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Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in
Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ar, محافظة ديالى ) or Diyala Province is a governorate in central-eastern Iraq. Provincial government *Governor: Muthana al-Timimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Gov ...
,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
) was an ancient
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...
ian (and later
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...
) city and city-state in central
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
12.6 miles northwest of
Tell Agrab Tell Agrab (or Aqrab) is a tell or settlement mound southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq. History Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during ...
and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the Diyala Valley north-west of
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...
proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu. It is sometimes, in archaeological papers, called Ashnunnak or Tuplias,. The tutelary deity of the city was
Tishpak Tishpak (Tišpak) was a Mesopotamian god associated with the ancient city Eshnunna and its sphere of influence, located in the Diyala area of Iraq. He was primarily a war deity, but he was also associated with snakes, including the mythical mus ...
(Tišpak) (having replaced Ninazu) though other gods, including Sin, Adad, and Inanna of Kititum were also worshiped there. The personal goddess of the rulers were
Belet-Šuḫnir and Belet-Terraban Belet-Šuḫnir and Belet-Terraban were a pair of Mesopotamian goddesses best known from the archives of the Third Dynasty of Ur, but presumed to originate further north, possibility in the proximity of modern Kirkuk and ancient Eshnunna. Their na ...
.


History


Early Bronze

Inhabited since the
Jemdet Nasr period The Jemdet Nasr Period is an archaeological culture in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). It is generally dated from 3100 to 2900 BC. It is named after the type site Tell Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first r ...
, around 3000 BC, Eshnunna was a major city during the Early Dynastic period of Mesopotamia. It is known, from cuneiform records and excavations, that the city was occupied in the Akkadian period though its extent was noticeably less than it reached in Ur III times.
horkild Jacobsen, "Philological Notes on Eshnunna and Its Inscriptions", Assyriological Studies 6, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1934
Areas of the Northern Palace date to this period and show some of the earliest examples of widespread sewage disposal engineering including toilets in private homes. The first known rulers of the city were a series of vassal governors under the
Third dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC ( middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
. The last Ur III tablet found dated to the eighth month of the third year of Shu-Sin (2037 – 2028 BC) which is believed to mark the end of Ur control over Eshnunna. Eshnunna also stopped using the Ur calendar the next month.


Middle Bronze

After the fall of the Ur III empire there was a period of chaos in Akkad with numerous city-states vying for power. For a time Eshnunna was under the control of Subartu.
Ishbi-Erra Ishbi-Erra (Akkadian: d''iš-bi-ir₃-ra'') was the founder of the dynasty of Isin, reigning from ''c.'' 2017 — ''c.'' 1986 BC on the middle chronology or 1953 BC — ''c.'' 1920 BC on the short chronology. Ishbi-Erra was preceded by Ibbi-Si ...
(in his 9th year, circa 2010 BC) of the southern Mesopotamia city of
Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited ...
defeated them and installed Nurahum as the new king of Eshnunna. About the time of the middle 19th Century BC Babylon, under
Sumu-la-El Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dy ...
, and Eshnunna, under Ipiq-adad II, rose to fill the void. The boundary of control between the two city-states was fluid running somewhere about
Tell ed-Der Sippar-Amnanum (modern Tell ed-Der in Baghdad Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Near Eastern '' tell'' (hill city) about 70 kilometers north of Babylon. History Sippar-Amnanum was the sister city (or suburb in some eyes) of Sippar. Though occ ...
. Ipiq-adad II, like his son Naram-Sin, was deified. Dadusha, ruler of Esnunna, entered into a treaty with
Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad ( akk, Šamši-Adad; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.Some of the Mari letters addressed to Shamsi ...
and conducted joint military operations with his Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia. By then the geopolitical situation had grown very complicated, as shown by a record found at Mari at the time of Dadusha's successor: Mari (under Zimri-Lim) itself was also a power to the west, and Elam from the east often took an interest. To complicate thing even further, Eshnunna, besides at least 12,000 of their own troops, were joined by "an expeditionary force of Elamite troops" while "an army of 10000 Gutians under the command of their princess, Nawaritum, had 'their faces set toward Larsa'". The Gutians were then captured by the Elamites, after which they joined with their forces and Eshnunna. There are indications that Eshnunna was at that time a vassal of Elam under its ruler
Siwe-Palar-Khuppak Siwe-Palar-Khuppak was the '' Sukkalmah'' (ruler) of Elam from around 1778 to 1745 B.C.E. Around 1767 B.C.E, Siwe-Palar-Khuppak formed a coalition with Zimri-Lim of Mari and Hammurabi of Babylon. He led this coalition against Eshnunna, conquering ...
(r. 1778-1745 BC). If so this put the entire conflict into a Elam vs Babylon context. In 1762 BC, in Year 31 of
Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...
of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 BC), the Babylonians occupied the city of Eshnunna. He returned the titular deity of Assur which had been removed when Eshnunna captured the city of Assur.


