The North Palace of King Ashurbanipal (reigned 668-627 BCE) is so named due to its location on the Nineveh citadel mound of Kuyunjik (see its location on the aerial view at the left; hover over to enlarge). He (re)built the palace beginning about 646 BCE after the Assyrian army defeated long-established regional opponents and captured the cities of Babylon in southern Iraq and Susa in southern Iran. Ashurbanipal called his new building a bit riduti according to foundation tablets found under the palace. Although the term is somewhat ambiguous in meaning and usage, it normally refers to a crown prince's palace (which is odd, since Ashurbanipal was already king; but it may refer to the fact that a previous building on the site was used by him or his predecessors when not yet in power). The palace was most likely completed in 643 BCE, as wall relief scenes do not show any events that took place after this date. The North Palace, however, had a short life as it was burned in 612 BC, presumably during the sack of Nineveh by the Babylonians.
In December 1853, the North Palace was rediscovered by a team excavating the Nineveh citadel under the auspices of the British Museum. The team was led by Henry Rawlinson, their local in charge, but fieldwork was directed by Hormuzd Rassam. Carved wall reliefs from the palace were shipped to the British Museum. Excavations continued by various people on and off for the next decade or so; yet only a small portion of the building has been exposed, despite further clearings into the early 20th century. The main floor-level of the palace was not far below the modern surface of the mound, and much of the building had already been destroyed by erosion and later occupation. (Barnett 1976; Kertai 2015; Reade 1998-2001:416-18).
After 175 years of investigation, the North Palace remains incompletely excavated (see the 1934 Campbell Thompson plan at the left, where it is labeled "Ashurbanipal's Palace" (Barnett et al. 1998:plate 5; hover over to enlarge). Probably less than half has been uncovered. Thus, the plan is poorly understood even across the excavated southwestern sections, and not at all understood to the northeast. The exposed area shows the palace to be at minimum 120m wide; its original length is unknown, but it was at least 250m based on excavated remains (it was considerably smaller than the Southwest Palace; see the citadel reconstruction above). If there had been a previous structure on this site, Ashurbanipal seems to have destroyed it (or any earlier remains have not yet been clearly identified).
The North Palace is both a fairly typical Assyrian palace in the type and arrangement of suites, and also unique in its details and constructed to fit the location on the citadel (see Learning Sites reconstruction at the left, view north over the palace; hover over to enlarge). According to his writings, Ashurbanipal raised the palace on a 6m-high platform; careful not to go higher lest it surpass the mounds of nearby temple precincts.
The main courtyard (designated 'O' by the excavators) was entered (via a short ramp up) from the citadel grounds (bottom center in the rendering at the left; hover over to enlarge). It, in turn, led and gave access to the throne-room courtyard. The throne room suite was entered via a series of steps (an unusual feature for a major Assyrian building facade). The throne room (designated 'M' on plans) has wall reliefs depicting battles against several major Assyrian enemies. Similar battle scenes along with hunting scenes are found on most rooms of the palace.
One inner courtyard (designated 'J' and located behind the throne room suite) was most likely surrounded by administrative and private family suites on its other three sides but the precise configuration of each is speculative. One suite probably incorporated a bit hilani (building or section of building designed in the Syro-Hittite style) with bronze-covered columns at the entrance (on the left far side of Couryard O in the rendering at the left; hover over to enlarge).
At the back of the palace is a long sloping passage, with lion hunt scenes lining its walls, leading down to Room 'S' which had a wide columned postern entry space open to the lower side of the citadel (see the view at the left; hover over to enlarge). Somewhere, according to ancient texts, near or beside the palace was an orchard (we have added one out here behind the palace and off to the southwest, clearly visible by inhabitants from the bit hilani suite off the inner courtyard (see the aerial renderings above).
We know from Ashurbanipal's writings and reliefs found throughout the palace, that he liked gardens (he tells us that he planted almonds, dates, ebony, rosewood, olive, oak, tamarisk, walnut, terebinth, ash, fir, pomegranate, pear, quince, fig, and grapevines). He and his queen are even depicted having a picnic outside under an arbor (see the two scenes at the left from reliefs in the palace; one showing a garden and the other outdoor dining; hover over to enlarge).
We have reconstructed a rear garden arbor and gate, to reflect what is seen in the reliefs, out behind the palace in a private area near the postern entry Room 'S' (see the two renderings at the left; hover over to enlarge).
A detail of the arbor setting, with the queen and her guards out for a stroll.
