Planning of the Palace of sargon

1. PALACE OF SARGON II

2. HISTORY
• Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon“), present day Khorsabad,
was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria
• Sargon II ruled from 722 to 705 BC
• Timber, craftsmen and other materials were imported from
Phoenicia
• The land around the city was cultivated and olive groves were
planted
• Sargon II purchased the land from an agricultural community
called Magganubba
Stele of Sargon II

3. HISTORY
“Magganubba, which lies at the foot of Mount Muṣri and towers above a spring and
the surroundings of Nineveh - none of the 350 earlier regents of Assyria realized its
favourable location, understood the benefits of its settlement or commanded to dig
a canal there. I planned and plotted day and night how to settle this city and to
build a sanctuary as the seat of the great gods and palaces as the residence of my
rule, and therefore commanded their construction”
- Sargon II in the cylinder inscription in Khorsabad

4. THE PALACE
• The palace was erected on a high terrace (50ft) in the north-eastern part of the
city
• The temples of the main gods, smaller in size, were built within the palatial
rectangle, which was surrounded by a special wall
• Stone reliefs of two winged bulls with human heads flanked the entrance
• The walls were decorated with long rows of bas-reliefs

6. PLAN OF THE PALACE

7. THE PALACE

8. THE PALACE
• There were seven gates, each dedicated to an Assyrian god
• Within a separate enclosure stood the palace and the
administrative complex known as the “Palace without Rival”
• According to the French excavators, it contained more than
210 rooms, grouped around three courtyards
• The top of the walls were crenellated
• The doors of the palace were bronze, while carved ivory
decorated the walls and ceilings

9. THE ZIGGURAT
• The great ziggurat of Dur-Sharrukin was a four-
story structure with a spiral staircase winding up
around it
• Each of the levels was painted a different colour:
white, black, red, and blue

10. COMPLETION AND ABANDONMENT
• The walls were done and most of the buildings and, most importantly, the palace,
but excavations at the site and ancient letters indicate there was still some
significant work to be done
• Sargon II moved into his grand palace in 706 BCE and, in 705 BCE, was killed in
battle
• He was killed on the field and the fighting was so fierce that his men could not
retrieve his body
• Considering this to be a bad omen, the people abandoned the city which was
closely associated with Sargon II

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.Wikipedia.org
• https://www.ancient.eu/Dur-Sharrukin/
• https://www.britannica.com/place/palace-of-Sargon-II