Editing Nimrud (section)

===Capital of the Empire===
The city was established from a previous settlement during the rule of [[Shalmaneser I]] (1274-1245 BCE). [[Ashurnasirpal II]] ordered the removal of debris from the towers and walls and wanted the construction of a new city. This new city would have a new royal mansion of superior size, bigger than previous monarchs'.<ref>Mark, Joshua J. (2014) https://www.worldhistory.org/Kalhu/</ref>

The kings of Assyria continued to be buried in [[Assur]], but their queens were buried in Kalhu. 
Kalhu is known today as Nimrud because the archaeologists of the 19th and 20th centuries gave it that name, believing it was the legendary city of the biblical [[Nimrod]], which is mentioned in the Book of Genesis.<ref>Mark, Joshua J. (2014) https://www.worldhistory.org/Kalhu/</ref>

A grand opening ceremony with festivities and an opulent banquet in 864&nbsp;BC is described in an inscribed [[Stela|stele]] discovered during [[Archeology|archeological]] excavations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frahm |first1=Eckhart |title="The Neo-Assyrian Period (ca.1000-609 BCE)", in A Companion to Assyria |date=2017 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |page=170}}</ref> By 800 BC Nimrud had grown to 75,000 inhabitants making it the largest city in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 19 greatest cities in history |website = [[Business Insider]]|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/the-19-greatest-cities-in-history-2016-6?r=UK&IR=T#thebes-took-the-lead-with-75000-people-by-1500-bc-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Largest Ancient Cities|website = [[artoftravel.tips/]]|url=https://artoftravel.tips/largest-ancient-cities/}} 800 BC: Nimrud (Calah), Iraq: Haojing, China: Thebes, Egypt: Estimated population: 50,000 – 125,000</ref>

King Ashurnasirpal's son [[Shalmaneser III]] (858–823 BC) continued where his father had left off. At Nimrud he built a palace that far surpassed his father's. It was twice the size and it covered an area of about {{convert|12|acre|ha|order=flip|0}} and included more than 200 rooms.<ref name="Mesopotamia 1995 p. 100">Time Life Lost Civilizations series: ''Mesopotamia: The Mighty Kings''. (1995) p. 100–1</ref> He built the monument known as the Great [[Ziggurat]], and an associated temple.

Nimrud remained the capital of the [[Assyrian Empire]] during the reigns of [[Shamshi-Adad V]] (822–811 BC), [[Adad-nirari III]] (810–782 BC), Queen [[Semiramis]] (810–806 BC), [[Adad-nirari III]] (806–782 BC), [[Shalmaneser IV]] (782–773 BC), [[Ashur-dan III]] (772–755 BC), [[Ashur-nirari V]] (754–746 BC), [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] (745–727 BC) and [[Shalmaneser V]] (726–723 BC). Tiglath-Pileser III in particular, conducted major building works in the city, as well as introducing [[Eastern Aramaic languages|Eastern Aramaic]] as the ''lingua franca'' of the empire, whose dialects still endure among the Christian [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] of the region today.

However, in 706&nbsp;BC [[Sargon II]] (722–705 BC) moved the capital of the empire to [[Dur-Sharrukin|Dur Sharrukin]], and after his death, [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC) moved it to [[Nineveh]]. It remained a major city and a royal residence until the city was largely destroyed during the fall of the Assyrian Empire at the hands of an alliance of former subject peoples, including the [[Babylonians]], [[Chaldea]]ns, [[Medes]], [[Persia]]ns, [[Scythians]], and [[Cimmerians]] (between 616 BC and 599 BC).