Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad): Sargon II's new capital

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

What the source says

On the Met's timeline page for Mesopotamia, 1000 BCE-1 CE, the event of about 722/721-705 BCE says that Sargon II began his reign with the deportation of the population of Samaria, and that his new capital at Khorsabad, ancient Dur Sharrukin, was decorated in a manner similar to Nimrud and took seven years to build. The same event says that the use of an alphabetic script, in which Aramaic was written on leather or papyrus, spread through the Assyrian empire. Source 1.

Why a new capital

The source does not explain why Sargon built a new capital, nor does it say what Nimrud's status was in his time. It offers only a comparison: the new capital's decoration resembles Nimrud's. Any answer to the question "why" would need another source, such as Sargon's own inscriptions or the Khorsabad excavation reports, which were not read. The seven years of building are not dated within his reign either: the page does not say when they began or ended. Source 1.

A capital for a short time

The next event on the page, of about 704-681 BCE, says that Sargon II was killed while campaigning in Anatolia, and that his son and successor Sennacherib rebuilt the ancient site of Nineveh as his new capital. Taken together, the two events mean that the capital Sargon built did not remain the capital under his son, who chose Nineveh. The page gives no year for the move and does not say what became of Khorsabad. Source 1.

Writing on other materials

The sentence on the alphabetic script distinguishes between script and material: Aramaic written on leather or papyrus, not on clay tablets. The page does not say how much of this writing survives and gives no example, so there is no object here to point to. On this site, the article on the palace of Ashurnasirpal II describes the decoration of one building at Nimrud, the city with which the source compares the new capital. Source 1.

Scope of reading: the Met timeline page for Mesopotamia, 1000 BCE-1 CE, was read on 24 October 2026. The Khorsabad excavation reports and Sargon's inscriptions were not read, so this page gives no plan of the city, no finds and no reasons for its building. The article is placed in the Neo-Assyrian period, within which the event of 722/721-705 BCE falls.