Tell Zurghul, also spelled Tell Surghul, 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 ...
in
Dhi Qar Governorate
Dhi Qar Governorate (, ) is a governorate in southern Iraq, in the Arabian Peninsula. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the governorate was known as Muntafiq Governorate. Thi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civilizatio ...
(
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 ...
). It lies on an ancient canal leading from
Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...
of which is lies 10 km to the south-east. Its ancient name was the cuneiform read as Niĝin (or Nina or Ninua). The city god was
Nanshe
Nanshe ( ) was a Mesopotamian goddess in various contexts associated with the sea, marshlands, the animals inhabiting these biomes, namely bird and fish, as well as divination, dream interpretation, justice, social welfare, and certain administrat ...
(Nanše), who had temples there (E-sirara) and at nearby
Girsu
Girsu ( Sumerian ; cuneiform ) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some northwest of Lagash, at the site of what is now Tell Telloh in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. As the religious center of the kingdom of Lagash, it contained significant temple ...
. She was the daughter of Enki and sister of Ningirsu and Nisaba. Niĝin, along with the cities of Girsu and Lagash, was part of the State of Lagash in the later part of the 3rd Millennium BC.
Archaeology
According to the current excavators, Tell Zurghul covers 70 hectares with two mounds. One mound, known as Mound A, stands 15 meters high and is the site of ancient Nigin. The other mound, Mound B, is about 150 meters to the south and rises to 5 meters in height. Additionally, there is an extensive Lower Town. The western edge of the site features a 200 x 150m feature (Area C) that remains unidentified.
On January 31, 1885, the site, then called Surghul, was visited by
William Hayes Ward
William Hayes Ward (June 25, 1835 – August 28, 1916) was an American clergyman, editor, and Orientalist.
Biography
William Hayes Ward was born in Abington, Massachusetts on June 25, 1835.
After attending Berwick Academy in Maine, adjacent ...
. During the winter of 1913-14 Comte Aymar de Liedekerke-Beaufort visited Surghul. In 1926, the site was visited during an archaeological survey of southern Mesopotamia by Raymond P. Dougherty of Yale University under the auspices of the
American Schools of Oriental Research
The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), founded in 1900 as the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, which supports the research and teaching of ...
. He reported that it covered 200 acres and had two mounds, on 45 feet high and the other 25 feet high. The few scattered finds were mainly pottery shards, flint saw blades, and broken bricks. Some bricks and a cone had an inscription of Gudea. The mounds were surrounded by water. In the 1970s, American archaeologists working at nearby Lagash visited twice collecting, 4 bricks and 12 cones.
The first excavations at Tell Zurghul, led
Robert Koldewey
Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick ...
, occurred January 4 to February 1887 under the auspices of the Royal Prussian Museums for Berlin. Besides digging long, deep trenches in Area A and Area B, Koldewey collected 16 clay cones. A number of graves, both interments and cremations, were examined during this period. Unfortunately, as is often the case with early excavations, very little information is available regarding excavation records from Koldewey's efforts.
Since 2015 Zurghul has been excavated by Italian Archaeological Expedition, under the auspices of Sapienza University of Rome and Perugia University, led by Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro.
[Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro, "Preliminary Report on the Third Season of Excavations at Tell Zurghul, ancient Nigin, Iraq", Sumer, vol. LXVI, pp. 109-131, 2020] Work was continued in 2016, 2017, 2019 and the most recent excavation season in 2021. Another season is planned for 2022.
[Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro, "The Italian archaeological excavations at Tell Zurghul, Ancient Nigin, Iraq: final report of the seasons 2015-2017", Quaderni di Vicino Oriente, vol. 16, Roma Sapienza Università di Roma, 2020 ][Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro and Lorenzo Verderame, "New Inscriptions of Gudea from Tell Surghul/Niĝin, Iraq", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 106, no. 1, pp. 16-21 2016, ] There is a deep cut (35 meters by 3.5 meters) in the south-eastern slope of the larger mound (Mound B) from the German excavations. A small (6.5 meters by 5.5 meters) pit was found at the top of that mound and is assumed to also be from the German excavations.
Luca Volpi, "Revisiting the South: a Typochronological Approach to the Analysis of the Ubaid Pottery based on the New Data from Tell Zurghul (Dhi Qar, Iraq)", Paléorient, 48-1, pp. 175-199, 2022
One foundation tablet and one foundation figurine of Gudea were found at Tell Zurghul.
