Palace of Ashurbanipal

Akkadian inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal dated to 645-ca. 643/642 B.C. record the rebuilding and expansion of the bīt redûti ("House of Succession"), a building whose purpose was to train the heir designate in the art of kingship. According to those same texts, the "House of Succession" is where Ashurbanipal’s grandfather Sennacherib was trained to become king and where he exercised kingship; where Ashurbanipal’s father Esarhaddon grew up and raised his own family; and where Ashurbanipal himself was educated and trained to be king of Assyria. It is possible that Ashurbanipal’s fondness for this palace might have had something to do with the fact that he had been born there.

No Sumerian ceremonial name appears to have been given to the bīt redûti. The palace was excavated in 1853-55, 1873-74, 1878-ca. 1880, 1889-90, and 1904-05.

A "North Palace" seems to have existed at Nineveh from the Middle Assyrian Period onwards. Based on the find spots of inscriptions, that royal residence appears to have originally lain northwest, not northeast, of the Ištar temple (Emašmaš).