Mullissu Gate

The Mullissu Gate is the second of Dūr-Šarrukīn’s two north-facing (meḫret ištāni) gates. Because ‘north’ (Akkadian ištānu) can refer to both northeast and northwest in Akkadian sources, it is uncertain if the Mullissu Gate was located on the city’s northeast or northwest wall and, therefore, it is uncertain if that entranceway to Sargon II’s newly-constructed capital should be identified as Khorsabad Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 7, or a hitherto undiscovered (postern) gate on the northwest or southwest side of the citadel. Since one expects a plain gate to be dedicated to Mullissu (when compared to Šamaš, Enlil, and Ištar), the most plausible suggested location for the Mullissu Gate might be a hitherto undiscovered (postern) gate, probably located on the northwest side of the citadel (as suggested by Laura Battini); Gate 1 is a grand, decorated entrance, Gate 2 was probably is Adad Gate, and Gate 7 was very likely the Anu Gate, the first of the two west-facing entrances (since that portal actually faces 'west,' not 'north').

With regard to the location of the undiscovered (postern) gate, Battini places the Mullissu Gate on the northwest side of the citadel terrace, just east of the northwest corner. Her proposed placement is based on the fact that that location is 1380 m from Gate 6 (Ištar Gate), which is the same distance to Gate 3 (Šamaš Gate) on the southeast wall, and 1665 m from Gate 2 (Adad Gate), which is equidistance to Gate 5 (Ea Gate) on the southwest wall.