Names of Walls, Gates, and Palatial Structures of Assyrian Royal Cities

Abstract

This paper deals with the names given to the city walls, city gates, and palatial structures in Assyrian capital cities, Assur, Kalhu, Dur-Šarrukin, and Nineveh, in the Neo- Assyrian period. These names comprised popular names, which were supposedly used daily, and ceremonial names, which were given for ceremonial-ideological purposes. The names were formulated differently in various cities and in different periods, reflecting the change of historical circumstances and contemporary political-theological ideologies. The naming of the architectural works in later Assyria represented the increasing imperialistic pride of Assyrian kings about their world dominion, claiming the prominence of the capital as the navel of the world in political, economic, and religious senses. In this way, they particularly challenged the traditional Mesopotamian cosmic order, in the center of which Babylon and its god Marduk had been placed