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SITE ID - NAME :	A5	Assur
ANCIENT NAME :	Assur
OTHER NAME :	Ashur, Qal' at Shergat, Qal' at Sherqat
LOCATION :	North Iraq, Mosul
CHRONOLOGY :	Neolithic; Chalcolithic; Protoliterate; Early Historic; Late Historic
PERIOD CODE :	4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
DESCRIPTION :	Ancient centre of Assyria near the Tigris river, marked by both public and residential architecture. Much of the public architecture was built under the reign of Shamsi-Adad I (1813-1781 BC), including the ziggurat (= temple tower) of Enlil, the temple of Assur, and the city walls. Later Middle and Neo-Assyrian kings added to these buildings, providing the city with three ziggurats and at least 38 temples (e.g. the temple of Ishtar) within the 140 ha contained by the city walls. Besides religious architecture the city contained at least two palaces. The 'new palace' was constructed by Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 BC). In the ninth century the 'old palace' became a mausoleum, with sarcophagi of the kings Assurnasirpal II, and Shamsi-Adad V. Many clay tablets have been recovered from official buildings and private houses.
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