Late Bronze

In the 12th century BC the Elamite ruler
Shutruk-Nakhunte Šutruk-Nakhunte was king of Elam from about 1184 to 1155 BC (middle chronology), and the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty. Elam amassed an empire that included most of Mesopotamia and western Iran. Under his command, Elam defeated the K ...
conquered Eshnunna and carried back a number of statues, ranging from the Akkadian period to the Old Babylonian period, to Susa. Because of its promise of control over lucrative trade routes, Eshnunna could function somewhat as a gateway between Mesopotamian and
Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
ite culture. The trade routes gave it access to many exotic, sought-after goods such as horses from the north, copper, tin, and other metals and precious stones. In a grave in Eshnunna, a pendant made of
copal Copal is tree resin, particularly the aromatic resins from the copal tree ''Protium copal'' (Burseraceae) used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and for other purposes. More generally, copal includes re ...
from
Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...
was found. A small number of seals and beads from the
Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
were also found.


Archaeology

The remains of the ancient city are now preserved in the tell, or archaeological settlement mound, of Tell Asmar, some 50 miles northeast of
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and 15 km in a straight line east of
Baqubah Baqubah ( ar, بَعْقُوبَة; BGN: Ba‘qūbah; also spelled Baquba and Baqouba) is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated populat ...
. It was first located by
Henri Pognon Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mon ...
in 1892 but he neglected to report the location before he died in 1921. It was refound, after antiquities from the site began to appear in dealers shops in Baghdad, and excavated in six seasons between 1930 and 1936 by an Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
team led by Henri Frankfort with
Thorkild Jacobsen Thorkild Peter Rudolph Jacobsen (; 7 June 1904 – 2 May 1993) was a renowned Danish historian specializing in Assyriology and Sumerian literature. He was one of the foremost scholars on the ancient Near East. Biography Thorkild Peter Rudolph Ja ...
, Pinhas Delougaz, Gordon Loud, and
Seton Lloyd Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, CBE (30 May 1902, Birmingham, England – 7 January 1996, Faringdon, England), was an English archaeologist. He was President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Director of the British Institute of Archaeo ...
. The expedition's field secretary was
Mary Chubb Mary Chubb (22 March 1903 – 22 January 2003) was a British writer and archaeologist. She has been described as "the first professional excavation administrator". She was the daughter of John Burland Chubb (1861–1955), A.R.I.B.A., and a desc ...
. The primary focuses of the Chicago excavations were the Palace and the attached temple (28 meters by 28 meters with 3 meter wide walls) of Su-Sin (termed by the excavators The Palace of the Rulers and The Gimilsin Temple respectively). The Palace was built during the time of Ur III ruler Shugi and the Temple by governor Ituria to the deified Ur III ruler Su-Sin during his reign. The Palace was partially destroyed during the reign of Bilalama but was eventually fully restored. The remaining excavation efforts were directed to the Abu Temple whose beginnings went back to the Early Dynastic I period and which had undergone a series of major changes over the centuries. A large Southern Building was discovered, believed to be from the time of Ipiq-Adad II, of which only the foundations remained. A number of private houses and a palace from the Akkadian period were also excavated. Much effort was also put into the search for E-sikil, temple of Tishpak, without success. In records written in Sumerian the temple is dedicated to Ninazu while those in Akkadian refer to Tishpak.Reichel, Clemens. "Centre and Periphery–The Role of the ‘Palace of the Rulers’ at Tell Asmar in the History of Ešnunna (2,100–1,750 BCE)." Journal of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 11 (2018): 29-53 Despite the length of time since the excavations at Tell Asmar, the work of examining and publishing the remaining finds from that dig continues to this day. These finds include, terracotta figurines, toys, necklaces, cylinder seals, and roughly 200 clay sealings and around 1,750
cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge- ...
tablets (about 1000 of which came from the Palace). Because only inexperienced laborers were available many of the tablets were damaged or broken during the excavation. A project to clean, bake, and catalog all the tablets did not occur until the 1970s. The tablets from the Akkadian period were published in 1961. While most of the Eshnunna tablets are of an administrative nature 58 are letters which are rare in this time period. The letters are written in an early form of the Old Babylonian dialect of the
Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language t ...
, termed "archaic Old Babylonian". They are roughly in two groups a) earlier primarily from the reigns of Bilalama, Nur-ahum and Kirikiri and b) later primarily from the reigns of Usur-awassu, Ur-Ninmar, and Ipiq-Adad I. In the late 1990s, Iraqi archaeologists worked at Tell Asmar. The results from that excavation have not yet been published.


