Central Palace at Kalhu

palace · 1000 BC – 2099 AD

The eighth-century-BC Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III (r. 744–727 BC) built himself a grand, ornately-decorated royal residence at Kalhu (biblical Calah, modern Nimrud). This (large) palatial complex, which included a pillared-portico (a bīt-ḫilāni), was constructed south of the Northwest Palace (built by Ashurnasirpal II [r. 883–859 BC]). The “Cedar Palace” (as it is referred to in at least one contemporary Akkadian inscription) was largely dismantled by the seventh-century-BC ruler Esarhaddon (r. 680–669 BC), who had its (sculpted and inscribed) limestone slabs reused in his own royal residence (the Southwest Palace). The building is now generally referred to as the “Central Palace,” a modern designation given to it by its excavators since the palace was constructed in the central part of the Kalhu citadel.

Coordinates
36.09794, 43.32831
Also known as
Central Palace (en), ēkal erēni (akk)
Dating
attested

Sources

See Central Palace at Kalhu on the map →