Foundation figurine of Warad-Sin for Inanna at Zabalam

Zabala, also Zabalam ( ''zabalam^ki'', modern Tell Ibzeikh (also Tell el-Buzekh), Dhi Qar Governorate,

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 a city of ancient Sumer in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in

. In early archaeology this location was also called Tel el-Buzekh. Locally it is called Tell Bzikh. Zabala was at the crossing of the ancient Iturungal and Ninagina canals, 10 kilometers to the northwest of

Umma Umma ( sux, ; in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell ...

. The city's deity was Inanna of Zabala. A cuneiform tablet from Zabala contains one of only a few metro-mathematical tables of area measures from Early Dynatic Mesopotamia.

History

The first mentions of Zabala are in seals from the Jemdet Nasr period including a list of early sites - Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Uruk, Kes, and Zabalam. The earliest historical record, a bowl inscription, indicates that Zabala was under the control of Lugalzagesi of

Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; 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 Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) ...

. In the Sargonic Period, Rimush of Akkad reports Zabala as attempting to rebel against the control of the

Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rul ...

: Shar-kali-sharri and

Naram-Sin Naram-Suen (Naram-Sin) may refer to any of four kings in the history of Mesopotamia: * Naram-Sin of Akkad (), an Akkadian king, the most famous of the four * Naram-Sin of Assyria (), an Assyrian king * Naram-Sin of Uruk (), a king of Uruk * Na ...

both reported building a temple to the goddess

Inanna 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 ...

in Zabala. After the fall of Akkad, Zabala came into the sphere of the city-state 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 ...

as reported by the year names of several rulers including Itar-pisa and Ur-Ninurta. The town was later subject to Abisare of Larsa, whose year name reported the building of the "Favorite of Inanna of Zabalam" canal. During the Ur III period, Zabala was controlled by the Ur governor in

which was the capital of Umma Province.

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 wedg ...

texts state that Hammurabi built Zabala's temple Ezi-Kalam-ma to the goddess

. The temple of Inanna in Zabalam is the subject of hymn 26 in the temple hymns of Enheduanna.

Archaeology

The site, which covers an areas of about 61 hectares, was first identified during the South Mesopotamian Mound Survey in 1954. Beginning in the early 1900s, a great deal of illegal excavation occurred in Zabala. An example of writing from the time of Hammurabi was removed from Zabala during this period. This activity reached a new height in the 1990s, at which time the Iraqi State Organization of Antiquities and Heritage authorized an official excavation, the first at the site. Two seasons of excavation, in 2001 and 2002, occurred under the direction of Haider Al-Subaihawi. Several public and religious buildings were uncovered, a number of cuneiform tablets and an inscribed stone foundation cylinder of Warad-Sin, king of Larsa were found. A bronze sculpture ( canephor, which is a form of Caryatid ), from Warad-Sin which mentions his father Kudur-Mabuk was also found. A further outbreak of archaeological looting at Zabala broke out after the

2003 War in Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

.al Hamdani, A. (2008): Protecting and Recording our Archaeological Heritage in Southern Iraq, NearEastern Archaeology, vol. 71, pp. 221–230

Notes

References

*Andrew George, House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamian Civilizations, Vol 5), Eisenbrauns, 1993, *B. Alster, Geštinanna as Singer and the Chorus of Uruk and Zabalam: UET 6/1 22, JCS, vol. 37, pp. 219–28, 1985

External links

CDLI background on Zabala
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228194444/http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4801.htm , date=2005-12-28
Post 2003 war looting at Zabala
Sumerian cities Archaeological sites in Iraq Former populated places in Iraq Dhi Qar Governorate 2nd-millennium BC disestablishments Inanna Jemdet Nasr period City-states

History

Archaeology

Notes

See also

References

External links