Researchers uncover massive palace in ancient Assyrian capital Dur-Sharrukin

A research team announced the results of their study at the archaeological site of Dur-Sharrukin, revealing evidence of previously unknown mega-buildings and infrastructure within the square city walls, which enclose an area of more than one square mile (1.7 by 1.7 square kilometers).

Dur-Sharrukin, meaning "Fortress of Sargon," was built by Sargon II, naming it after himself, to serve as the new capital of the Assyrian Empire around 700 BCE. The settlement is located at the site of the present-day village of Khorsabad in northern Iraq. Sargon II was unexpectedly killed in battle, and after his death, his son and successor relocated the capital from Dur-Sharrukin to the settlement of Nineveh shortly afterwards.

In the 1800s, French archaeologists rediscovered the site of Dur-Sharrukin. The excavation of Sargon II's palace at Dur-Sharrukin uncovered treasures of Neo-Assyrian art and culture. However, teams digging elsewhere in the city of Dur-Sharrukin came up empty-handed. Archaeologists concluded that the palace was the only building begun within Khorsabad's city walls.

Research at Dur-Sharrukin has been hampered by conflict in recent years, which has led to a halt in studies at the site. In 2015, members of the Islamic State destroyed parts of the ancient city of Dur-Sharrukin. Shortly after the destruction by ISIS, battles broke out in the area between Kurdish and ISIS soldiers.

The recent survey challenges previous beliefs, revealing that most of the construction of Dur-Sharrukin was completed earlier than previously thought, indicating a more complex urban environment than previously recognized. The findings suggest that Dur-Sharrukin thrived beyond just the palace. The work has already provided significant new information about the development of this short-lived ancient capital. The features identified by the survey will require further investigation.

In 2022, a team led by Jörg Fassbinder from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, mapped approximately seven percent of the area of Dur-Sharrukin using high-resolution magnetometry, which can recognize magnetic characteristics in various types of soil.

The magnetometry device used in the survey gives archaeologists the ability to "see" hidden features beneath the surface of the ground, revealing previously unknown buildings and infrastructure within the city walls of Dur-Sharrukin, including five monumental buildings. The buildings found include a 127-room villa that is twice the size of the U.S. White House. "Every day we discovered something new," Fassbinder stated in a press release.

To conduct the survey, the researchers carried the magnetometer system by hand, which weighs approximately 15 kilograms, walking in long straight lines to cover a total area of 2.79 million square feet over the course of a week. Given the turbulent and unpredictable nature of the region, the team decided not to mount the magnetometer to a drone or another vehicle to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Fassbinder estimates they each walked more than 13 miles (20 kilometers) every day for seven days to complete the survey.

"Excavation is very expensive, so the archaeologists wanted to know in detail what they could expect to achieve by digging," Fassbinder said. When the data were visualized as grayscale images, ghostly outlines emerged of structures as deep as six to ten feet (two to three meters) below ground. "It's like having an X-ray of features beneath the ground," Fassbinder explained.

The survey saved time and money, Fassbinder noted. "It's a necessary tool before starting any excavation." The data revealed possible palace gardens and the location of the city's water gate. The features identified by the survey will require further investigation.

In an area of interest identified by the study, the team dug a small test trench. The test trench confirmed the existence of a "very substantial" building with 13-foot thick walls made out of mud brick that appear to be up to four feet high.

After a two-year occupation of Khorsabad by the Islamic State officially ended in 2017, the French Archaeological Mission at Khorsabad decided to undertake a new initiative. The new initiative aimed to assess above-ground damage and to make the first geophysical survey of buried remains at the site of Khorsabad, where Dur-Sharrukin is located.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq