Introduction
Despite a long tradition of archaeological research (Larsen Reference Larsen1996), our understanding of Assyrian cities, particularly the imperial capitals (Figure 1), remains limited. This gap is rooted in how investigations were conducted in the main urban centres of the Assyrian core region in northern Iraq. Since Austen Henry Layard’s excavations in 1845 (Layard Reference Layard1849a & Reference Layardb), research at Nimrud (Figure 2) has focused almost entirely on the acropolis, with its palaces, temples and monumental buildings and the wealth of artworks and inscriptions they contained (Mallowan Reference Mallowan1966; Oates & Oates Reference Oates and Oates2001). With the exceptions of Fort Shalmaneser (see Figure 2), the Town Wall Palace and the palace in PD5, the extensive 340ha Lower Town (Oates & Oates Reference Oates and Oates2001), with its fortifications, street system, residential neighbourhoods, public buildings, crafts and open spaces, has been neglected for 180 years. The only effort to explore the urban layout of Nimrud on the ground was made by Paolo Fiorina between 1987 and 1989, but was halted by the First Iraq War (Fiorina Reference Fiorina2011; Lippolis & Masturzo Reference Lippolis and Masturzo2012; Pelissero & Pietrafesa Reference Pelissero and Petrafesa2025).
The ‘Assyrian Triangle’ in northern Iraq (figure by F. Simi using Google Earth Pro; basemap image Landsat/Copernicus).
Aerial view of Nimrud from the north-east (photograph by F. Simi; ©NiLTAP).
A similar uneven research focus characterises the other Neo-Assyrian capitals, Khorsabad and Nineveh, which are only now beginning to be systematically explored in their entirety by international teams (Butterlin Reference Butterlin2022; Marchetti & Marchesi Reference Marchetti, Marchesi and Morandi Bonacossi2022). Work has also resumed on the acropoleis of these capitals, often stemming from post-conflict programmes launched in response to destruction caused by ISIS (Danti et al. Reference Danti2025; Maul et al. Reference Maul2025). As a result, the extensive data available on Assyrian capitals still primarily comes from studies of royal architecture and artworks, which emphasise the spaces and creations associated with the king and the royal court. By contrast, our understanding of Assyrian urbanism (Ur Reference Ur2013) and of the broader non-elite population of these capitals remains limited.
The Nimrud Lower Town Archaeological Project (NiLTAP)
NiLTAP, a project of the University of Udine, aims to transform this picture by investigating Nimrud’s Lower Town, enclosed by nearly 8km of fortification walls and featuring monumental gates and towers. Nimrud presents a unique opportunity for archaeological study due to its well-preserved state and the extensive occupation history of its Lower Town. Unlike other major Assyrian capitals, Nimrud was never intensively reoccupied after the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC, and even today the Lower Town remains mostly untouched. Currently, the Lower Town is used for farming, with shallow ploughing limited to approximately 0.2m, only partially affecting the archaeological layers. Nimrud also stands out for the longevity of its role as an imperial seat (879–707 BC), allowing study of the development and decline of an Assyrian capital over almost two centuries of political and urban history. Taken together, these factors make Nimrud an ideal case study for reconstructing the urban fabric, spatial organisation and social dynamics of an imperial city.
New approaches to an ancient capital
Remote sensing and legacy datasets provided the starting point for NiLTAP. Analysis of declassified imagery (including U2, CORONA and HEXAGON missions dated between 1967 and 1974) suggested that the Lower Town preserved a highly structured urban landscape, revealing details of the fortifications, city gates and a street system, as well as zones of dense and sparse occupation and apparently open spaces. These observations, first highlighted by Ur (Reference Ur2013), pointed to the considerable potential of the Lower Town, while also underscoring the need for ground verification.
Integrated activities during the 2025 field season laid the foundations for such verification. First, a modern topographic map of the site was created through a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and drone survey. This work established a new network of benchmarks and produced an orthophoto, a detailed Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and a new site plan (Figure 3).
