sent back to Paris. A cargo ship and four rafts
were prepared to carry the artifacts, but even this substantial
effort was over-whelmed by the sheer number of items to be transported.
Additionally, shortly after the convoy reached Baghdad, Place was
summoned to his new consular post in Moldavia due to the ongoing
Crimean War, and had to leave the shipment in the hands of a French
schoolteacher, M. Clement to finalise its return to Paris.
More
antiquities from Rawlinson's expedition to Kuyunjik and Fresnel's
to Babylon were also added to the shipment. The troubles began once
the convoy left Baghdad in May 1855, as the banks of the river Tigris
were controlled by local sheikhs who were hostile to the Ottoman
authorities and frequently raided shipping sailing by. During the
journey, the convoy was boarded several times, forcing the crew
to relinquish most of their money and supplies in order to be allowed
further passage on the river.
Once
the convoy reached Al-Qurnah (Kurnah) it was assaulted by local
pirates led by Sheikh Abu Saad, whose actions sank the main cargo
ship and forced the four rafts aground shortly afterwards. The entire
shipment was almost completely lost with only 28 of over 200 crates
eventually making it to the Louvre in Paris. Subsequent efforts
to recover the lost antiquities, including a Japanese expedition
in 1971-2, have largely been unsuccessful.
20th
Century Excavations :
The site of Khorsabad was excavated between 1928–1935 by American
archaeologists from the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Work in the
first season was led by Edward Chiera and concentrated on the palace
area. A colossal bull estimated to weigh 40 tons was uncovered outside
the throne room. It was found split into three large fragments.
The torso alone weighed about 20 tons. This was shipped to Chicago.
The preparation and shipment of the bull back to the Oriental Institute
was incredibly arduous. The remaining seasons were led by Gordon
Loud and Hamilton Darby. Their work examined one of the city gates,
continued work at the palace, and excavated extensively at the palace's
temple complex. Since Dur-Sharrukin was a single-period site that
was evacuated in an orderly manner after the death of Sargon II,
few individual objects were found. The primary discoveries from
Khorsabad shed light on Assyrian art and architecture.
In
1957, archaeologists from the Iraqi Department Antiquities, led
by Fuad Safar excavated at the site, uncovering the temple of Sibitti.
Gallery
:
![](472px-Victor_Place_Khorsabad.jpg)
Plan
of Dur-Sharrukin, 1867
![](640px-Eastern_Antiquities_in_the_Louvre_-_Room_4,_05.jpg)
The
Timber Transportation relief at the Louvre
![](316px-S03_06_01_017_image_2340.jpg)
Khorsabad
brick, Assyria. Babylonian; Louvre Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear
Archival Collection
![](569px-Palace_of_Khorsabad.png)
Palace
of Dur-Sharrukin
![](640px-Sargon_II_foundation_cylinder.jpg)
Dur-Sharrukin
foundation cylinder
![](640px-Sargon_II_(left)_faces_a_high-ranking_official,_possibly_Sennacherib_his_son_and_crown_prince._710-705_BCE._From_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_British_Museum,_L.jpg)
Sargon
II (left) faces a high-ranking official, possibly Sennacherib his
son and crown prince. 710-705 BCE. From Khorsabad, Iraq. The British
Museum, London
![](640px-Part_of_a_door-sill_from_Khorsabad,_describing_the_construction_of_Sargon_II%27s_palace,_the_British_Museum.jpg)
Part
of a door-sill from Khorsabad, describing the construction of Sargon
II's palace, the British Museum
![](640px-Tributary_scene_from_the_Royal_Palace_at_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Tributary
scene from the Royal Palace at Khorsabad, Iraq. The Iraq Museum
![](445px-Assyrian_attendants_carrying_the_throne_of_Sargon_II,_part_of_a_tributary_scene_from_Khorsabad,_Iraq._Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Assyrian
attendants carrying the throne of Sargon II, part of a tributary
scene from Khorsabad, Iraq. Iraq Museum
![](640px-Sargon_II_in_his_royal_chariot,_tramping_a_dead_or_dying_enemy,_part_of_a_war_scene_from_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Sargon
II in his royal chariot, tramping a dead or dying enemy, part of
a war scene from Khorsabad, Iraq. The Iraq Museum
![](550px-Assyrian_human-headed_protective_spirit_from_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Assyrian
human-headed protective spirit from Khorsabad, Iraq. The Iraq Museum
![](605px-A_horse_and_an_Assyrian_groom,_from_Khorsabad,_Iraq._Iraq_Museum.jpg)
A
horse and an Assyrian groom, from Khorsabad, Iraq. Iraq Museum
![](640px-Assyrian_archers_attacking_a_city._From_Khorsabad,_Iraq._The_Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Assyrian
archers attacking a city. From Khorsabad, Iraq. The Iraq Museum
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Dur-Sharrukin