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Capitals changed: Nimrud to Nineveh
Separate the movement of a royal capital from the end of a city.
Lesson 2 of 6 · about 8 minutes · reference compilation checked 5 October 2026.
Nimrud’s ancient name was Kalhu. Ashurnasirpal II built its Northwest Palace, with carved reliefs, protective figures and monumental gateway statues.
The royal capital later moved to Dur-Sharrukin and then Nineveh. Nimrud remained important after the capital moved. A change of capital is not the same event as the destruction or abandonment of an earlier city.
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Put Nimrud, Dur-Sharrukin and Nineveh in the order of this capital sequence. Explain why a capital change does not prove a city was immediately destroyed.
This sequence describes ancient royal centres, not the borders of a modern community.
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