I worked at the ancient city of Nimrud, capital of the Assyrian Empire in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, in late March to early May of 2023. The excavation was directed by Dr. Michael Danti and supported by the Penn Museum and University Research Foundation. We worked in conjunction with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage throughout.
While there I filmed several of our finds and excavation units. Here I talk about a stele we uncovered in the Temple of Ishtar. A stele is a stone monument, often with a curved top and relief decoration. Some are inscribed, but this one is not. It's also rather broken but we are finding other pieces of it in the surrounding soil.
This stele had been exposed before; it was at the edge of a pit dug by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in 2016. They cut into the temple with machines in search of antiquities to sell. They may have damaged the stele in the process, but there is also evidence that it might have been defaced in the ancient past.
Nimrud was destroyed in 612 BCE and the temple was sacked and burned at that time. We're now cleaning up the ISIS destruction and investigating the temple in a scientific manner to learn more about it and the Neo-Assyrian people.
00:00 intro
00:21 what is a stele
01:25 condition of the stele
02:01 Ishtar fragment
03:28 finding the stele
04:19 detailed carving
05:31 purpose and meaning?
06:12 wrap-up and outro
It makes me so happy to see experts share their work with the wider public using websites like this. The service you are doing by making this information available for free is indescribable. Thank you to everyone who made this video! This is all so fascinating. That Ishtar carving is so intricate and beautiful, but it's so sad to hear about the destruction this site has faced.
These clips are great. Thanks.
Wow I wish my work had me solving an ancient jigsaw puzzle
Always fascinating.
Many thanks. Looking forward to more videos from Nimrud
Hey, this was great. Please talk some more about whatever you are doing next.
Thank you, Brad! Waiting with excitement for the next episode!
This is awesome. The knowledge, the artifact, the facts and the slight editing. Ill repeat because it's all that fits, This is awesome.
Thank you so much for sharing these videos. It is my dream to be working there ✌️💕🌻
Thank you so much for this channel!
I'm glad they were able to save this stele!
Do archaeologists listen to Stele Dan while excavating?
Wow, what a find! Were there other stele at this site, either found or suspected?
Many stelae were found at Nimrud in the 19th century by Layard. A lot of those came from the palaces and had inscriptions extolling the greatness of the various kings. They were also quite a bit larger than this one. Some of them are now in the British Museum, but I suspect there are still quite a few smaller stelae left to be found at the site. Markers like these are often found near doorways.
Would a grave stone count as a stele?
Yes, I think it could. Most of the time we see stelae as glorifying a king or deity, while a gravestone is usually less grandiose. But a gravestone can be quite detailed and it is typically a stone marker. Many even have the curved top that we see on a lot of stelae in the ancient world.
Whats your favourite citrus fruit ?
@nathanwac5410 nice choice
Lime. They are so useful and look beautiful.
@buttercxpdraws8101 exactly big lemon dosnt want you to have fresh limes that are ripe and sweet , ripe limes are yellow
Lemon
@Bildgesmythe oh no they've gotten to you /j
In Germany, at least in my area, they are used (non curved) Stelen as marks for ecological, neutral graves. 🪦