INTEGRATED METHODOLOGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RECONSTRUCTIVE STUDY OF DUR-SHARRUKIN (IRAQ) M. Cultraro, F. Gabellone, G. Scardozzi C.N.R. - I.B.A.M. - Archaeological and Monumental Heritage Institute Campus Universitario, via Monteroni, 73100, Lecce (Italy) E-Mail: m.cultraro@ibam.cnr.it, f.gabellone@ibam.cnr.it, g.scardozzi@ibam.cnr.it KEY WORDS: Archaeology, Modelling, Reconstruction, Quickbird, Virtual Reality, Three-dimensional. ABSTRACT The experience presented here was gained in the context of the Project entitled Iraq Virtual Museum, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the scientific coordination of the Italian National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche). The project entails the construction of a Virtual Museum that will allow the public to enjoy the main archaeological treasures of the ancient civilisations that once flourished in the territory of modern-day Iraq. Specifically, we present here a case study of the ancient city of Dur-Sharrukin (today Khorsabad), the royal capital of the Assyrian Kingdom founded by Sargon II. The results of this work show the potential of integrating literary and historical sources, archaeological data, remote sensing and image- based technologies for the study, documentation, analysis and reconstruction of ancient cities, as well as for the cultural contextualization of the archaeological objects in the sites where they were discovered. Moreover, research activities have also enabled us to acquire new knowledge of objects, monuments and urban and territorial contexts, making it possible in turn to reconstruct the ancient layout of the archaeological monuments and the historical landscapes. 1. INTRODUCTION This work was carried out in the context of the Iraq Virtual Museum (IVM) Project conducted by the Italian C.N.R., whose objective was the construction of a Virtual Museum of the ancient civilisations that flourished in the territory of Iraq. Our contribution to the project is linked to the need to contextualize the objects and monuments currently on show in the Virtual Museum, linking them to their site of provenance and to the cultural sphere in which they originated. Dur-Sharrukin was chosen for a case-study because the ancient capital was deserted immediately after Sargon’s death, and so only the most important public buildings had been finished. The study mostly concerns the city and its main buildings in a wider context, integrating humanistic approaches (historical sources and archaeological data) and recent scientific methods. More specifically, the ancient sources and the data from the old excavations are integrated with archaeological remote sensing and image-based 3D modelling (photo-modelling and digital photogrammetry). The site has been documented by cataloguing the most significant monuments, in terms of historical and topographical development, in order to provide the “visitor” to the Virtual Museum with a complete image of the characteristics of the city and the contexts where the artefacts were found. In addition, some objects and monuments that are representative of Dur-Sharrukin have been reconstructed by means of 3D image-based modelling and rendering. Moreover, the availability for some years now of satellite images with high geometric resolution has opened up new possibilities for archaeological research and represents a form of documentation with enormous potential for the study of urban and territorial contexts. These images makes it possible to observe and document the archaeological area as it is today, both as a substitute for a real visit (currently impossible), and in preparation for a visit in the future. The detailed examination of these images also constitutes an important opportunity to acquire new data about the topographical layout of the city and its principal monuments. In times of conflict, satellite images also provide a crucial tool for monitoring archaeological sites, including their state of preservation or damage. 2. HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA Dur-Sharrukin is one of the most impressive example of an imperial core centre from Assyrian Mesopotamia (Fig. 1). The site, about ten miles North-northeast of Mosul, was explored in mid-March 1843 when Paule-Emile Botta identified the remains of an large palace (Fales 2001: 81-96). Misleadingly identified with the ancient Nineveh, only in the years 1852-1853 Victor Place proposed to identify the imperial capital of Sargon II (Fontan 1994). From 1928 to 1935 the Oriental Institute of Chicago carried out a new archaeological investigation completing the excavation of the royal palace and the other main monuments (Loud, Altman 1938). In 1957 an emergence excavation was carried out from the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and it led to the discovery of the Temple of Sibitti (Safar 1957). Sargon II founded Dur-Sharrukin, “Fortress of Sargon” between 713 and 707 B.C in the fruitful plain of Jebel Basiqa crossed by Hosr River (Parpola 1995). The king dedicated the new city in 706 B.C., shortly before the king’s death (Russell 1999: 234- 239). The foundation of the city was a deliberate statement of the Sargon’s power and of his own magnificence in terms of kingship and imperial ideology. As J. Reade has pointed out (1979: 330), each Assyrian capital city, and indeed the entire empire through a specific city, is dedicated to the individual design of each ruler, who planned the city layout giving it imperial grandeur in the form of monumental structures. The foundation of an imperial town significantly reflects the affirmation of the charismatic identity of the king, the “apex in the action of the creator king comparable only to the works of basic creation, owed to the gods” (Liverani 1979: 309). Roughly speaking, in an archaeological perspective, the investigation of the main Assyrian imperial towns is an important tool to understand the urban structure, either the hierarchies and the differences of the residential areas, and at the same time provides solid pointers for how a interdisciplinary research programme might tackle such issues, employing the evidence of both textual documentation and material cultural remains (Matthews 2003: 134-242). Dur-Sharrukin is an exceptionally example in terms of reconstruction of an Assyrian imperial city, because the town was built, occupied and abandoned under the successors of Sargon II in the space of a single generation. The new imperial capital was inspired by the same ideological and monumental activities which can find in the foundation of one of the most important town of the Assyrian empire, Kalhu, under Assurnasirpal II (Frankfort 1954: 92). The town covers an area of around 280 hectares (Fig. 1). The monumental city walls, 24 m thick on stone foundation, defines the urban space with seven gates (Battini 1996). Two gates are located on either