The Assyrian Building South of the Nabu Temple

Abstract

During the excavation of the area south of the Nabu Temple in 1957 the Assyrian level was reached in three places, in Trenches O and P and in an earlier excavation, the work of Layard, which was reopened specifically for this purpose. In Layard's trench we cleared three rooms shown on his original plan (Plate XV, AB 1, 2, 6), and the greater part of a fourth, larger chamber (AB 3); four further rooms planned by Layard and Loftus were not investigated beyond the doorway connecting AB 6 with AB 4. Trenches O and P were dug with the primary object of elucidating the sequence of later occupation overlying the Assyrian levels, and our resources did not permit us to carry the work down to the Assyrian floor. A glance at the plan, PL. XV, will show that all the walls thus exposed follow the same alignment, differing from that of the Nabu Temple and almost certainly reflecting a change of direction in the citadel wall which bounded the site on the east; there is every reason to suppose that they are parts of the same building.