Tell Leilan is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in

Al-Hasakah Governorate Al-Hasakah Governorate (; ; , also known as , ''Gozarto'') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is located in the far north-east corner of Syria and distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water ...

, northeastern

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 ...

. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was known as Shekhna. During that time it was under control of the

Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (city), Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and Sumerian languag ...

and was used as an administrative center. Around 1800 BC, the site was renamed "Šubat-Enlil" by the king

Shamshi-Adad I Shamshi-Adad (; Amorite: ''Shamshi-Addu''), ruled 1813–1776 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-Adad by his son ca ...

, and it became his residential capital. Shubat-Enlil was abandoned around 1700 BC.

Geography

The site is located close to some other flourishing cities of the time.

Hamoukar Hamoukar (, known locally as ''Khirbat al-Fakhar'') is a large archaeological site located in the Jazira region of northeastern Syria ( Al Hasakah Governorate), near the Iraqi and Turkish borders. The early settlement dates back to the 5th mille ...

is about 50 km away to the southeast.

Tell Brak Tell Brak (Nagar, Nawar) was an ancient city in Syria; it is one the earliest known cities in the world. Its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of ...

is about 50 km away to the southwest, and also in the Khabur River basin. Tell Mozan (Urkesh) is about 50 km to the west. Leilan, Brak and Urkesh were particularly prominent during the Akkadian period.

History

The city originated around 5000 BC as a small farming village.

Early Bronze

Early Dynastic IIIA/Ninevite 5. It grew to be a large city BC, three hundred years before the

. The city had a large wall by BC. A number of finds from the Ninevite 5 period were found at the site.

Drought

A 3-foot layer of

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

at Tell Leilan containing no evidence of human habitation offered clues as to the cause of the demise of the Akkadian imperial city; analysis indicated that at around 2200 BC, a three-century

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

was severe enough to affect agriculture and settlement.

Middle Bronze

Shubat-Enlil

The conquest of the region by the Amorite warlord

(1813–1781 BC) of

Ekallatum Ekallatum ( Akkadian: 𒌷𒂍𒃲𒈨𒌍, URUE2.GAL.MEŠ, Ekallātum, "the Palaces") was an ancient Amorite city-state and kingdom in upper Mesopotamia. Ekallatum, whose name means "the palaces," became the capital of an Amorite dynasty related ...

revived the abandoned site of Tell Leilan. Shamshi-Adad saw the great potential in the rich agricultural production of the region and made it the capital city of his empire. He renamed it from Shehna to Shubat-Enlil, or Šubat-Enlil, meaning "the residence of the god

Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...

" in the

Akkadian language 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 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

. In the city a royal palace was built and a temple acropolis to which a straight paved street led from the city gate. There was also a planned residential area and the entire city was enclosed by a wall. The city size was about . Shubat-Enlil may have had a population of 20,000 people at its peak. After the death of Shamshi-Adad, the city became the capital of Apum and prospered until king

Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu-iluna'', "The Sun (is) our god") (–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chron ...

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 ...

sacked it in 1726 BC. During this period various minor kings ruled there, including Turum-natki, Zuzu, and Haja-Abum. Qarni-Lim, king of nearby Andarig, maintained a large palace there.

Archaeology

Beginning in 1979 the mound of Tell Leilan was excavated by a team of archaeologists from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, led by Harvey Weiss. The dig ended in 2008. Among many important discoveries at Tell Leilan is an archive of 1100

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian language, Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay t ...

s maintained by the rulers of the city. These tablets date to the eighteenth century BC and record the dealings with other Mesopotamian states and how the city administration worked.Jesper Eidem, with a contribution by Lauren Ristvet and Harvey Weiss: ''The Royal Archives from Tell Leilan. Old Babylonian Letters and Treaties from the Lower Town Palace East'' (PIHANS 117). The Netherlands Institute for the Near East, Leiden, 2011. Finds from the excavations at Tell Leilan are on display in the Deir ez-Zor Museum.

Notes

External links

Tell Leilan project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leilan Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 2nd millennium BC 1979 archaeological discoveries Former populated places in Syria 18th-century BC disestablishments Ancient Assyrian cities Akkadian cities Hurrian cities Archaeological sites in al-Hasakah Governorate Neolithic sites in Syria Tells (archaeology) 2nd millennium BC in Assyria