Mullissu Gate

References in scholarly literature to the excavation and restoration of the Šamaš Gate are included in this resource as the gate in question — the one that is about 1,600 m north of the southeast corner of Nineveh — is more likely to have been the Mullissu Gate. This east-facing gate of Nineveh was excavated/restored in 1849-51, 1965-71, and 1980-81.

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 Mullissu Gate was the fifth of the south- and east-facing gates. One inscription, however, states that it was the fourth of those gates. In inscriptions dated to 697-695 B.C., the Akkadian ceremonial name of the gate is Ištar-zāninki-kurbī ("O Ištar Bless the One Who Provides for You!"). However, according to texts dated to 694 and 691 B.C., its ceremonial name is Ša-Sîn-ahhē-erība-manzalti-ereqqi-kinnī-palêšu ("Make Sennacherib's Dynasty as Firm as the Position of the Wagon Constellation!").

The gate’s exact position is uncertain and cannot be confirmed from in-situ inscriptions. Most scholarly reconstructions place the Mullissu Gate about 2,800 m north of the southeast corner, just south of the Khosr River (approximate coordinates: 36.361431, 43.173201). At that spot, however, there are no visible traces of an impressive gate, as one expects from a gate dedicated to an important goddess like Mullissu/Ištar. Following Julian Reade’s recent reassessment of the locations of Nineveh’s gates (SAAB 22 [2016], 39-93),Sennacherib more likely had the Mullissu Gate built about 1,200 m south of its traditional proposed location, on the spot traditionally assigned to the Šamaš Gate. This location is better suited as the remains of a large and impressive gate, one befitting dedication to an important goddess, have been uncovered there. The Step Gate is likely to have been the city gate built south of the Khosr River.