Haradum (modern Khirbit ed-Diniye (also Khirbet ed-Diniyé),

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 an

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

city on the middle

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

about 90 kilometers southeast of Mari. It was part of the ancient region of

Suhum Suhum, Sūḫu, or Suhi was an ancient geographic region around the middle course of the Euphrates River, south of Mari. =History= Its known history covers the period from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1700/1600 BCE) to the Iron Age (c. ...

. The name of the town meant "the place where one stands watch".

History

While the site of Haradum was occupied earlier, under the control of

Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...

, being mentioned in texts from Mari, it did not grow into a proper town until the 18th century BC under the control of the

First Dynasty of Babylon The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...

Babylonian period

The earliest dated record is from the 26th year of King Samsu-iluna of Babylon. Tablets from the reign of Abi-eshuh,

Ammi-ditana Ammi-Ditana was a king of Babylon who reigned from 1683–1640s BC. He was preceded by Abi-Eshuh. Year-names survive for the first 37 years of his reign, plus fragments for a few possible additional years. His reign was a largely peaceful one; he ...

Ammi-saduqa Ammi-Saduqa (or Ammisaduqa, Ammizaduga) was a king, c. 1646–1626 BC according to the Middle Chronology dating, (or c. 1582–1562 according to the Short Chronology), of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Some twenty-one year-names survive for his reign ...

, and

Samsu-Ditana Samsu-ditāna, inscribed phonetically in cuneiform ''sa-am-su-di-ta-na'' in the seals of his servants, the 11th and last king of the Amorite or First Dynasty of Babylon, reigned for 31 years,BM 33332 Babylonian King List A i 2.BM 38122 Babylonian ...

have also been found at Haradum. The town of Haradum was destroyed during the reign of Samsu-Ditana. Haradum is noted for being one of the earliest examples of a planned city, with a rectilinear layout and straight streets. It contained two temples (dedicated to Ishtar and Adad respectively) but no palace.

Archaeology

The site of Haradum is small, about 1.5 hectares in area. It was excavated for six seasons in the 1980s by a team from the Délégation Archéologique Française en Iraq led by Christine Kepinski-Lecomte. A number of cuneiform tablets were found in residential and temple contexts. The work was a salvage operation in response to dam construction.F. Joannes, Haradum et le pays de Suhum, Archeologia, vol. 205, pp. 56-59, 2005

Notes

References

*Christine Kepinski-Lecompte, Haradum I: Une ville nouvelle sur le Moyen-Euphrate, Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1992, *F. Joannes, C. Kepinski-Lecompte, Gudrun Colbow, Haradum II. Les Textes de la Periode Paleo-Babylonienne (Samsu-iluna - Ammi-saduqa), ERC, 2006, *C. Kepinski, Material Culture of a Babylonian Outpost on the Iraqi Middle Euphrates: the Case of Haradum during the Middle Bronze Age, Akkadica, vol. 126, pp. 121–131, 2005

Mark W. Chavalas, Terqa and Haradum: A Comparative Analysis of Old Babylonian Period Houses Along the Euphrates

External links