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Coordinates: 36.509537° N 43.229315° E

Human-headed winged bull, found during Botta's excavation.

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, which is still today inhabited by Assyrians.

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. 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 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. A temple tower, ziqqurat, was also constructed. The palace was adorned with sculptures and wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked with winged bulls shedu statues.

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. 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.

The town was first discovered by the French consul at Mosul, Paul-Émile Botta in 1843. Botta believed Khorsabad to be the site of biblical Nineveh. 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 site of Khorsabad was excavated 1928-1935 by American archaeologists from the Oriental Institute in Chicago. The primary discoveries from Khorsabad are within the study of Assyrian art and architecture. Few other objects from the short-lived city were discovered.

• G. Loud och C.B. Altman: Khorsabad, University of Chicago Press 1936-38.
• Fuchs, A., Die Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad, Göttingen 1994.

• Khorsabad excavation Oriental Institute Chicago

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