INTEGRATED METHODOLOGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE RECONSTRUCTIVE STUDY OF DUR-SHARRUKIN (IRAQ)

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 imagebased 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.