Dur-Sharrukin

settlement · 750 BC – 2100 AD

Dūr-Šarrukīn (“Fort Sargon”), modern Khorsabad, became the capital of the Assyrian Empire during the reign of the eighth-century-BC ruler Sargon II (r. 721–705 BC). According to the Assyrian Eponym Chronicle, the foundations of the city were laid in 717 BC and the city itself was completed in early 706 BC, one year before Sargon was killed on the battlefield. Sargon’s newly-constructed, rectangular-shaped capital, which he modelled on the general plan on Babylon, was abandoned upon his death in 705 BC; his son and successor Sennacherib (r. 704–681 BC) made Nineveh Assyria’s principal administrative center.

Dur-Sharrukin
Coordinates
36.50662, 43.23141
Also known as
Dur-Sharrukin, Dūr-Šarrukīn, Dur-Sharrukin (akk), Horsābād, Horsabad (ku), Khorsabad (de), Khūrsabāṭ (ar), خورسباط (ar), دور شروكين‎ (ar), ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ (syr), Ḫorsābād, Khorsabad (ku)
Dating
attested

Sources

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