Ashur: a first capital across six centuries

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

What the source says

According to UNESCO's World Heritage page "Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat)", the city dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. From the 14th to the 9th centuries BC Ashur was the first capital of the Assyrian Empire, a city-state and "trading platform of international importance", and it also served as the religious capital of the Assyrians and the place for crowning and burial of its kings. According to the page, cuneiform texts show a leading role of Ashur in religion and scholarship, especially during the Middle- and Neo-Assyrian periods. Source 1.

Six centuries, three pages on this site

The range "from the 14th to the 9th centuries BC" spans six centuries and three pages on this site: the 14th and 13th centuries fall in the Late Bronze Age in Mesopotamia (1600-1200 BCE), the 12th to 10th centuries almost entirely in the early Iron Age (1200-911 BCE), and the 9th century in the Neo-Assyrian period (from 911 BCE). The page does not date any shorter phase within the range, and the site does not trim it to fit one period. The article is therefore not placed in the Late Bronze Age or in the early Iron Age: it contains no phase that the source dates within them. Source 1.

Where the range ends

The Met's timeline gives the end of this time a more precise date: in 879 BCE Ashurnasirpal II moved the capital from Ashur to Nimrud, ancient Kalhu. The date agrees with UNESCO's "9th century", and it falls within the Neo-Assyrian empire, which the timeline dates about 911-612 BCE. Together with UNESCO's statement on Ashur's role in religion and scholarship in the Neo-Assyrian period too, this is the phase that the sources date within a single period on this site, and the article is therefore placed in the Neo-Assyrian period. Sources 2, 1.

What remains of the city

The page lists many remains: three ziggurats of mud brick, two double temples and the temple of Ashur, a sequence of royal palaces, the city walls, the Tabira Gate, the temple of Ishtar and private houses, alongside remains it assigns to later periods. It gives no dates for the Assyrian remains, so it does not allow one to say which of them stood during the capital phase and which were built before or after it. It adds that the city was destroyed by the Babylonians, without a date. Source 1.

On this site

Two other articles on this site deal with the city: "The prisms of Tiglath-pileser I: a royal text from Ashur" and "From Ashur to Kanesh: how a transaction leaves a trace". Each is dated by its own sources, so each is placed in its own period rather than in the broad range of this page.

Scope of reading: the World Heritage page for Ashur and the Met timeline page for Mesopotamia, 1000 BCE-1 CE, were read on 24 October 2026. The Ashur excavation reports were not read, so this page gives no dates for the remains, no plan of the city and no names of kings buried there.