Name of Object:

A Khorsabad barrel

Location:

Bucharest, Romania

Holding Institution:

National Museum of Romanian History

 About National Museum of Romanian History, Bucharest

Date of Object:

721–705 BC (reign of Sargon II); discovered in 1851–1854

Provenance:

Khorsabad

Description:

During the archaeological mission led in Khorsabad by French consul Victor Place (1851–1854), fourteen Assyrian barrels were discovered. However, only four were preserved, since most of Place’s findings were lost in a shipwreck that took place in April 1855 on the Shatt el-Arab. As a reward for his archeological activity, the French government offered Place one of the barrels. Between 1855-1863 he was a consul in Moldavia, where he settled and started a family. In 1987 the Romanian state bought the barrel from one of Place’s descendants after the authorities found out that he was trying to sell it abroad. The barrel is made of clay, is nine-sided and bears an inscription recounting the reign of Assyrian king Sargon II, founder of a new capital, Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad).

Citation of this web page:

"A Khorsabad barrel" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;rm;29;en

MWNF Working Number: RO 029