Nimrud

   The Arabic and more commonly used name for the ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu, located about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Mosul, Iraq. Although the site of Nimrud was occupied earlier, the first substantial city was erected there by the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser I (reigned ca. 1274-1245 b.c.). Later, King Ashurna-sirpal II (ca. 883-859 b.c.) made it his capital. Inscriptions found in the ruins claim that he celebrated its inauguration with a party attended by almost seventy thousand guests. Eventually Nimrud covered some 16 square miles (41 sq. km), had a defensive wall 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long, and supported a population of a hundred thousand or more, making it a very large city for its time. It remained the Assyrian capital until King Sargon II moved it to Dur-Sharukkin about 150 years later. Nimrud remained important, however, because it contained several palaces as well as the tombs of many Assyrian queens. It was destroyed circa 612 b.c. by the Medes and the Babylonians during their conquest and destruction of Assyria.

   Nimrud was first explored by pioneering Assyriologist Austen Henry Layard between 1845 and 1851. (Initially, he mistakenly thought it was the site of Nineveh.) A later British expedition excavated at Nimrud from 1949 to 1962 under the direction of Max E.L. Mallowan and David Oates; more recent work has been done by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities. Overall, the digs have yielded priceless treasures: the remains of the palaces of Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser III, and Tiglathpileser III; the tombs of several Assyrian queens; temples of the gods Ninurta and Nabu; a ziggurat; and archives containing royal correspondence and administrative records.

   See also: Assyrian Empire; Dur-Sharukkin; Layard, Austen Henry