Ziggurat of Nineveh — ziggurat
Nineveh · Mosul, Iraq · Neo-Assyrian period: the main works of Sennacherib c. 705–681 BCE; continued under Ashurbanipal c. 669–631 BCE
In the vast capital of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal the temple towers formed part of the Ishtar and Nabu complexes. The mounds can still be traced on the ground; little of the superstructure has survived.
Dossier
- Type: Assyrian
- Ancient city: Nineveh
- Modern location: Mosul, Iraq
- Deity: Ishtar / Nabu
- Dating: Neo-Assyrian period: the main works of Sennacherib c. 705–681 BCE; continued under Ashurbanipal c. 669–631 BCE
- Builders: Sennacherib (705–681 BCE) and Ashurbanipal (c. 669–631/627 BCE), the Neo-Assyrian Empire
- Material: Mud brick faced with baked brick — a standard Assyrian technique; not reliably confirmed by excavation for the ziggurat of Nineveh
- Plan: The exact shape of the base has not been exposed: the ziggurat stood in the complex of the Temple of Ishtar (Emashmash) on the mound of Kuyunjik, with the temple of the god Nabu nearby; the above-ground part is lost
What matters
The above-ground part of the ziggurats of Nineveh has not survived, so their dimensions are unknown. The towers formed part of the cult complexes of the goddess Ishtar and the god Nabu on the mound of Kuyunjik; under Sennacherib Nineveh became the last capital of Assyria, and under Ashurbanipal its sanctuaries and palaces were extended. Today the remains lie beneath the mounds of Kuyunjik (c. 800×500 m, up to c. 20 m above the plain) and Nebi Yunus, partly covered by the built-up area of Mosul.