KALAKH (Calah, modern Nimrud), an Assyrian city situated in the angle formed by the confluence of the Tigris and the upper Zab 19 m. south of Mosul. The city was the artificial creation of Shalmaneser I., as Agade to the south was of Sargon. It was later abandoned for many centuries and subsequently occupied by Assur-nasir-pal. The city was the headquarters of the army in Assyria and as such played an important part in the military re volts which at various times upset the empire. The excavations which have been made on this site, although mostly carried on before the time of scientific archaeology, have produced particu larly valuable results in the way of statues and inscriptions although comparatively few tablets have been found, apparently because many of these were transferred in ancient times to Nine veh. The most important objects from the site are the winged lions now in the British Museum, the black obelisk of Shalmaneser, in the same collection and a series of great winged bulls. The most important buildings fall into six groups. First, south of the stage tower lies the north-west palace, originally built by Assur-nasir pal, and restored by Sargon. It is a wonderfully complete Assyrian building measuring about 35o feet square and including a central court, 129X 90 feet, surrounded as in most oriental buildings by a series of large rooms. Secondly, in the interior of the mound, towards its southern end, the palace of Shalmaneser III. rebuilt by Tiglath-Pileser III. there was found together with several other things a series of slabs showing the victorious passages of arms of the rebuilder of the palace. In the south-west corner of the plat
form an uncompleted building of Esarhaddon was found. This was made from the material taken from Tiglath-Pileser's buildings. Be tween this building and the north-west palace there was a small palace dating from about sixty years after the time of Assur-nasir pal. The south-east palace was built by Assur-etil-ilanion ; it dates from the end of the seventh century B.C. and was probably used as was the other building as a harem. A temple called E-zida, dedi cated to Nebo, was found near the south-east palace, while two small temples of Assur-nasir-pal were found opposite this on the north-west corner. There were other buildings on the east side but these were all found to be ruined because the mound had been used as a cemetery and in later times as an underground granary. Kalakh was never a city of first rate importance. All the cities of Assyria lay within a day's journey of one another, and were over shadowed by Nineveh, but Kalakh owed its importance partly to the action of Shalmaneser and later simply to its official po sition as the military headquarters of a military power.
A. H., Nineveh and Its Remains (London, 1849) (an account of the original excavations) ; Cambridge Ancient History, vol. i., 1923, contains a bibliography of all subsequent work on the site.