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Prism from the Palace of King Sargon II

721 BC - 705 BC
Clay
Khorsabad
19.5 cm x 12.3 cm diam.
A17590

Oriental Institute Museum

Artifact Description

Prism from the Palace of King Sargon II

This nine-sided, clay prism is inscribed with a cuneiform text commemorating the establishment of King Sargon II's new capital city, Dur Sharrukin (modern-day Khorsabad). It was one of eight complete prisms (with similar inscriptions) found on the floor of a room in the king's palace.

Inscription

In the month of Abu, the month of the descent of the fire-god, destroyer of growing vegetation, when one lays the foundation platform for city and house, I laid its foundation walls, I built its brickwork. Substantial shrines, built firm as the foundation of eternity, I constructed therein ... Palaces of ivory, mulberry, cedar, cypress, juniper, and pistachio-wood I built ... for my royal dwelling-place.

Collected by

Gordon Loud (in charge of excavations at Khorsabad)
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1934-1935

Multimedia

The Ancient City of Khorsabad
Dr. Gil Stein, Director of the Oriental Institute, discusses the importance of the ancient capital city of Khorsabad in this video.

Suggested Readings

Kramer, Samuel Noah. Cradle of Civilization. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1967.

Parpola, Simo. Letters from Assyria and the West: The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1987.

Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.

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