Paul-Emile Botta

Paul-Emile Botta (1802-1870) was a French diplomat and archaeologist who served as consul at Mosul and conducted the first successful excavation of an Assyrian royal palace, establishing the field of Assyriology and revealing the material reality of the Assyrian Empire to the Western world.

In 1843, Botta began excavating at Khorsabad (ancient Dur-Sharrukin), the royal capital built by Sargon II of Assyria (721-705 BC). He uncovered massive stone reliefs depicting military campaigns, royal hunts, and religious ceremonies, along with colossal winged bull figures (lamassu) guarding palace entrances. His finds were the first Assyrian artifacts to reach a European museum, shipped to the Louvre where they remain the foundation of its Assyrian collection.

Sargon II is of direct biblical significance as the Assyrian king who completed the conquest of Samaria and the deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:6). His annals, found at Khorsabad and other sites, claim credit for deporting 27,290 Israelites from Samaria - a specific detail that supplements the biblical account. Isaiah 20:1 names Sargon explicitly: "In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it."

Botta initially believed he had found biblical Nineveh, though his site was later identified as Dur-Sharrukin, a separate royal city 15 km northeast. His publication "Monument de Ninive" (1849-1850) introduced Assyrian art and architecture to European scholarship and inspired Layard's subsequent excavations at the actual Nineveh.