- Eshnunna
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Coordinates: 33°45′N 44°45′E / 33.75°N 44.75°E Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia. Although situated in the Diyala Valley north-east of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu.
The tutelary deity of the city was Tishpak (Tišpak).
Contents
History
Occupied from the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BCE, Eshnunna was a major city during the Early Dynastic period. Starting with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, Eshnunna oscillated between times of independence and domination by empires such as the Third Dynasty of Ur and Isin. Because of its control over lucrative trade routes, Eshnunna did function somewhat as a gateway between Mesopotamian and Elamite culture. The trade routes gave it access to many exotic sought-after goods such as horses from the north, copper, tin, and other metals and precious stones. In a grave, a pendant made of copal from Zanzibar was found [1]
After rising to prominence as an independent state in the early second millennium, during the time of Shamshi-Adad, it was occupied by Elam, then conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon in the 38th year of his reign, and absorbed within the Old Babylonian Empire (sometimes called the First Babylonian Dynasty). Thereafter, the city appears but rarely in cuneiform textual sources, reflecting a probable decline and eventual disappearance.
Archaeology
The remains of the ancient city are now preserved in the mound of Tell Asmar, near Baqubah, excavated in six seasons between 1930 and 1936 by an Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago team led by Henri Frankfort with Thorkild Jacobsen and Seton Lloyd. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Despite the long passage of time since the excavations at Tell Asmar, the work of examining and publishing the remaining finds from that dig continues to this day. These finds include roughly 1500 cuneiform tablets. [8]
In the late 1990s, Iraqi archaeologists worked at Tell Asmar. The results from that excavation have not yet been published.[9]
Laws of Eshnunna
Main article: Laws of EshnunnaThe Laws of Eshnunna consist of two tablets, found at Shaduppum (Tell Harmal) and a fragment found at Tell Haddad, the ancient Mê-Turan.[10] They were written sometime around the reign of king Dadusha of Eshnunna and appear to not be official copies. When the actual laws were composed is unknown. They are similar to the Code of Hammurabi. [11]
Square Temple of Abu
During the Early Dynastic period, the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar (Eshnunna) went through a number of phases. This included the Early Dynastic Archaic Shrine, Square Temple, and Single-Shrine phases of construction. They, along with sculpture found there, helped form the basis for the three part archaeological separation of the Early Dynastic period into ED I, ED II, and ED III for the ancient Near East.[12] A cache of 12 gypsum sculptures, in a geometric style, were found in the Square Temple. They're some of the best known examples of ancient Near East sculpture. [13]
Rulers of Eshnunna
Ruler Proposed reign Notes Urguedinna ~2000 BC Governor under Shulgi of the Ur III Kallamu Governor under Shulgi of the Ur III Ituria Governor under Shu-Sin of the Ur III Ilushuilia Governor under Ibbi-Sin of the Ur III Nurakhum Governor under Ibbi-Sin of the Ur III, Contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin Kirikiri Bilalama Contemporary of Tan-Ruhuratir of Elam Isharramashu Usurawasu Ur-Ninmar Ur-Ningizzida Ipiq-Adad I Contemporary of Abdi-Erah of Khafajah and Sumu-abum of Babylon Sarriia Warassa Belakum Ibal-pi-El I Ipiq-Adad II ~1700 BC Reigned at least 36 years Naram-Sin Son of Ipiq-Adad II, Contemporary of Shamshi-Adad Dannum-tahaz Approximate position Dadusha Son of Ipiq-Adad II, Contemporary of Shamshi-Adad Ibal-pi-El II Contemporary of Zimri-Lim of Mari, Killed by Siwe-palar-huppak of Elam who captured Eshnunna Silli-Sin Notes
- ^ Carol Meyer et al., From Zanzibar to Zagros: A Copal Pendant from Eshnunna, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 289-298, 1991
- ^ [1] Henri Frankfort, Thorkild Jacobsen, and Conrad Preusser, Tell Asmar and Khafaje: The First Season?s Work in Eshnunna 1930/31, Oriental Institute Publication 13, 1932
- ^ [2] Henri Frankfort, Tell Asmar, Khafaje and Khorsabad: Second Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Oriental Institute Publication 16, 1933
- ^ [3] Henri Frankfort, Iraq Excavations of the Oriental Institute 1932/33: Third Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Oriental Institute Publication 17, 1934
- ^ [4] Henri Frankfort with a chapter by Thorkild Jacobsen, Oriental Institute Discoveries in Iraq, 1933/34: Fourth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Oriental Institute Publication 19, 1935
- ^ [5] Henri Frankfort, Progress of the Work of the Oriental Institute in Iraq, 1934/35: Fifth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Oriental Institute Publication 20, 1936
- ^ [6] Henri Frankfort, Seton Lloyd, and Thorkild Jacobsen with a chapter by Günter Martiny, The Gimilsin Temple and the Palace of the Rulers at Tell Asmar, Oriental Institute Publication 43, 1940
- ^ [7] Clay Sealings And Tablets From Tell Asmar
- ^ [8] TAARII efforts to rescue Iraqi Archaeological publications
- ^ In Al-Rawi, Sumer 38 (1982, pp 117-20); the excavations are surveyed in Iraq 43 (1981:177ff; Na'il Hanoon, in Sumer 40 pp 70ffIraq 47 (1985)
- ^ The Laws of Eshnunna, Reuven Yaron, BRILL, 1988, ISBN 90-04-08534-3
- ^ "The Square Temple at Tell Asmar and the Construction of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia ca. 2900-2350 B.C.E,", Jean M Evans, American Journal of Archaeology, Boston, Oct 2007, Vol. 111, Iss. 4; pg. 599
- ^ [9] Henri Frankfort, Sculpture of the Third Millennium B.C. from Tell Asmar and Khafajah, Oriental Institute Publication 44, 1939
References
- City In the Sand (2nd Edition), Mary Chubb, Libri, 1999, ISBN 1-901965-02-3
- [10] R. M. Whiting Jr., Old Babylonian Letters from Tell Asmar, Assyriological Studies 22, , Oriental Institute, 1987
- [11] I.J. Gelb, Sargonic Texts from the Diyala Region, Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary, vol. 1, Chicago, 1961
- Maria deJong Ellis, Notes on the Chronology of the Later Eshnunna Dynasty, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 61–85, 1985
- I. J. Gelb, A Tablet of Unusual Type from Tell Asmar, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 219-226, 1942
See also
External links
Categories:- Sumerian cities
- Archaeological sites in Iraq
- Former populated places in Iraq
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