Dur-Kurigalzu
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Dur-Kurigalzu was a city in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) near the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala rivers, at a site now known as Aqa Quf (coordinates ) about 30 km west of Baghdad. It was founded by a Kassite king of Babylon, Kurigalzu I or II, some time in the 14th century BC, and was abandoned after the fall of the Kassite dynasty. The prefix Dur- is an Akkadian term meaning 'Fortess of', while Kurigalzu is a Kassitic name meaning 'Herder of the Folk (or of the Kassites)'.
The city contained a ziggurat and temples dedicated to Sumerian gods, as well as a royal palace. It was excavated by Iraqi archaeologists between 1943-1945. The ziggurat was unusually well-preserved, standing to a height of about 170 feet. It was "restored" to its first level by the Saddam Hussein government during the 1970s.
