Overview
Chogha Zanbil (Dur-Untash) stands in Khuzestan, Iran, about 40 km southeast of Susa. King Untash-Napirisha founded the sacred city in the mid-13th century BCE, dedicating its ziggurat to the gods Inshushinak and Napirisha. The stepped mud-brick tower originally rose in multiple terraces; baked-brick sheathing, glazed decoration, and surrounding temples, palaces, and a protective wall defined a major Elamite cult centre that was never finished to its full planned extent.
Assyrian campaigns under Ashurbanipal devastated Elam in the 7th century BCE; the site was thereafter largely abandoned and buried until Roman Ghirshman’s excavations (1951–1962) revealed the ziggurat’s plan. UNESCO inscribed Chogha Zanbil in 1979 as Iran’s first World Heritage property. Pair with Susa and Pasargadae for the Elamite-to-Achaemenid arc of southwestern Iranian capitals.