modern Nimrūd
Ancient city, Assyria .
Lying south of modern Mosul , Iraq, it was founded in the 13th century BC by Shalmaneser I. It remained unimportant until the 9th century BC, when Ashurnasirpal II made it the capital of Assyria. It was the site of a religious building founded in 798 BC by Queen Sammu-remat (Semiramis of Greek legend). Excavations there have yielded thousands of carved ivories from the 9th–8th centuries BC.