Assur
Location: Saladin Governorate, Iraq
Founded: Approximately 2500 BC
Periods: Early Bronze Age to ?
Abandoned: 14th century AD
Assur also known as Ashur was the capital of the Old Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyrian
Empire and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The remains of the city lie on the
western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, Assur began as a
small trading center built on the site of an earlier community founded by Sargon of Akkad
but flourished through trade with Anatolia and with other regions of Mesopotamia to
become the capital of Assyria by the time of the reign of the Assyrian king Shamashi Adad I
The ancient city of Ashur is located on the Tigris River in northern Mesopotamia in a specific
geo-ecological zone, at the borderline between rain-fed and irrigation agriculture. The city
dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. From the 14th to the 9th centuries BC it was the first
capital of the Assyrian Empire, a city-state and trading platform of international importance.
It also served as the religious capital of the Assyrians, associated with the god Ashur. The
city was destroyed by the Babylonians, but revived during the Parthian period in the 1st and
2nd centuries AD.
The site was originally occupied about 2500 BCE by a tribe that probably had reached the
Tigris River either from Syria or from the south. Strategically, Ashur was smaller and less
well-situated than Nimrūd (Kalakh) or Nineveh,
The city was an important center of trade, as it lay squarely on a caravan trade route that
ran through Mesopotamia to Anatolia and down through the Levant.
Ashur was founded by a man named Ashur son of Shem, son of Noah, after the Great Flood,
who then went on to found the other important Assyrian cities. A more likely account is that
the city was named Ashur after the deity of that name sometime in the 3rd millennium BCE;
the same god's name is the origin for Assyria.
Planning –
The layouts or Ashur at that time differed so clearly, that no urbanisticconnection is visible
at first sight : on the one hand a relatively small town on top of a rock with all the
important buildings crowded together near the peri phery; on the other hand the spacious
metro· polis with its vast dwelling areas and huge palaces on top of high citadels.
In contrast to the standard Babylonian town structure with the temple area. in the city
centre, all public buildings of Ashur were situated in a chain along the northern edge of the
town, close to the steep slope of the rock.
The most prominent position at the peak of the spur was occupied by the temple and
ziggurat of the main deity, the mountain god Ashur. who gave his name to "his" town (van
Oriel 1969; Maul 1997). Adjacent to these buildings was the old palace of the Icing, who was
also the main priest of the god. The palace was adjacent to other important temples, for
instance the temples of Anu and Adad,of Sin and Sama! and of [Link] whole area of
public buildings was bordered by quarters of private dwellings to the south. There was no
fortification wall between the public and private areas.
Due to the geomorphological situation the whole town was built in the form of a triangle.
The inner city was protected by encircling walls nearly 2.5 miles (4 km) long. On the eastern
side Ashur was washed by the Tigris, along which massive quays were first erected by Adad-
nirari I (reigned c. 1295–c. 1264). On the north side an arm of the river and a high
escarpment afforded natural defenses, which were augmented by a system of buttressed
walls and by a powerful sally port called the mushlalu—a semicircular tower of rusticated
stone masonry, built by Sennacherib and probably the earliest known example of this type
of architecture. The southern and western sides were protected by a strong fortification
system.
A catalog of Ashur’s buildings inscribed during the reign of Sennacherib (704–681) lists 34
temples, although fewer than one-third of them have been found, including those of Ashur-
Enlil, Anu-Adad, Sin-Shamash, and Ishtar and Nabu. Historically the most interesting temples
are those devoted to the cult of the goddess Ishtar, or Inanna, as she was known to the
Sumerians.
In addition to the temples, three palaces were identified. The oldest of these was ascribed
to Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1813–c. 1781) and was later used as a burial ground. Many of the
private houses found in the northwestern quarter of the site were spaciously laid out and
had family vaults beneath their floors, where dozens of archives and libraries were
uncovered in the course of the German excavations. The irregular planning of the town
indicates a strict respect for property rights and land tenure. Other aspects of Assyrian law,
particularly those relating to women, are known from a series of tablets compiled between
1450 and 1250.
Temple n ziggurat
The temple likely dates to the original settlement of the site when the people of Ashur
established their nation under the patronage of the city's god. ... In this era, the Great Royal
Palace was built, and the temple of Assur was expanded and enlarged with a ziggurat.
As for the religious architecture, the presence of three ziggurats erected of mud bricks and
two double temples should be mentioned as well the temple of the national god Ashur. Of
them, the impressive ziggurat of the god Ashur is still standing today and is a visible
landmark Temples
Little is known of the construction of Assyrian temples with the exception of the distinctive
ziggurats and massive remains at Mugheir. Ziggurats to be built with two towers (as
opposed to the single central tower of previous styles) and decorated with colored
enameled tiles. Contemporaneous inscriptions and reliefs describe and depict structures
with octagonal and circular domes, unique architectural systems for the time. Little remains
of the temple at Mugheir, but the ruins of its base remain quite impressive, measuring 198
feet (60 m) long by 133 feet (41 m) wide by 70 feet (21 m) high.
Materials- Architectural materials in the Assyrian empire were quite diverse, consisting of a
variety of woods, stones, and metals.
Religion -Ancient Mesopotamian religion
