Abstract

As the capital of the Assyrian empire – in its day, the largest empire the world had ever seen – from the ninth to seventh centuries BC Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) was at the epicentre of world events. Ever since the excavations carried out by Austen Henry Layard in the 1840s, it has been recognised as a site of exceptional importance, and many different teams have worked there in the ensuing two centuries. Tragically, in 2015 Nimrud was devastated by the regime of ISIS . At the invitation of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, in 2021 the Nimrud Archaeological Project was established by Dr. Michael Danti within the framework of the University of Pennsylvania’s Iraq Heritage Stabilisation Program in order to work towards the rehabilitation of the site through a programme of restoration guided by scientific excavation. The British contribution forms part of this effort. This lecture will review the work of the project to date, in particular the operations in the Temple of Ishtar, the Temple of Ninurta and the Palace of Adad-nerari III .