Area A
In the excavations led by Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro in 2015-2016, an open area of 15m by 10m was opened at the base of Area A, at its southern side. This area was selected due to its topographical location in a central area of Tell Zurghul, and for the presence of gypsum bricks that had been revealed due to erosion from the rain.
This excavation revealed different architectural layers belonging to a large mud-brick building, which has been identified so far as two main historical phases, as well as a large courtyard with a beaten earth floor to the west of the building, delimited by an outer wall. Part of the building contains a room with a partially preserved western and northern wall, the northern wall being made of Riemchen mud-bricks, whilst the upper part of the western wall was made of gypsum bricks. Several jars typical of the
Jemdet Nasr
Jemdet Nasr () (also Jamdat Nasr and Jemdat Nasr) is a Tell (archaeology), tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate, Iraq that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (c. 3100–2900 BC), under an alternate period ...
period were found deposited within the room, as well as goblets in an inner room.
In the courtyard, a
tannur oven with a bench was recovered, as well as several conical bowls containing residue of organic matter alongside several flint blades and an obsidian blade. Traces of an installation thought to be a small table were also detected immediately south of the tannur. This area has thus been interpreted as a production area, specifically one for the cooking of food.
Area B
Area B is located on the western side of Mound B. It was excavated in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021. Finds, including seven censers (pottery stands) similar to those found in Eridu Temple VI, have been all from the Ubaid 4 period. Three occupational layers have been exposed. In 2019 the area was extended into the area of the old German pit. In this portion remains from Ubaid to Ur III were found, including a brick of Entemena of Lagash and a geometric stamp seal.
Area C
This section, in the Lower Town, has so far only been subjected to a surface survey.
Area D
Area D is located at the top of Mound A, on its southern slope. The site was first excavated by
Koldewey in 1887, where due to the use of a large
sounding trench, heavy erosion of the upper strata was observed in later excavation.
In 2015-2017, Nadali and Polcaro sought to locate the location of the temple complex
Sirara
At the beginning of 3rd dynasty of Ur, Sirara ( ) was a temple complex in Lagash - it may also (or instead) have been a city as mentioned in The Royal Chronicle of Lagaš. It has been suggested that the city-state known as Sirara was also calle ...
, dedicated to the goddess
Nanshe
Nanshe ( ) was a Mesopotamian goddess in various contexts associated with the sea, marshlands, the animals inhabiting these biomes, namely bird and fish, as well as divination, dream interpretation, justice, social welfare, and certain administrat ...
.
[Nadali, Davide, "Area D: stratigraphy and architecture of the “Mountain lifted above all (other) houses” at Tell Zurghul, ancient Nigin, Iraq", VICINO ORIENTE. QUADERNO, pp. 35-52, 2020] The temple was said to be built by
Gudea
Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a''; died 2124 BC) was a Sumerian ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled –2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144–2124 BC ( middle chronology). He probably did not come from the ...
, and described as the “Mountain Lifted Above All (Other) Houses”. The south-eastern foot of Mound A was found to contain inscribed cones and bricks from Gudea, hypothesised to have slid down from the original location of the temple at the top of the mound over time.
Nadali and Polcaro opened a 11 x 10m trench to the south of Koldewey's sounding trench in order to analyse the nature and stratigraphy of Mound A. The excavations revealed two phases of terracing and levelling. This artificial terracing of mud with baked brick fragments contributed to the shape of Mound A. Pottery and other materials found on these platforms were attributed to the Akkad/ Ur III period, corresponding to the rule of Gudea. The excavations also demonstrated an accumulation of strata that may be explained by the continuous destruction and rebuilding of the sacred site.
At present, there is no archaeological evidence reported at Area D that can be identified as the Sirara temple without a doubt. One hypothesis is that stratification of the mound began in the early 3rd millennium BCE, before Gudea (who ruled in the 2nd millennium BCE) refurbished the site and built Sirara on top.
Area E
Work in this section, along the south-western slope of Mound A, began in 2019. The goal was to determine occupation before the building of the temple by Gudea. So far recoveries are from the Early Akkadian period.
Area F
This is located in the Lower Town to the west of the main mounds. The work was started in 2021 after a 2017 drone survey found indications of possible rectilinear structures. Sections eximined so far appear to have been used for cooking. Work will continue here in 2022.
History
Excavations have found stratified evidence of occupation in the
Ubaid period
The Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall, Leonard Woolley in 19 ...
(Ubaid 4), Late
Uruk period
The Uruk period (; also known as Protoliterate period) existed from the protohistory, protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the S ...
