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Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894) began his excavations in November 1845 in Nimrud, where he thought he had discovered the remains of ancient Nineveh. In fact, he had found Kalhu (known as Calah in Genesis 10:11–12), capital of the Assyrian king Assurnasirpal II, who ruled from 883 to 859 B.C.E. Kalhu remained the capital of Assyria for 150 years. Among Layard’s finds in Nimrud, which he explored until 1847, was the Black Obelisk. He returned to Nimrud in 1849, and later moved to Nineveh, where he discovered Sennacherib’s palace. Layard’s field-work came to an end in 1852 with the onset of the Crimean War.