Kutha, Cuthah, Cuth or Cutha (, Sumerian: Gû.du₈.a^ki, Akkadian: Kûtu), modern Tell Ibrahim (also Tell Habl Ibrahlm) (), is an archaeological site in

Babil Governorate Babylon Governorate or Babil Province ( ''Muḥāfaẓa Bābil'') is a governorates of Iraq, governorate in central Iraq. It has an area of , The population in Babil for 2023 is 1,820,700. The provincial capital is the city of Al Hillah, Hillah, ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The site of

Tell Uqair Tell Uqair (Tell 'Uquair, Tell Aqair) is a Tell (archaeology), tell or settlement mound northeast of ancient Babylon, about 25 kilometers north-northeast of the ancient city of Kish (Sumer), Kish, just north of Kutha, and about south of Baghdad ...

(possibly ancient Urum) is just to the north. The city was occupied from the Akkadian period until the Hellenistic period. The city-god of Kutha was Meslamtaea, related to

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...

, and his temple there was named E-Meslam.

Archaeology

Kutha lies on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

river, north of

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...

and around 25 miles northeast of the ancient cite of

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

. The site consists of two settlement mounds. The larger main mound is 0.75 miles long and crescent-shaped. A smaller mound is located to the west, in the hollow of the crescent. The two mounds, as is typical in the region, are separated by the dry bed of an ancient canal, probably the Shatt en-Nil but possibly the Irninna, in any case leading from the Euphrates. The first archaeologist to examine the site, in 1845, Henry Rawlinson, noted a brick of king Nebuchadrezzar II of the

Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC a ...

mentioning the city of Kutha (Ku-tu), though it is not known with certainty that it was in situ. He returned to visit the site a number of times. The site was also visited by George Smith in 1873 and by

Edgar James Banks Edgar James Banks (May 23, 1866 – May 5, 1945), was an American diplomat, antiquarian and novelist. Biography Banks was an antiquities enthusiast and entrepreneurial roving archaeologist in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire, who has been h ...

.
Edgar James Banks, Cutha, The Biclical World, sol. 22, no. 1, pp. 61–64, 1903 Tell Ibrahim was excavated by

Hormuzd Rassam Hormuzd Rassam (; ; 182616 September 1910) was an Assyriologist and author. He is known for making a number of important archaeological discoveries from 1877 to 1882, including the clay tablets that contained the ''Epic of Gilgamesh,'' the world ...

in 1881, for four weeks. Little was discovered, mainly some Hebrew and Aramaic inscribed bowls and a few tablets. He found a neglected "mausoleum of Abraham" on the small mound and had it cleaned by his workers. Recording a few more bricks of Nebuchadrezzar II, he indicated the possibility that they were not originally from the site. While no cuneiform texts have been found at the site aside from the few excavated by Rassam and held in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(BM 42261, BM 42494, BM 42264, BM 42275, BM 42379, and BM 42295), noting that some of those may actually have come from the unlocated Tell Egraineh which Rassam also excavated in 1881, some have appeared for sale over the years, almost all from the Achaemenid period with three being from the Old Akkadian period and one from the Old Babylonian period.

History

Early Bronze

Akkadian period

In a contemporary inscription of

Naram-Sin of Akkad Naram-Sin, also transcribed Narām-Sîn or Naram-Suen (: '' DNa-ra-am D Sîn'', meaning "Beloved of the Moon God Sîn", the "𒀭" a determinative marking the name of a god; died 2218 BC), was a ruler of the Akkadian Empire, who reigned –22 ...

(c. 2200 BC), after a number of cities rebelled he deified himself, mentioning Kutha.

Ur III period

A foundation tablet (found in Nineveh) records that the second ruler of the Ur III empire,

Shulgi Shulgi ( dšul-gi,(died c. 2046 BC) formerly read as Dungi) of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from (Middle Chronology). His accomplishments include the completion of construction of the Great ...

, built the E-Meslam temple of Nergal at Kutha. He is not yet deified so it was early in his reign. During his reign a large palace was built at Tummal. Building materials came from as far away as Babylon, Kutha, and Adab.

Middle Bronze

A ruler of Kutha was Ilum-nāsir.

Old Babylonian period

Sumu-la-El Sumu-la-El (also Sumulael or Sumu-la-ilu) was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned c. 1880-1845 BC ( MC). He subjugated and conquered nearby cities like Kish and built a string of fortresses around his territory. He is known to have ...

, a king of the 1st Babylonian Dynasty, rebuilt the city walls of Kutha. The city was later defeated by

Hammurabi Hammurabi (; ; ), also spelled Hammurapi, 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 the ci ...

of Babylon in the 39th year of his reign with his year name reading "Year in which Hammu-rabi the king with the great power given to him by An and Enlil smote the totality of Cutha and the land of Subartu". The 40th year name of Hammurabi mentions the Emeslam temple at Kutha. Incised stone plaque Cutha AN1933

Late Bronze

Kassite period

In the fragmentary Epic of

Adad-shuma-usur Adad-šuma-uṣur, inscribed dIM-MU-ŠEŠ, meaning "O Adad, protect the name!," and dated very tentatively 1216–1187 BC ( short chronology), was the 32nd king of the 3rd or Kassite dynasty of Babylon and the country contemporarily known as K ...

