page_title: Assur
hierarchical_section_title: Assur
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Soldiers from Crazy Horse Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment provide security for the Provincial Reconstruction Team and representatives of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization visiting the ancient city of Ashur, the site is now known as Qalat Shergat, Iraq, Nov. 21 2008. Ashur is one of three areas in Iraq that is a World Heritage site.
context_page_description: Aššur, also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyrian Empire, and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate.
  Occupation of the city itself continued for approximately 4,000 years, from c. 2600 BC to the mid-14th century AD, when the forces of Timur massacred its population. The site is a World Heritage Site, having been added to that organisation's list of sites in danger in 2003 following the conflict that erupted following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and as a result of a proposed dam which would flood some of the site. Assur lies 65 kilometres south of the site of Nimrud and 100 km south of Nineveh.
context_section_description: Aššur (/ˈæsʊər/; Sumerian: 𒀭𒊹𒆠 AN.ŠAR₂ᴷᴵ, Assyrian cuneiform:  Aš-šurᴷᴵ, "City of God Aššur"; Syriac: ܐܫܘܪ‎ Āšūr; Old Persian 𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼 Aθur, Persian: آشور‎: Āšūr; Hebrew: אַשּׁוּר: Aššûr, Arabic: اشور‎), also known as Ashur and Qal'at Sherqat, was the capital of the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1050 BC), and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–608 BC). The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, the Little Zab, in what is now Iraq, more precisely in the al-Shirqat District of the Saladin Governorate.
  Occupation of the city itself continued for approximately 4,000 years, from c. 2600 BC to the mid-14th century AD, when the forces of Timur massacred its population. The site is a World Heritage Site, having been added to that organisation's list of sites in danger in 2003 following the conflict that erupted following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and as a result of a proposed dam which would flood some of the site. Assur lies 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of the site of Nimrud and 100 km (60 mi) south of Nineveh.
caption: American soldiers on guard at the ruins of Ashur in 2008
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "U.S. Soldiers from Crazy Horse Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment provide security for the Provincial Reconstruction Team and representatives of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization visiting the ancient city of Ashur, the site is now known as Qalat Shergat, Iraq, Nov. 21. Ashur is one of three areas in Iraq that is a World Heritage site.", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2008:11:25 09:58:52", "Image Artist": "Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano", "Image WhitePoint": "[313/1000, 329/1000]", "Image PrimaryChromaticities": "[16/25, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 3/20, 3/50]", "Image YCbCrCoefficients": "[299/1000, 587/1000, 57/500]", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "JOMAK", "Image ExifOffset": "820", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1496", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1610", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5619", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:11:21 12:37:37", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:11:21 12:37:37", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Cloudy weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "38", "EXIF SubSecTime": "55", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "55", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "55", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4256", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2832", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R03", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1464", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Gamma": "11/5"}