Der (Sumer)

Coordinates: 33°14′N 45°58′E / 33.233°N 45.967°E / 33.233; 45.967

Mesopotamia in 2nd millennium BC

Not to be confused with Tell ed-Der.

Der (Sumerian: _ALUDI-E-IR) was a Sumerian city-state at the site of modern Tell Aqar near al-Badra in Iraq's Wasit Governorate. It was east of the Tigris River on the border between Sumer and Elam. It's name was possibly Durum. ^[1]

History

Der was occupied from the Early Dynastic period through Neo-Assyrian times. The local deity of the city was named Ishtaran, represented on Earth by his minister, the snake god Nirah.

In the late 3rd millennium, during the reign of Sulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Der was mentioned twice. The Sulgi year name 11 was named "Year Ishtaran of Der was brought into his temple", and year 21 was named "Year Der was destroyed".

In the second millennium, Rim-Sin I of Larsa reported destroying Der in his 20th year. Ammi-Ditana of Babylon also recorded destroying the city wall of Der in his 37th year, that he said had been built earlier by Damiq-ilishu of the Sealand Dynasty.

In 720 BC the Assyrian king Sargon II moved against Elam, but the Assyrian host was defeated near Der by the combined army of king Humban-Nikash I of Elam and king Marduk-apla-iddina II of Babylon. ^[2]

Archaeology

While it appear that no excavation has occurred at Der, several notable objects have been discovered nearby, including a kudurru (discovered at Sippar) which confirmed the name of the site. ^[3] The site itself has been heavily damaged by water over the centuries and was considered not worth excavating. ^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Katrien De Graef, Another Brick In the Wall: Durum In the Old-Elamite Susa, Akkadica, vol. 128, pp. 85-98, 2007
2. ^ Hayim Tadmor, The Campaigns of Sargon II of Assur: A Chronological-Historical Study, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 22-40, 1958,
3. ^ [1] Kassite kudurru at the British Museum
4. ^ Sidney Smith, An Egyptian in Babylonia, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 18, no. 1/2, pp. 28-32, 1982

See also

• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Short chronology timeline

References

• P. Michalowski, Durum and Uruk during the Ur III Period, Mesopotamia, vol. 12, pp. 83 –96, 1977

External links

• Stela at British Museum mentioning Der