Step Gate

The gate is mentioned in Akkadian inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib dating to 697-691 B.C. Most of Sennacherib’s inscriptions record that the Step Gate was the sixth of the south- and east-facing gates. One inscription, however, states that it was the fifth of those gates.

The gate’s exact position is uncertain and cannot be confirmed from in situ inscriptions. Most scholarly reconstructions place the Step Gate about 3,000 m north of the southeast corner and approximately 2,000 m south of the northeast corner (coordinates: 36.3632768, 43.1724032). However, a postern gate partially excavated in 1988 about 500 m south of that spot (36.3590074, 43.1740733) could be the Step Gate, as Julian Reade (SAAB 22 [2016], 74-77) proposes. The assumed position of this city gate depends largely on where one believes Sennacherib had the Šibaniba Gate and Halahhu Gate constructed; there are four suggested locations for the former and two for the latter. Based on available textual and archaeological evidence, as well as satellite imagery, the Step Gate is tentatively located in this resource north of the Khosr River, following traditional scholarly placement of the gate.