Tell-el-Rimah

Tell al-Rimah is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq). Its ancient name may have been either Karana or Qattara. It is located in Nineveh Province (Iraq), roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar region.

History of archaeological research

The site covers an area roughly 500 meters by 500 meters, surrounded by a polygonal city wall. The interior holds a number of low mounds and a large central mound 30 meters high and 100 meters in diameter.

The region was originally surveyed by Seton Lloyd in 1938. The site of Tell al-Rimah was excavated from 1964 to 1971 by a British School of Archaeology in Iraq team led by David Oates. A large temple and palace from the early second millennium BCE were excavated, as well as a Neo-Assyrian building. Tell al-Rimah also is known for having a third millennium example of brick vaulting.

Occupation history

While it appears that the site was occupied in the third millennium BCE, it reached its greatest size and prominence during the second millennium BCE and in the Neo-Assyrian period. The second millennium activity was primarily during the Old Babylonian and Mitanni periods. At various times, Tell al-Rimah has been linked with either Qatara or Karana, both cites known to be in that area during the second millennium. A notable find was a large archive of letters of Iltani, daughter of Samu-Addu, king of Karana.

Material culture

A number of Old Babylonian tablets contemporary with Zimri-Lim of Mari and 40 tablets from the time of Shalmaneser I were found as well as other objects. The most notable artifact found was the stele of Adad-nirari III which mentioned an early king of Northern Israel as " Jehoash the Samarian" and contains the first cuneiform mention of Samaria by that name.

Gallery

File:Stele of Adad-nirari III.jpg, Stele of Adad-nirari III from Tell al Rimah, discovered in 1967, now in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad
File:Marble column from Tell al-Rimah, Iraq, Neo-Assyrian period. Iraq Museum.jpg, Marble column from Tell al-Rimah, Iraq, Neo-Assyrian period. Iraq Museum
File:Limestone relief of a male figure from Tell al-Rimah, Iraq. Kassite. Iraq Museum.jpg, Limestone relief of a male figure from Tell al-Rimah, Iraq. Kassite period. Iraq Museum

See also

*Cities of the ancient Near East
*Short chronology timeline

References

Further reading

*Carolyn Postgate, David Oates and Joan Oates, The Excavations at Tell al Rimah: The Pottery, Aris & Phillips, 1998,
*Stephanie Dalley, C.B.F Walker and J.D. Hawkins. The Old Babylonian Tablets from Al-Rimah, British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1976,
*Stephanie Dalley, Mari and Karana: Two Old Babylonian Cities, Gorgias Press, 2002
*C. B. F. Walker, A Foundation-Inscription from Tell al Rimah, Iraq, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 27–30, 1970
*LANGLOIS, A.-I. (2017). Archibab 2. Les archives de la princesse Iltani découvertes à Tell al-Rimah (XVIIIe
siècle av. J.-C.) et l’histoire du royaume de Karana/Qaṭṭara. Mémoires de NABU 18. Paris: SEPOA
*J. N. Postgate, A Neo-Assyrian Tablet from Tell al Rimah, Iraq, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 31–35, 1970
*Stephanie Dalley, Old Babylonian Trade in Textiles at Tell al Rimah, Iraq, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 155–159, 1977
*Joan Oates, Late Assyrian Temple Furniture from Tell al Rimah, Iraq, vol. 36, no. 1/2, pp. 179–184, 1974
* Barbara Parker, Middle Assyrian Seal Impressions from Tell al Rimah, Iraq, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 257–268, 1977

External links

Rimah digital tablets at CDLI

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