Archaeological Sites in Iraq
Abu Salabikh
Abu Salabikh is the site of a small Sumerian city-state located 20 km northwest of ancient Nippur in Iraq. The settlement dates from the Neolithic through the late 3rd millennium BC. Excavations from…
Ancient Babylon
Capital of ancient Mesopotamia on the Euphrates, about 85 km south of Baghdad, Iraq. First mentioned in the 23rd century BC, it rose to prominence under Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) who unified southern…
Aššur
First capital of the Assyrian Empire on the western bank of the Tigris in modern Iraq, serving as the religious and political heart of Assyria from roughly 2500 BC to 614 BC. The site features three…
Babel Lion
The Lion of Babylon is a basalt statue discovered in the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq. First documented in 1817 by Claudius Rich, the sculpture is over 2,600 years old [1]. Most scholars date it to…
Babylonian Theatre
A Greek-style theatre built in Babylon during the era of Alexander the Great, around 330 BC, serving as a political assembly point for the Greek community (politai). It features a south-facing…
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
A Neo-Assyrian black limestone obelisk standing 1.8 m tall, discovered in 1846 by Sir Austen Henry Layard at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) in northern Iraq. Erected in 825 BC, its four sides bear five…
Castle of Kirkûk
The Kirkuk Citadel is a fortress in central Kirkuk, Iraq, considered the oldest part of the city [1]. It sits atop a 40-metre-high (130 ft) tell mound on a plateau across the Khasa River [1].…
Charax Spasinu
Charax Spasinu was an ancient port at the head of the Persian Gulf in modern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Characene kingdom.[1]
Dur-Kurigalzu (Ziggurat at Aqar Quf)
Dur-Kurigalzu (modern Aqar Quf, Baghdad Governorate) was a fortified city and royal residence of the Kassite dynasty, founded by Kurigalzu I around 1400 BC near the confluence of the Tigris and…
Dur-Sharrukin
Dur-Sharrukin, present-day Khorsabad in northern Iraq, served as the Assyrian capital under Sargon II (r. 721–705 BC) [1]. Built within the decade preceding 706 BC, the city served as the imperial…
Ennigaldi-Nanna's Museum
(530 BCE) Ennigaldi-Nanna's Museum is the earliest known public museum, dating to circa 530 BCE[1]. Located in the ancient state of Ur, in modern-day Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, it was situated…
Eridu
Eridu is the earliest known city in southern Mesopotamia at Tell Abu Shahrain. Located 24 km south-southwest of Ur, it was the southernmost of a cluster of Sumerian cities built around temples [1].…
Etemenanki (Tower of Babel)
Etemenanki ("House of the foundation of heaven on earth") was a massive ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in ancient Babylon. Its origins may date to Hammurabi's reign (1792-1750 BC), though major…
Great Ziggurat of Ur
A Neo-Sumerian step pyramid built c. 2100 BC by King Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dedicated to the moon god Nanna. The massive structure measured 64 metres long, 45 metres wide, and over 30…
Halamata Cave
Halamata Cave is an archaeological site near Duhok in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, containing Assyrian relief carvings known as the Maltai reliefs[1].
Ishtar Gate
The eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon, built c. 575 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II as part of his grand beautification of the capital. The towering structure featured brilliant blue glazed…
Jerwan
Jerwan is an archaeological site north of Mosul in Iraq's Nineveh Province, famous for the ruins of a massive aqueduct built by Assyrian king Sennacherib between 703 and 690 BC. Constructed from over…
Kemune (Zahiku)
Kemune is a 3,400-year-old Mittani Empire city, thought to be ancient Zakhiku, discovered when drought lowered the Mosul Dam reservoir in Iraq's Kurdistan region. A monumental palace with mudbrick…
Library of Ashurbanipal
The oldest known systematically organized library in the world, established in Nineveh by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668-627 BC), containing over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments inscribed…
Nimrud
Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city in Upper Mesopotamia's Nineveh Plains, located 30 km south of modern Mosul and 5 km south of Selamiyah village [1]. The city occupied a strategic position 10 km…
Northwest Palace of Ashur-Nasir-Pal II
The Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) in Iraq was built by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883-859 BC) as part of his transformation of Nimrud into the imperial capital. Covering some…
Samarra
Samarra, on the east bank of the Tigris 130 km north of Baghdad, is the type site for the prehistoric Samarra culture (c. 5500-4800 BC), one of the earliest town-states in the Near East. The city…
Shaduppum
Shaduppum (modern Tell Harmal) was an administrative center in the kingdom of Eshnunna, located in the Diyala River basin near Baghdad, Iraq. Its name means 'the accountant's office' in Akkadian,…
Taq Kasra
Tāq Kasrā (also known as Taq-i Kisra or Arch of Ctesiphon) is the ruins of a Sasanian-era Persian monument dating to c. the 3rd to 6th centuries AD[1]. Located near modern Salman Pak, Iraq, it formed…
Tel Hermal Fort
Tel Hermal (ancient Shaduppum) is an Old Babylonian site in present-day Baghdad, located 600 meters from Tell Muhammad [1]. It was part of the kingdom of Eshnunna, situated on the left bank of the…
Tell Maghzaliyah
Tell Maghzaliyah is a fortified aceramic Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq, dating to before 4500 BC (c. 7000 BC start). Located 7.5 km northwest of Yarim Tepe near the…
Temple of Hatra
A fortified Parthian caravan city in northern Iraq, known as Beit Elaha ('House of God') for its numerous temples. Encircled by inner and outer walls nearly 6.4 km in circumference with over 160…
Temple of Nabu
(2nd c. AD) An ancient temple complex dedicated to Nabû (Nebo), the Babylonian god of wisdom, writing, and the arts. Built during the Roman provincial period in ancient Mesopotamia, the temple…
The Aqueduct of Jerwan
The Aqueduct of Jerwan in northern Iraq is a monumental hydraulic structure built by Assyrian king Sennacherib between 703 and 690 BC as part of a vast canal system supplying water to Nineveh from…
Ur
Ur was a major Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq[1]. Originally a coastal city near the Euphrates' mouth on the Persian Gulf,…
Uruk
One of the world's earliest major cities, located in modern Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. Settled from the Ubaid period (before 5000 BC), Uruk rose to dominance c. 3800 BC and by 3100 BC may have…
White Obelisk
The White Obelisk is a large stone monument unearthed at Nineveh in northern Iraq by British Assyrian archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1853 [1]. It is one of only two intact Assyrian obelisks to…
Yarim Tepe
Yarim Tepe is an archaeological site in Iraq's Sinjar valley, 7 km southwest of Tal Afar, representing an early farming settlement dating to approximately 6000 BC [1]. The multi-hill site documents…