Kisurra (modern Tell Abu Hatab,
Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate
Al-Qadisiyah Governorate ( ar, القادسية, translit=Al Qādisiyah), also known as Al-Diwaniyah Governorate ( ar, ٱلدِّيوَانِيَّة ''ad-Dīwānīyah''), is one of the governorates of Iraq. It is in the center-south of the count ...
,
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
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian ''
tell'' (hill city) situated on the west bank of the
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'') ...
, north of
Shuruppak
Shuruppak ( sux, , "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ni ...
and due east of
Kish
Kish may refer to:
Geography
* Gishi, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, a village also called Kish
* Kiş, Shaki, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality also spelled Kish
* Kish Island, an Iranian island and a city in the Persian Gulf
* Kish, Iran, ...
.
History
Kisurra was established ca. 2700 BC, during the Sumerian
Early Dynastic II
The Early Dynastic period (abbreviated ED period or ED) is an archaeological culture in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that is generally dated to c. 2900–2350 BC and was preceded by the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods. It saw the development of w ...
period. The southern end of the Isinnitum Canal was joined back into the Euphrates at Kisurra. The city lasted as a center for commerce and transport through the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
,
Ur III
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider to ...
, and part of the
Babylonian Empire
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. ...
s, until cuneiform texts and excavation show a decline during the time of
Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...
(c.1800 BC). The Larsa ruler
Rim-Sin (1822 to 1763 BC) reports capturing Kisurra in his 20th year of reign.The Babylonian ruler
Samsu-iluna
Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu''; c. 1750–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon, ruling from 1750 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC ( short chronology). He was the son and successor of ...
(1750 BC to 1712 BC), successor to Hammurabi, reports destroying Kisurra in his 13th year. Several kings of Kisurra are known: Itur-Szamasz (who built the temples of
Annunitum
Annunitum () or Anunītu was a Mesopotamian goddess of war. While initially she functioned as an epithet of Ishtar (Sumerian Inanna), she started to develop into a separate deity in the final years of the Sargonic period and through the Ur III per ...
, Enki, and Adad), Manabaltiel (who built the temple of
Ninurta
, image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png
, caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...
and was a contemporary of
Ur-Ninurta
Ur-Ninurta, c. 1859 – 1832 BC (short chronology) or c. 1923 – 1896 BC (middle chronology), was the 6th king of the 1st Dynasty of Isin. A usurper, Ur-Ninurta seized the throne on the fall of Lipit-Ištar and held it until his violent death so ...
of Isin), Szarrasyurrum, Ubaya, Zikrum, Bur-Sin, and Ibbi-Szamasz.
Archaeology
The site has an area of about 46 hectares which is primarily Ur III and a northern extension of about 17 hectares which is primarily Early Dynastic II-III. German archaeologist
Robert Koldewey
Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, ...
with the
Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (, ''German Oriental Society''), abbreviated DOG, is a German voluntary association based in Berlin dedicated to the study of the Near East.
The DOG was officially founded in January 1898 to foster public interest ...
, who excavated at the site in 1902-1903, found many
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets from Tell Abu Hatab. In 2016 the QADIS survey project, carried out an aerial and surface survey of the site.
archetti, Nicolò, and Federico Zaina, "Rediscovering the Heartland of Cities", Near Eastern Archaeology 83, pp. 146-157, 2020
See also
* Cities of the Ancient Near East
The earliest cities in history were in the ancient Near East, an area covering roughly that of the modern Middle East: its history began in the 4th millennium BC and ended, depending on the interpretation of the term, either with the conquest by ...
* Tell (archaeology)
In archaeology, a tell or tel (borrowed into English from ar, تَلّ, ', 'mound' or 'small hill'), is an artificial topographical feature, a species of mound consisting of the accumulated and stratified debris of a succession of consecutive set ...
Notes
Further reading
*Anne Goddeeris, Tablets from Kisurra in the collections of The British Museum, Harrasowitz, 2009,
*Anne Goddeeris, The Economic Basis of the Local Palace of Kisurra, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 97, issue 1, pp. 47–85, 2007
*Blocher, Felix. “Zur Glyptik Aus Kisurra.” Forschungen Und Berichte, vol. 29, pp. 25–35, 1990
*Burkhart Kienast, Die altbabylonischen Briefe und Urkunden aus Kisurra, Steiner, 1978,
*E. J. Banks, Impressions from the Excavations by the Germans at Fara and Abu Hatab, Biblical World, vol. 24, pp. 138–146, 1904
*Burkhart Kienast, "Die altbabylonischen Briefe und Urkunden aus Kisurra, Volumes 1-2", Steiner, 1978 ISBN 9783515025928
*Witold Tyborowski, New Tablets from Kisurra and the Chronology of Central Babylonia in the Early Old Babylonian Period, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 102, iss. 2, pp. 245–269, 2012, ISSN 0084-5299
External links
Old Babylonian text Corpus at Freiburger Altorientalische studies - in german
{{Coord, 31, 50, 17, N, 45, 28, 50, E, type:city, display=title
Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate
Sumerian cities
Archaeological sites in Iraq
Former populated places in Iraq