Ziggurat of Nimrud

36.0992°N, 43.3275°E.

The ziggurat of Nimrud — ancient Kalhu, the Assyrian royal capital — in modern Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. Constructed by king Ashurnasirpal II between 883 and 859 BCE and completed under his son Shalmaneser III between 858 and 824 BCE as the centrepiece of the new capital and dedicated to the god Ninurta. Original base 60 by 60 metres; original height approximately 60 metres on multiple terraces. The structure stood at the corner of the citadel mound, immediately adjacent to the Northwest Palace whose lamassu sphinxes are now in the British Museum, the Met, the Louvre, and the National Museum of Iraq. Excavated by Austen Henry Layard between 1845 and 1851 in one of the foundational digs of Mesopotamian archaeology. The site was deliberately demolished by Islamic State militants in March 2015 — the lower terraces were bulldozed, and footage of the destruction was used as propaganda. Reconstruction began in 2018 under Iraqi state archaeologists.

A ziggurat dedicated to a war god, demolished by people who said they hated idolatry, partially rebuilt by people who knew the structure was a tomb of architecture, not a god.