Shaduppum

Shaduppum (modern Tell Harmal, Iraq), is an ancient
Sumerian city which now lies within the borders of the modern city of Baghdad.

History

Not much is known outside the Old Babylonian times, though clearly the location was occupied fromat least the Akkadian period through the Old Babylonianperiod, when it was part of the kingdom of Eshnunna in the Diyala River area. It was an administrative center for the kingdom and it'sname means "the treasury."

Archaeology

Was excavated by Iraqi archaeologist Taha Baqir of theDepartment of Antiquities and Heritage from 1945 to 1963, discoveringabout 2000 tablets. [Taha Baqir, Excavations at Tell Harmal II: Tell Harmal, A Preliminary Report, Sumer 2, pp. 22-30, 1946] [Taha Baqir, Excavations at Harmal, Sumer 4, pp 137-39, 1948] [Taha Baqir, Tell Harmal, The Republic of Iraq Directorate of Antiquities, 1959] In 1997 and 1998, the site was worked by a team fromBaghdad University and the German Archaeological Instituteled by Peter Miglus and Laith Hussein. [Laith M. Hussein and Peter A. Miglus, Tell Harmal. Die Frühjahrskampagne 1997, Baghdader Mitteilungen, vol 29, pp 35-46, 1998] [Laith M. Hussein and Peter A. Miglus, Tall Harmal. Die Herbstkampagne 1998, Baghdader Mitteilungen, vol 30, pp 101-113, 1999] Many other illegally excavated tablets have found their way intovarious institutions.

The site featured a large trapezoidal wall and a temple to the goddess
Nisaba and god Khani. Among the tablets from Tell Harmal are two of the epic of Gilgameshand two with parts of the Laws of Eshnunna as well as some importantmathematical tablets.

Notes

References

*Maria de J. Ellis, Old Babylonian Economic Texts and Letters from Tell Harmal, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 43-69, 1972
*Gwendolyn Leick, Francis J. Kirk, A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture, Routledge, 1988, ISBN 0415002400

See also

*Cities of the ancient Near East
*Short chronology timeline
*Eshnunna

External links

* [http://oi.uchicago.edu/gallery/asp_meso_harmal/ Archaelogical Site Photographs: Tell Harmal - Oriental Institute of Chicago]
* [http://www.miglus.de/themen/harmal/harmal.html 1997/98 excavation report of the joint German/Iraqi team]
* [http://exchanges.state.gov/culprop/iraq/fi/00000054.htm Baked Clay Lion from Tell Harmal]