Haradum (modern Khirbit ed-Diniye (also Khirbet ed-Diniyé),

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

) was an

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

city on the middle

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

about 90 kilometers southeast of Mari. It was part of the ancient region of Suhum. The name of the town meant "the place where one stands watch".

History

While the site of Haradum was occupied earlier, under the control of

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...

, being mentioned in texts from Mari, it did not grow into a proper town until the 18th century BC under the control of the First Dynasty of Babylon.

Babylonian period

The earliest dated record is from the 26th year of King

Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu''; c. 1750–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon, ruling from 1750 BC to 1712 BC ( middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor of ...

of Babylon. Tablets from the reign of

Abi-eshuh Abī-Ešuḫ (variants: m''a-bi-ši'',''Chronicle of Early Kings'', (ABC 20), Tablet B, reverse, lines 8 to 10. "Abiši", m''E-bi-šum'',''Babylonian King List B'', obverse line 8. "Ebišum") was the 8th king of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon and rei ...

Ammi-ditana Ammi-Ditana was a king of Babylon who reigned from 1683–1640s BC. He was preceded by Abi-Eshuh Abī-Ešuḫ (variants: m''a-bi-ši'',''Chronicle of Early Kings'', (ABC 20), Tablet B, reverse, lines 8 to 10. "Abiši", m''E-bi-šum'',''Babylon ...

Ammi-saduqa Ammi-Saduqa (or Ammisaduqa, Ammizaduga) was a king, c. 1646–1626 BC according to the Middle Chronology dating, (or c. 1582–1562 according to the Short Chronology), of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Some twenty-one year-names survive for his rei ...

, and Samsu-Ditana have also been found at Haradum. The town of Haradum was destroyed during the reign of Samsu-Ditana. Haradum is noted for being one of the earliest examples of a planned city, with a rectilinear layout and straight streets. It contained two temples (dedicated to

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

and

Adad Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...

respectively) but no palace.

Archaeology

The site of Haradum is small, about 1.5 hectares in area. It was excavated for six seasons in the 1980s by a team from the Délégation Archéologique Française en Iraq led by Christine Kepinski-Lecomte. A number of cuneiform tablets were found in residential and temple contexts. The work was a salvage operation in response to dam construction.F. Joannes, Haradum et le pays de Suhum, Archeologia, vol. 205, pp. 56-59, 2005

Notes

References

*Christine Kepinski-Lecompte, Haradum I: Une ville nouvelle sur le Moyen-Euphrate, Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1992, *F. Joannes, C. Kepinski-Lecompte, Gudrun Colbow, Haradum II. Les Textes de la Periode Paleo-Babylonienne (Samsu-iluna - Ammi-saduqa), ERC, 2006, *C. Kepinski, Material Culture of a Babylonian Outpost on the Iraqi Middle Euphrates: the Case of Haradum during the Middle Bronze Age, Akkadica, vol. 126, pp. 121–131, 2005

Mark W. Chavalas, Terqa and Haradum: A Comparative Analysis of Old Babylonian Period Houses Along the Euphrates

External links