Square Temple of Abu

During the Early Dynastic period, the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar (Eshnunna) went through a number of phases. This included the Early Dynastic Archaic Shrine, Square Temple, and Single-Shrine phases of construction. They, along with sculpture found there, helped form the basis for the three part archaeological separation of the Early Dynastic period into ED I, ED II, and ED III for the ancient Near East. A cache of 12 gypsum temple sculptures, in a geometric style, were found in the Square Temple; these are known as the Tell Asmar Hoard. They are some of the best known examples of ancient Near East sculpture. The group, now split up, show gods, priests and donor worshipers at different sizes, but all in the same highly simplified style. All have greatly enlarged inlaid eyes, but the tallest figure, the main
cult image In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Ro ...
depicting the local god, has enormous eyes that give it a "fierce power".


Laws of Eshnunna

The Laws of Eshnunna consist of two tablets, found at
Shaduppum Shaduppum (modern Tell Harmal) is an archaeological site in Baghdad Governorate (Iraq). Nowadays, it lies within the borders of modern Baghdad. History of archaeological research The site, 150 meters in diameter and 5 meters high, was excavated ...
(Tell Harmal) and a fragment found at Tell Haddad, the ancient
Mê-Turan Me-Turan (also Mê-Turan) is an archaeological site in Diyala Governorate Iraq comprising the modern Tell Haddad and the two mounds of Tell al-Sib (also Tell as-Sib). In Neo-Assyrian times it was known as Me-Turnat. It was excavated as part of the ...
. They were written sometime around the reign of king Dadusha of Eshnunna and appear to not be official copies. When the actual laws were composed is unknown. They are similar to the
Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
.


Rulers

Rulers from the Early Dynastic period and governors under the Akkadian empire are currently unknown. Eshnunna was ruled by vassal governors under Ur III for a time, then was independent under its own rulers for several centuries, and finally controlled by vassal governors under Babylon after the cities capture by Hammurabi. Rulership is unknown afterwards though the city did survive at least until the 12th century BC.Maria deJong Ellis, "Notes on the Chronology of the Later Eshnunna Dynasty", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 61–85, 1985


Excavation photographs

File:Dancers Eshnunna Louvre AO12443.jpg, Dancers Eshnunna Louvre File:Ishtar Eshnunna Louvre AO12456.jpg, Plaque of Ishtar from Eshnunna File:Sumerian Statues from Eshnunna and Khafajah of Diyala region, Iraq Museum.jpg, Sumerian Statues from Eshnunna and Khafajah File:Detail, a statuette of a male worshiper, from Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna), Iraq, Early Dynastic period, 2600-2350 BCE. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.jpg, Statuette of male worshiper from Tell Asmar - Early Dynastic period 2600-2350 BC File:Plaque with female and male figures, Tell Asmar, Single-Shrine Temple III, Early Dynastic period, 2500-2330 BC, alabaster, shell, bitumen - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07365.JPG, Plaque_with_female_and_male_figures, Tell Asmar Single-Shrine Temple III - Early Dynastic period, 2500-2330 BC, alabaster, shell and bitumen File:Plaques with nude females, Tell Asmar, baked clay, (left) city wall area, Isin-Larsa period, 2000-1800 BC, (right) Ishchali, 2000-1600 BC - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07297.JPG, Plaques with nude females from Tell Asmar, baked clay, (left)_city wall area, Isin-Larsa period, 2000-1800 BC, (right) Ishchali, 2000-1600 BC File:Oriental Institute Museum. God with ax attacks eagle while Shamash and Worshipper stand behind (5948336437).jpg, God with ax attacks eagle while Shamash and Worshipper stand behind File:Statue of a Sumerian seated worshiper from Tell Asmar.jpg, Statue of a Sumerian seated worshiper from Tell Asmar File:Tablet OIM A7837.jpg, Tablet_OIM_A7837 File:Sumerian Status from Tell Asmar, part of the Tell Asmar Hoard (cropped).jpg, Sumerian Status from Tell Asmar - part of Tell Asmar Hoard File:Pendants, Tell Asmar, North Palace, room E 16 in hoard 11, Early Dynastic period, 2900-2350 BC, lapis lazuli, silver, carnelian - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07316.JPG, Pendants from Tell Asmar North Palace - Early Dynastic period - lapis lazuli, silver, and carnelian File:Straw, Tell Asmar, North Palace Area, hoard 12, Akkadian period, 2350-2150 BC, copper - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07325.JPG, Copper Straw from Tell Asmar North Palace Area - Akkadian period


