At the recent annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), scholars presented research demonstrating that Sargon II’s capital city of Dur-Sharrukin was larger and more complete than previously thought. Dur-Sharrukin, located at modern Khorsabad in northern Iraq, was excavated in the 1800’s and 1900’s. Impressive remains were discovered in Sargon’s palace, but little was found elsewhere at the site, leading archaeologists to conclude that, apart from the palace complex, the construction of Dur-Sharrukin was never completed. Upon Sargon’s death, his son Sennacherib moved the Assyrian capital city to Nineveh. Recently, a team from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, the Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University, and the University of Strasbourg used a high-resolution magnetometer to map parts of the site, providing X-ray-like images of the structures underground. Their work revealed the city’s water gate, the palace gardens, city walls, and five large buildings, including a 127-room villa that is twice the size of the U.S. White House. The authors of the study conclude that Dur-Sharrukin was far more complete than previously thought and was, at least for a period of time, an active city.
Source: https://news.agu.org/press-release/abandoned-assyrian-capital-revealed/
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