[Illustration 409.jpg THE ZIGGURAT, OR TEMPLE TOWER, OF THE ASSYRIAN
CITY OF CALAH.]
But with Tukulti-Ninib's death Babylon regained her independence and
freed herself from Assyrian control, and the centre of the northern
kingdom was once more subject to the influences which eventually
resulted in the permanent transference of her capital to Nineveh. To the
comparative neglect into which Ashur and Calah consequently fell, we
may probably trace the extensive remains of buildings belonging to the
earlier periods of Assyrian history which have been recovered and still
remain to be found, in the mounds that mark their sites.
We have given some account of the results already achieved from the
excavations carried out during the last two years at Sherghat, the site
of the city of Ashur. That much remains to be done on the site of Calah,
the other early capital of Assyria, is evident from even a cursory
examination of the present condition of the mounds that mark the
location of the city. These mounds are now known by the name of Nimrud
and are situated on the left or eastern bank of the Tigris, a short
distance above the point at which it is joined by the stream of the
Upper Zab, and the great mound which still covers the remains of the
ziggurat, or temple tower, can be seen from a considerable distance
across the plain.
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