, a Kassite dynasty ruler (c. 1200 BC), BM 34104+, he states: In a related, much damaged, text, BM 45684, Adad-shuma-usur states "at night- im I arrived, the wall of Cuthah ... I spoke greeting, to Emesl m.

Iron Age

Neo-Babylonian period

On the Neo-Assyrian

Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture, Neo-Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shal ...

(859–824 BC), Kutha is mentioned on line 82 ie "I marched to the great cities (and) made sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa, (and) Cuthah,(and) presented offerings to the great gods." The records of Neo-Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal state that in 651 BC Šamaš-šuma-ukin captured Cuthah. Šamaš-šuma-ukin was the son of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon and the elder brother of Esarhaddon's successor Ashurbanipal. An inscription of Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), found in a columnar form and as a prism at Babylon, mentions Kutha. Several governors are known from the time the city was under the control of Achaemenid Empire ruler

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

during 539–530 BC. They are Nergal-tabni-usur, Nergal-sar-usur, and Nabu-kesir. According to the Diadochi Chronicle in the seventh year 7th year of seleucid ruler

Alexander IV of Macedon Alexander IV (Greek: ; August 323 BC – Late summer 309 BC), sometimes erroneously called Aegus in modern times, was the posthumous son of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) by his wife Roxana of Bactria. As his father's ...

, 311/310 BC, general

Antigonus I Monophthalmus Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( , "Antigonus the One-Eyed"; 382 – 301 BC) was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general and Diadochi, successor of Alexander the Great. A prominent military leader in Alexander's army, he went on to control lar ...

battled general

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, ''Séleukos Nikátōr'', "Seleucus the Victorious"; ) was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general, officer and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to fo ...

after the latter revolted along with the temple administrator of Kutha.

In Religious Tradition

The literary composition "Legend of the King of Cuthah", a fragmentary inscription of the Akkadian literary genre called ''narû'', written as if it were transcribed from a royal stele, is in fact part of the "

Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin The Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin is one of the few literary works whose versions are attested in both Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian and the Standard Babylonian of the late Neo-Babylonian period, a literary life of around 1,500 years. It seems to ...

", not to be read as history, a copy of which was found in the cuneiform library at Sultantepe, north of

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

. According to the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. ''

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

n cities from which

Sargon II Sargon II (, meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is generally believed to have be ...

King of Assyria The king of Assyria (Akkadian language, Akkadian: , later ) was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its early history, Assyria was ...

, brought settlers to take the places of the exiled

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

(). II Kings relates that these settlers were attacked by

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

s, and interpreting this to mean that their worship was not acceptable to the deity of the land, they asked Sargon to send an Israelite priest, exiled in Assyria, to teach them, which he did. The result was a mixture of religions and peoples, the latter being known as " Cuthim" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and as "

Samaritan Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

s" to the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

places Cuthah, which for him is the name of a river and of a district, in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and Neubauer says that it is the name of a country near

Corduene Gordyene or Corduene (; ; ) was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey. According to the ''1911 Encyclopædia Britannica'', Gordyene is the ancient name of the region of ''Bohtan'', now Şırnak Prov ...

Ibn Sa'd Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd () and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 CE (168 AH) and di ...

in his ''Kitab Tabaqat Al-Kubra'' writes that the maternal grandfather of Abraham, Karbana, was the one who discovered the river Kutha. In ''The Last Pagans of Iraq: Ibn Waḥshiyya and His Nabatean Agriculture'', Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila says: "One might also mention the rather surprising story, traced back to ' Ali, the first Imam of the Shiites, where he is made to identify himself as “one of the Nabateans from Kutha” (see Yaqut, Mu'jamIV: 488, s.v. Kutha). It goes without saying that the story is apocryphal, but it shows that among the Shiites there were people ready to identify themselves with the Nabateans. Thus it comes as no surprise that especially in the so-called ''ghulàt ''movements (extremist Shiites) a lot of material surfaces that is derivable from Mesopotamian sources (cf. Hämeen-Anttila 2001), and the early Shiite strongholds were to a great extent in the area inhabited by Nabateans. "Yaqut also notes, "the identification of Kutha as the original home Shiah Muslims believe to be the Abrahamic roots of Islam. Yet the identification of Kutha, and by extension also Abraham, with the Nabateans is remarkable."

Al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

says in ''The History of Prophets and Kings'' that the prophet Ibrahim was the son of his mother Nuba or Anmatala, who was the daughter of Karita who dug the river Kutha, named after his father Kutha.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Digital Images of Tablets from Kutha/CuthahTemple Hymns at ETCSLObjects from Kutha - British Museum
History of Babylon Governorate Samaritan culture and history Hebrew Bible cities Archaeological sites in Iraq Former populated places in Iraq