As with most Assyrian palaces, the interior of the building is divided into a series of suites (for administrative, personal, and housekeeping purposes; see the plan at the left, used with permission from Julian Reade; hover over to enlarge). The walls of the spaces within the palace were decorated with carved and painted wall reliefs with painted bands above. The limestone wall panels depict a wide array of subjects including hunting scenes, battles, processions, and garden scenes. The stone reliefs survive incompletely across the many rooms of the palace. We have done our best to re-place what is known back into simulations of their original contexts so that entire spaces and the circulation through the palace complex can be better appreciated. Some results from our work are assembled below.
Room S (also known as the Western Portal or the Postern Gate) was a unique space. The carved reliefs lining the walls depicted the king taking part in lion hunts, a gazelle hunt, and an onager hunt (see the image at the left; hover over to enlarge). Many of these reliefs have survived, which we have re-placed into simulations of their original contexts so that this entire space can be better appreciated as King Ashurbanipal intended.
Room S opened to a lush garden at the rear of the palace through an unusually large opening into which were placed two enormous columns (see the image at the left, where we see the queen out for a stroll; hover over to enlarge).
Room R was a long sloping passage leading up from the postern gate area into the palace proper (see the image at the left which shows a view down into Room S beyond; hover over to enlarge). It, too, had narrative panels on the walls. Along the inside wall, the scene shows the journey to the hunting fields; along the outside wall, the panels show the return from the chase and hunt. Lighting such long narrow spaces would have been an issue for the Assyrians. Since one wall of this passage abuts the main palace, only the exterior wall would have allowed for windows. We have added smallish windows with flaring sides toward the interior high up on the outer wall.
Room A continued the upward ramping passage from a landing that connected it to the sloping corridor R (see the image at the left which shows a view looking down to the landing; hover over to enlarge). Room A then terminated at the communication hub of the palace, Room D, at the level of the main suites of rooms. The themes of the reliefs carved on the panels lining the walls of Room A continue the theme of processions to and from a lion hunt, including royal servants, archers, and the king's hand-drawn cart with its bodyguards.
Room E seems to have been a corridor connecting circulation hub Room D and the royal domestic quarters. The few surviving reliefs from this space show, along one long wall, a procession in a garden with huntsmen and dogs facing outward toward Room D, while along the other side reliefs depict female musicians moving with lions.
Room X is part of the royal domestic suite. The scenes on the walls mostly consisted of a royal hunt and various rituals that took part afterwards. The room also contained a singular relief panel showing the king and queen dining out in a garden, with attendants nearby and in procession toward them (we have partially recontructed the furniture for that meal in front of the panel). Across the room from this scene was a broad columned window, mimicking the arrangement below in Room S (see the view at the left; hover over to enlarge).
Barnett, Richard D.
1976 Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668 - 627 B.C.). London: Trustees of the British Museum; British Museum Publications.
Barnett, Richard D.; Erika Bleibtreu and Geoffrey Turner
1998 Sculptures from the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh. London: Trustees of the British Museum, British Museum Press (2 vols.).
Cojocaru, Gabriela Augustina
2015 Representations of Royal Power: textual and visual discourse in Ashurbanipal's North Palace. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Bucharest.
Kertai, David
2015 The Architecture of Late Assyrian Royal Palaces. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2013 "The Multiplicity of Royal Palaces: how many palaces did an Assyrian king need?" pp.11-22 in David Kertai and Peter A. Miglus, eds., New Research on Assyrian Palaces. Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient v.15.
Nigro, Lorenzo
2000 "L'Assedio di Bit-Bunakki da Ninive ai Musei Vaticani: la sua collocazione originaria nel Palazzo Nord di Assurbanipal e gli scavi di Giovanni Bennhi," Vicino Oriente 12:241-59.
Petit, L. P. & D. Morandi Bonacossi
2017 Nineveh: the great city, symbol of beauty and power. Papers on Archaeology of the Leiden Museum of Antiquities vol. 13. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
Reade, Julian Edgeworth
2023 "Hunting, Shooting, and Ashurbanipal's Garden Room," State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 29:39-72.
2022a Design and Destruction: the palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. Archiv fur Orientforschung Beiheft 34. Vienna: Selbstverlag des Instituts fur Orientforschung der Universität Wien.
2022b "The Progress of Research on the Sculptures of Ashurbanipal," pp.1-46 in Davide Nadali, Lorenzo Nigro, and Frances Pinnock, eds., Moving on from Ebla, I crossed the Euphrates. Oxford: Archaeopress.
2018 "Ashurbanipal's Palace at Nineveh," pp.20-33 in Gareth Brereton, ed., I am Ashurbanipal: king of the world, king of Assyria. London: Thames & Hudson and the British Museum.
2009 "Understanding the North Palace at Nineveh," unpublished paper delivered at a conference in Mainz on May 12.
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