See also

*
List of cities of the ancient Near East The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
*
Khafajah Khafajah or Khafaje (Arabic: خفاجة; ancient Tutub, Arabic: توتوب) is an archaeological site in Diyala Province ( Iraq). It was part of the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies east of Baghdad and southwest of Eshnunna. History of arc ...
* Tell Ishchali *
Chronology of the ancient Near East The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
* Mari *
Andarig Andarig or Anderiq was a middle bronze age kingdom in the Sinjar Plain region of northern Mesopotamia, located between the Habur and Tigris river. It is mentioned several times in the documents found in Mari. Andarig was one of the largest and mo ...


References


Sources

* * Civil, M., “A School Exercise from Tell Asmar”. Studia Orientalia Electronica, vol. 46, pp. 39–42, Apr. 2015 *Reichel C. 2003, A Modern Crime and an Ancient Mystery: The Seal of Bilalama, in: Selz G. J. (ed.), Festschrift für Burkhart Kienast zu seinem 70. Geburtstage dargebracht von Freunden, Schülern und Kollegen, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 274, Münster, pp. 355-389.

Pinhas Delougaz, "Pottery from the Diyala Region", ''Oriental Institute Publications'' 63, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1952,

Pinhas Delougaz, Harold D. Hill, and Seton Lloyd, "Private Houses and Graves in the Diyala Region", ''Oriental Institute Publications'' 88, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967

Pinhas Delougaz and Seton Lloyd with chapters by Henri Frankfort and Thorkild Jacobsen, "Pre-Sargonid Temples in the Diyala Region",'' Oriental Institute Publications 58'', Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1942 * I. J. Gelb, "A Tablet of Unusual Type from Tell Asmar", ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'', vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 219–226, 1942 * Gentili, Paolo. “CHOGHA GAVANEH: AN OUTPOST OF EŠNUNNA ON THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS?” Egitto e Vicino Oriente, vol. 35, 2012, pp. 165–73

ax Hilzheimer, translated by Adolph A. Brux, "Animal Remains from Tell Asmar", Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 20, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1941 * Lambert, W. G. “Narām-Sîn of Ešnunna or Akkad?” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 106, no. 4, 1986, pp. 793–95 * Romano, Licia, "Who was Worshipped in the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar?",'' KASKAL'' 7, pp. 51–65, 2010 * Gary A. Rendsburg, "UT 68 and the Tell Asmar Seal", Orientalia, NOVA SERIES, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 448–452, 1984 * Claudia E. Suter, "The Victory Stele of Dadusha of Eshnunna: A New Look at its Unusual Culminating Scene", Ash-sharq Bulletin of the Ancient Near East Archaeological, Historical and Societal Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1–29, 2018 * * R. M. Whiting Jr., "An Old Babylonian Incantation from Tell Asmar", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, vol. 75, pp. 179 – 187, 1985 * R. M. Whiting Jr., "Four seal impressions from Tell Asmar", Archiv für Orientforschung, vol. 34, pp. 30 – 35, 1987


External links


The Diyala Project at the University of Chicago


{{Authority control Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC States and territories established in the 3rd millennium BC Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) Sumerian cities Archaeological sites in Iraq Former populated places in Iraq Diyala Governorate Former kingdoms