Dur-Athara or Dur-Atkhara, more properly known as Dur-abi-hara, was an ancient city in Southern
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
.
Babylonian king
Marduk-apla-iddina II
Marduk-apla-iddina II (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ; in the Bible Merodach-Baladan, also called Marduk-Baladan, Baladan and Berodach-Baladan, lit. ''Marduk has given me an heir'') was a Chaldean leader from the Bit-Yakin tribe, originally establi ...
(died 702) fortified the city as part of his war against
Sargon II
Sargon II (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "the faithful king" or "the legitimate king") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 722 BC to his death in battle in 705. Probably the son of Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727), Sargon is general ...
(722-705),
moving "the entire
Gambulu The Gambulu, Gambulai, or Gambuli were a tribe of Arameans in ancient Babylonia. They were the most powerful tribe along the eastern border of Babylonia, or in the south toward the border with Elam. It is difficult to pinpoint their exact locatio ...
tribe" (an Aramean people
) into it.
He dug a canal from the nearby Surappu river, causing the entire area to flood, leaving the city in the position of an "artificial island".
Sargon's attack of Dur-Athara came in 710,
and according to Assyrian annals was completed in a single day.
Sargon plundered the city and deported 18,400 people from it,
after which Gambulu leaders offered tribute.
Sargon gave the city a new name, Dur-Nabu, and made it the capital of the province of Gambulu.
References
{{coord missing, Iraq
Babylonian cities