Their function is not precisely known, although it was presumably closely linked to the cultic functions of the associated temples. The ziggurat (derived from the Akkadian TT word zaqāru "to build high") was without a doubt the most spectacular sacred structure known from ancient Mesopotamia, where the earliest ziggurats date from the 3rd millennium BC. Work on the temple precinct, including the ziggurat, was continued by Assurnasirpal's son, Shalmaneser III, and Shalmaneser's successors in the 9th to 7th centuries BC. However, we do not know which deity may have been worshipped here. This proposed identification is based on the fact that stelae TT and statues were found in the building, a decorative feature which is very closely associated with temples. It is also possible that the structure known as the Central Building - located between the Governor's Palace and the Northwest Palace in the centre of the citadel TT - was in fact one of Assurnasirpal's nine temples. Of the nine shrines, four have been found during excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries: the temples of Nabu, Ninurta, Ištar Šarrat-niphi and Kidmuru. Significantly, the god Aššur is missing from this list because his only temple was in Assur PGP , the city with which he was closely identified. the temple of the goddess Ištar Šarrat-niphi PGP.the temple of the god Adad PGP and goddess Šala PGP.the temple of the god Ea-šarru PGP and goddess Damkina PGP.the temple of the gods Ellil PGP and Ninurta. ![]() The inscriptions of Assurnasirpal II commemorate his activities in his new royal capital of Kalhu and record that the king built a total of nine temples in the city: Image 2: Drawing showing a proposed reconstruction of the temple complex and part of the Northwest Palace in the northwestern part of Kalhu's citadel TT ( 1).
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