Nimrud

settlement · 1600 BC – 2100 AD

In the ninth century BC, Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883-859 BC) built himself a new administrative center. Kalhu (biblical Calah) — modern Nimrud, a site identified as Larissa, a city mentioned in Xenophon’s Anabasis — became the capital of the Assyrian Empire, replacing Ashur, which had served as Assyria’s capital since the third millennium BC. The city — which is located twenty miles south of the modern Mosul and which occupied a strategic position six miles north of the point where the Tigris River meets the Greater/Upper Zab — served as Assyria’s capital until the reign of Sargon II (r. 721–705 BC). Although Kalhu never again became the primary residence of Assyria’s kings, that city remained a vital administrative, military, and religious center until the fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Nimrud
Coordinates
36.09998, 43.33154
Also known as
Aţlāl Nimrūd, Calah (akk), Calah, Kalach (heb), Kalah, Kalaḫ, Kalakh, Kalach, Calah (akk), Kalchu (pol), Kalhu, Kalḫu, Kalkhu (akk), Kalkhu (fra), Kalḫu (akk), Larisa, Nimrud Īshān, Nimrūd (ar), Nimrūd, Nimrud, Tell Nimrud, Tall Nimrud (arb), Āthār Nimrūd (ara), כָּלַח (heb), نمرود (ar)
Dating
attested

Sources

See Nimrud on the map →

Nimrud — Ancient Maps