Topographic map of Nimrud (topographic survey by C. Miele & A. Persichetti of Archetipo; map by F. Simi; ©NiLTAP).
An intensive pedestrian survey was then conducted across the Lower Town using a 40 × 40m grid to define survey units. The resulting dataset, recorded in a geodatabase, enabled the analysis of the spatial distribution of settlement evidence and chronological variability across the site at an unprecedented scale and resolution (Figure 4). More specifically, it allowed the reconstruction of long-term changes in occupation across the Lower Town area, from the third millennium BC to the Islamic period (c. mid-seventh–twentieth centuries AD), revealing intensive occupation during the Middle Assyrian (c. mid-fourteenth–eleventh centuries BC), Neo-Assyrian (c. tenth century–612 BC) and post-Assyrian (c. 612–late fourth century BC) phases. The survey also collected several epigraphic materials (mostly inscribed baked bricks), among which were fragments of five different prisms belonging to the Assyrian kings Sennacherib (r. 704–681 BC) and Ashurbanipal (r. 668–631 BC).
Pottery density across Nimrud Lower Town (map by F. Simi; © NiLTAP).
These newly acquired topographic and survey data were integrated with the historical imagery, allowing features identified in remote-sensing data to be cross-checked against present-day surface morphology and artefact distributions. Earlier hypotheses concerning the Lower Town layout (Fiorina Reference Fiorina2011; Ur Reference Ur2013) are now being reassessed within a more robust analytical framework. For example, new topographical data associated with the Patti-Ḫegalli canal, constructed by the city’s founder Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC) (Figure 5), indicates that Nimrud’s water management system (Ur & Reade Reference Ur and Reade2015) may require substantial reappraisal. Rather than the Patti-Ḫegalli, a more northerly canal system may have been Nimrud’s principal water source.
Aerial view of the Patti-Ḫegalli canal from the north (photograph by F. Simi; © NiLTAP).
Geophysical prospection formed the final component of this integrated approach. Magnetometry was undertaken in selected sectors of the Lower Town to test key topographic and remote- and ground-survey observations, revealing organised street systems, domestic neighbourhoods and larger complexes and providing a link between the surface evidence and the buried urban fabric (Figure 6).
Magnetometer survey, preliminary results from one sector east of the acropolis (by J. Fassbiner, J.-J. Herr & M. Wolf; © NiLTAP).
Conclusions
The results presented here demonstrate the interpretive potential of an integrated methodological framework for the study of Assyrian urbanism and for moving research on Assyrian capitals beyond the acropolis. By combining survey, topographic analysis, remote sensing and geophysical prospection within a unified spatial framework, it becomes possible to investigate the urban fabric of an Assyrian capital at a site-wide scale. In the future, the continuation of geophysical analysis, new geoarchaeological investigations, targeted soundings and extended open-area excavations will further enrich the NiLTAP dataset.
Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful for the support of Mr Ali Shalgham, Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH); Mr Suheil Al-Tameemi, Director of Investigations and Excavation at the SBAH; Mr Rweid Allyla, Director of the SBAH in Mosul; and Mr Ali Kareem, Director of the Archaeological Site of Nimrud.
Funding statement
The project is supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Authority, the Friuli Banking Foundation and the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research within the framework of the Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN 2022) Project ‘Near Eastern empires at work’ (CUP: G53D23000300006) funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU Initiative.
Author contributions: CRediT categories
Daniele Morandi Bonacossi: Conceptualization-Equal, Data curation-Supporting, Funding acquisition-Lead, Methodology-Equal, Project administration-Lead, Writing - review & editing-Equal. Francesca Simi: Conceptualization-Equal, Data curation-Lead, Funding acquisition-Supporting, Methodology-Equal, Project administration-Supporting, Visualization-Lead, Writing - original draft-Lead, Writing - review & editing-Equal.
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