, Early
Jemdet Nasr
Jemdet Nasr () (also Jamdat Nasr and Jemdat Nasr) is a Tell (archaeology), tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate, Iraq that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (c. 3100–2900 BC), under an alternate period ...
, and Early Dynastic I period. Out of context finds and textual evidence support a strong occupation in the Early Dynastic III Period of the First and Second Dynasties of Lagash. The former is represented by inscriptions of
Enmetena
Entemena, also called Enmetena (, ; ), was a son of Enannatum I who re-established Lagash as a power in Sumer. He defeated Il, king of Umma, Il in a territorial conflict through an alliance with Lugal-kinishe-dudu of Uruk, successor to Enshakushan ...
and the latter by those of Gudea who was responsible for major rebuilding of Sirara, the temple of the goddess Nanshe originally built by
Ur-Nanshe
Ur-Nanshe (, ; ) also Ur-Nina, was the first king of the First Dynasty of Lagash in the Sumerian Early Dynastic Period III. He is known through inscriptions to have commissioned many building projects, including canals and temples, in the state of ...
. The city was recorded as having been destroyed by the Elamites about the time of the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur. ‘The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur' has Nanshe declaring "Alas, the destroyed city, my destroyed temple!".
[P. Michalowski, "The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur.", Eisenbrauns, 1989 ] The excavators have speculated that the paucity of Early Dynastic III remains is the result of that destruction.
See also
*
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 ...
References
Further reading
*Casadei, E., and V. Oselini, "Is there a 2nd millennium BC phase at Tell Zurghul? Preliminary considerations on area C ceramic assemblage", VICINO ORIENTE, QUADERNO 16, pp. 163-181, 2020
*Caselli, Alessandra, and Titolo Andrea, "Tools and objects from Tell Zurghul excavations (2015-2017)", VICINO ORIENTE. QUADERNO 16, pp. 183-218, 2020
*Iacobucci, Giulia, et al., "Geomorphology of the lower Mesopotamian plain at Tell Zurghul archaeological site", Journal of Maps, pp. 1–14, 2022
*Nadali, Davide, "Area B: stratigraphy and architecture of the temples mound at Tell Zurghul, Iraq", VICINO ORIENTE. QUADERNO, pp. 1-17, 2020
*Nadali, Davide, "Cities in the water: Waterscape and evolution of urban civilisation in southern Mesopotamia as seen from Tell Zurghul, Iraq", Southern Iraq's Marshes: Their Environment and Conservation. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 15–31, 2021
*Nadali, Davide, and Andrea Polcaro, "Tell Zurghul, Ancient Nigin, Iraq: Preliminary Report of the New Results from Recent Excavations", Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Volume 2 Field Reports Islamic Archaeology, Harrassowitz, 2023
*Pauselli, Cristina, et al, "Grain size characterization of Tell Zurghul (Iraq)", Quaderni di Vicino Oriente. Vol. 16. Davide Natali e Andrea Polcaro, pp. 243-248, 2020
*Verderame, Lorenzo, "Inscribed objects from Zurghul, ancient Nina/Niĝin", VICINO ORIENTE. QUADERNO, pp. 219-236, 2020
*Volpi, Luca, and Pamela Fragnoli, "Petrography-based discrimination of production areas within southern Mesopotamia: new data on the Ubaid pottery from Tell Zurghul (Dhi Qar, Iraq)" Origini, pp. 35–62, 2021
*Volpi, Luca, "An Assessment on the Ubaid Pottery from Area B, Tell Zurghul (Southern Iraq)", VICINO ORIENTE. QUADERNO, pp. 53-87, 2020
*Zingarello, Melania, "Searching for 3rd Millennium BC Nigin (Tell Zurghul, Iraq) Archaeological Evidence between Presence and Absence", Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016, pp. 67-83, 2022 {{ISBN, 978-3-7001-8381-5
External links
The Italian Archaeological Expedition to Tell Zurghul, ancient NiginEpigraphic finds from Tell Zurghul at CDLIPresentation by the current excavators of Zurghul, 2021, 1+hr, YoutubeNuovi scavi a Nigin / Tell Zurghul - Campagna 2021 - Video (in Italian) - Mar 10, 2022*
ttps://iaassyriology.com/in-the-field/ In The Field: Tell Zurghul
Archaeological sites in Iraq
History of Dhi Qar Governorate
Lagash
Tells (archaeology)