© Penn MuseumCuneiform inscriptions on a kudurru (stone monument), which dates to 797 BCE, found by Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists at Nimrud, Iraq (2024).
At the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq, a temple razed by fire around 612 BCE, has remarkably preserved shrines that were recovered by the Penn Museum and Iraqi archaeologists on a site excavation this year as part of the
Penn Nimrud Project, one of several cultural heritage preservation and protection initiatives of Penn's Iraq Heritage Stabilization Program (IHSP). These recent discoveries enhance our understanding of one of the world's first empires while also highlighting
archaeology's integral role in cultural heritage restoration.
Penn Nimrud Project expands 19th-century excavationsKnown as Kalhu by Assyrians and Calah in the Bible, Nimrud's vast archaeological mounds first excavated in the 19th century, provide evidence confirming how ancient Mesopotamia contributed to human advancement.
Assyria also represents a crucial part of Iraq's cultural identity, which the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attempted to erase by destroying major Mesopotamian monuments between 2014 and 2017. Two of these sites at Nimrud were the Ninurta Temple and its Ziggurat (stepped temple tower) and the famed Northwest Palace built by King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BCE) who reigned over Nimrud, the newly appointed capital of the Neo-Assyrian state.
Despite previous excavations led by the English archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard and then by British archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, husband of renowned mystery author Agatha Christie,
the temple remained poorly documented and
predominantly unexplored until now.
Penn IHSP safeguards at-risk cultural heritage sites in Iraq and Syria.
By working collaboratively with government authorities, international experts, and local stakeholders, the Penn Nimrud Project, a part of IHSP, seeks to repair recent damage, reopen the site to tourism, and refine our understanding of Nimrud's temples and Assyrian religious practices.
All artifacts recovered from excavations remain in Iraq.