Located 15 kilometres from Nimrud, the site of Balawat was occupied as early as the 5th millennium. But it was during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) that it became an important Assyrian city, under the name of Imgur-Enlil.
The temple of the god of dreams
Excavated around 1878 and again in 1952 by British teams, the Balawat site revealed a palace that served as an occasional residence for the kings of Assyria, as well as a temple dedicated to Mamu, the god of dreams. During the excavation of this temple, several sets of richly decorated copper alloy plaques were found. They had originally adorned wooden doors to which they were attached with rosette-shaped nails.
Decorative metal plaques
Although this type of door decoration is attested elsewhere in Assyria, the Balawat finds are the best-preserved to date, and these remarkable decorations are displayed in various museums around the world. Very detailed, they depict military campaigns as well as scenes of royal audiences and hunting, similar to those represented on stone reliefs, glazed brick decorations, and paintings and textiles, which today have largely disappeared. Some of these plaques were looted and badly damaged and are currently being restored.
