New Year's Festival House at Assur

Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681 BC) infer that the original New Year's temple at Assur had been situated outside the city and that its location had long been forgotten. That seventh-century BC ruler had the structure constructed from (inscribed) stone blocks. The planning of the temple proved difficult: The original ground plan was abandoned and replaced by a newer one with a moderately different plan. The building was surrounded by lush, well-irrigated gardens and fruit orchards; the species of plants and trees are not known. In the main entrance of the temple, Sennacherib had an ornate bronze door cast using a new bronze casting technique. That elaborate work of art depicted an epic battle, representing a scene from the Assyrian version of Enūma eliš, the Babylonian poem of creation. In order to connect the New Year's temple to the Aššur temple, Sennacherib had a new stone processional way constructed.