How many major gates were built into Nineveh’s city walls?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Nineveh: Nergal Gate — Nineveh The partially reconstructed Nergal Gate in Nineveh, Iraq.

There were 15 major gates built into the walls of the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. These gates were distributed across the city's sectors as follows:1

Eastern sector: 6 gates1
Western sector: 5 gates1
Northern sector: 3 gates (including the Adad Gate, the Nergal Gate, and the Sin Gate)1
Southern sector: 1 gate (the Ashur Gate)1

Among these, the Shamash Gate is noted as the most impressive, featuring extensive fortifications and a complex internal structure. Several of these entrances were historically adorned with lamassu, which are stone colossi depicting winged bulls.1