Nimrud

Nimrud, ancient Kalhu, was made the Assyrian capital by Ashurnasirpal II in the ninth century BC, and his Northwest Palace was lined with carved gypsum reliefs showing hunts, campaigns and ritual, with colossal winged bulls, the lamassu, guarding the doorways. Excavation here produced some of the most celebrated Assyrian material anywhere, including the Nimrud ivories and, in 1988, the intact tombs of Assyrian queens with several kilograms of gold jewellery. The site was extensively destroyed in 2015, with the ziggurat bulldozed and reliefs broken; since then teams have been documenting fragments, stabilising what remains and beginning reassembly, and the work continues. Visiting means seeing both what survives and the scale of what was lost.

History

Nimrud began as a trading settlement under Shalmaneser I, who reigned from 1274 to 1245 BCE, on the road between Ashur and Nineveh, and by 800 BCE, after Ashurnasirpal II made it his capital, it had about 75,000 people, the most populous city in the world at the time. The name Nimrud was recorded as the local one by Carsten Niebuhr in the mid-18th century (Wikipedia, Nimrud).

What's there

• The Northwest Palace - surviving relief slabs and doorway fragments.
• Lamassu fragments - the broken remains of the winged guardian bulls.
• The ziggurat mound - the flattened remains of the stepped tower.
• Recovery work - documentation and reassembly under way on site.

When to go

October to April; the mound is exposed and summer is severe. Access depends on the state of the site works and on permissions, which must be arranged locally rather than assumed.

Before you go

The destruction of 2015 removed a great deal and the site today is fragmentary. Areas are closed for clearance and conservation. There are no facilities. The best-preserved Nimrud reliefs are in museums abroad and in Baghdad.

Nearby

Mosul lies northwest; Ashur is south.

Key facts