Me-Turan (also Mê-Turan) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ) or Diyala Province is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in northeastern Iraq. Provincial Government *Governor: Muthanna al-Tamimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

comprising the modern Tell Haddad and the two mounds of Tell al-Sib (also Tell as-Sib). In Neo-Assyrian times it was known as Me-Turnat. It was excavated as part of the

Hamrin Dam The Hemrin Dam is a dam on the Diyala River 100 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With ...

salvage project.

History

The city of Me-Turan was occupied in the

Isin-Larsa period The Isin-Larsa period (–1763 BCE, Middle Chronology, or 1961–1699 BCE, Short Chronology) is a phase in the history of ancient Mesopotamia, which extends between the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the conquest of Mesopotamia by King Hammur ...

(Level 4),

Old Babylonian period The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to , 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 of Babyloni ...

(level 2 and 3),

Kassite period The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (Chronology of the ancient Near East#Variant Middle Bronze Age chronologies, short chronology). The Kassi ...

, and

Neo-Assyrian period The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

(level 1). Founded early in the 2nd millennium BC during the Isin-Larsa times it was controlled by Eshnunna through the reign of several of that cities kings. With the rise of Babylon Me-Turan came under the control of that city. After the end of the Old Bablyonian period the city lay fallow until Neo-Assyrian times, excepting some Kassite era residencial housing. At the surface were nine

Parthian Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

kilns.

Archaeology

Tell Haddad is a 6 meter high tell and the largest site in the area after Tell Baradan which it lies 350 meters east of. The two nearby mounds of Tell al-Sib are smaller. Together they formed the ancient city. Excavation at Tell al-Sib began in 1978 when a number of tablets and a gaming board were found. The full site was excavated by Na'il Hannoun and Burhan Shakir beginning in 1979. Work ended in 1984 when the site was flooded. In total around 1000 cuneiform tablets were recovered with 745 being from Tell al-Sib. At the lowest layer, above virgin soil, a jar was found with 34 tablets containing year names of three kings of

Eshnunna Eshnunna (also Esnunak) (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. Althou ...

, from before the area was conquered by Babylon. In Old Babylonian times the city was surrounded by a four meter wide city wall with towers. Finds from the Old Babylonian period include a duck

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is a quantity associated with the gravitational force exerted on the object by other objects in its environment, although there is some variation and debate as to the exact definition. Some sta ...

, two

extispicy In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. Various ancient ...

liver models, and large number of cuneiform tablets and fragments. A number are in Akkadian, mostly of economic content but including medical, mathematical, and incantation texts. One of the mathematical tablets (IM 95771) includes a problem about a trapezoidal water reservoir divided into five sections of equal length. The remainder are written in Sumerian and include literary texts such as Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven as well as a new fragment of the

Laws of Eshnunna The Laws of Eshnunna (abrv. LE) are inscribed on two cuneiform tablets discovered in Tell Abū Harmal, Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities headed by Taha Baqir unearthed two parallel sets of tablets in 1945 and 1947. The two table ...

. Kassite period housing was excavated. A Neo-Assyrian temple dating to the reign of

Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...

, E-šahulla dedicated to

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...

was found. The temple dimensions are 80 meters by 47 meters and it was destroyed by fire. An inscription of

Sargon II Sargon II (, 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 generally believed to have be ...

was also found.

History

Archaeology

See also

References

Further reading