The Provincial Capital of the Assyrian Empire: Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project

The Assyrian Empire was the first multinational empire in the ancient Near East. By the seventh century it had grown to cover all of Iraq, Syria and the Levant, parts of western Iran and southeastern Turkey, and even, for brief periods, Egypt. In this lecture, Dr. John MacGinnis of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge discusses the archaeological project at Ziyaret Tepe, which lies on the river Tigris, some forty miles east of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey, now threatened with destruction by the floodwaters of the Ilisu Dam. Known in antiquity as Tushan, it was an Assyrian provincial capital and garrison town from 882 to 611 BC. The archaeological site of Ziyaret Tepe is exceptionally important and provides a unique opportunity to explore and document Assyrian rule across the whole of this time span.

Brown Auditorium | Free, no reservations

This lecture was organized by the Art of the Middle East Department. 

Image: Courtesy of John MacGinnis