Assur

For other uses, see Assur (disambiguation)

The city of Aššur (also Ashshur, Ashur, Assur, Asur), located on the bank of the Tigris, was originally a Babylonian colony and later became the first capital of Assyria (until 879 BC), the state to which it gave its name. The first testimonies of its existence date from the third millennium BC. C. It was taken by the Medes in 614 BC. C., being completely destroyed.

Its ruins are currently in al-Charquāṭ (Iraq). Unesco declared Aššur a World Heritage Site in 2003 and included it on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

History

Aššur in the 3rd millennium BC. C

Archaeological excavations have shown that the site was occupied, during the Sumerian period, before the rise of the Assyrian Empire. The oldest remains of the city were discovered in the foundations of the Ishtar temple and in the Old Palace. During the Akkadian Empire, the city was ruled by native Acadian kings. During the so-called Sumerian Renaissance, the government of the city was carried out by a Sumerian governor.

Aššur in the early and middle Assyrian Empire

American soldiers in the ruins of Aššur.

After the collapse of the Ur Empire, the cities of Upper Mesopotamia began to gain great independence, one of them being Assur, which became a small kingdom. Puzur-Assur I was recognized as king and founded a new dynasty, around the year 2000. Illushuma was his second successor who made an expedition to Lower Mesopotamia taking advantage of its chaos. At the same time that Assur was growing, other cities were also growing, standing out as powers such as Mari, Eshnunna and Simash.

At the time the Neo-Sumerian dynasty of Ur-III was destroyed by the Elamites, in 2004 B.C. C., the local princes, including those of Aššur, had thrown off the foreign yoke. Aššur quickly became an important trading center, and trade routes linked the city with Anatolia, where Aššur merchants established trading colonies. These colonies were called kârum, and they traded mainly in wool and tin (see Kültepe). In the city of Aššur the first great temples were erected, dedicated to the local god Aššur and Adad. Also the first fortifications were started in this period.

Aššur was the capital of the kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781 BC), who extended the power and influence of the city beyond the Tigris valley. At this time the Great Royal Palace was built, and the temple of Aššur was enlarged and a ziggurat was added. This kingdom came to an end when the Babylonian king Hammurabi annexed it to his domain, after the death of Shamshi-Adad. Construction activity is known to have resumed a few centuries later, during the rule of the indigenous king Puzur-Aššur III, who refortified the city and incorporated the southern quarters into the main defences. In the XV century B.C. C. two separate temples were erected to the moon goddess Sin (Nanna) and to the sun god or Šamaš (Shamash). Subsequently, the city was subjugated by the kingdom of Mitanni.

Assyria regained its independence in the 14th century BCE. C., and in the following centuries the ancient temples and palaces of Aššur were restored. Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BC) began the construction of a new temple, dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. The temple of Anu-Adad was built during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1075 BC). The walled area of the city grew in the Middle Assyrian Empire to cover an area of 120 hectares.

Aššur in the Neo-Assyrian period and later

During the Neo-Assyrian period (912-612 BC), the royal residence moved to other cities in Assyria. Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) moved the capital from Aššur to Kalhu (Nimrud). The city of Aššur, however, continued to be the religious center of the empire, thanks to its temple dedicated to the national god, Aššur. During the reign of Sennacherib (705-682 BC), the New Year's House, akitu, was built, and various festivities were celebrated in the city. Several Assyrian monarchs were entombed under the Old Palace. The end of Aššur's glory days came in 614 BCE. C., when the city was sacked and destroyed during the conquest of Assyria by the Medes.

Centuries later, the city was reoccupied, during Parthian times. New administrative buildings were erected in the north of the city, and a new palace in the south. However, the city was once again destroyed by the Sasanian king Shapur I (241-272). Settlements in the city are known from the 12th and 13th centuries, but after that it was only inhabited by nomadic Bedouins. Modern Assyrians continue to revere the site.

The royal palaces

Main cities of the ancient Mesopotamia.

The oldest important monument in Aššur is the «Old Palace», which was already standing in the time of Samsi-Addu, in the century XVIII a. C., and which was later rebuilt by Arad-Nirari I and Aššurnasirpal II. It has an area of 1.2 hectares and is organized around central patios.

The "New Palace" was later erected to the northwest of the citadel by Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1207 BC), and later restored by Sennacherib. The tombs of numerous Assyrian kings have been found in this building: Aššur-bel-kala I (1074-1056), Aššurnasirpal II (883-859), Shamshi-Adad V (824-811), and perhaps also that of Sennacherib himself. (705-681). When the latter reorganized the city, he ordered the construction, further south, of a secondary palace for one of his sons. The private houses of important nobles of the city have also been found, as well as tombs of wealthy individuals.