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Zabala, also Zabalam ( ''zabalamki'', modern Tell Ibzeikh (also Tell el-Buzekh),
Dhi Qar Governorate Dhi Qar Governorate ( ar, ذي قار, translit=Thi Qār, ) is a governorate in southern Iraq. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the governorate was known as Muntafiq Governorate. Thi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civ ...
,
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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
) was a city of 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 ...
in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in
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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
. In early archaeology this location was also called Tel el-Buzekh. Locally it is called Tell Bzikh. Zabala was at the crossing of the ancient Iturungal and Ninagina canals, 10 kilometers to the northwest of
Umma Umma ( sux, ; in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell J ...
. The city's deity was Inanna of Zabala. A cuneiform tablet from Zabala contains one of only a few metro-mathematical tables of area measures from Early Dynatic Mesopotamia.


History

The first mentions of Zabala are in seals from the
Jemdet Nasr period The Jemdet Nasr Period is an archaeological culture in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). It is generally dated from 3100 to 2900 BC. It is named after the type site Tell Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first ...
including a list of early sites - Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Uruk, Kes, and Zabalam. The earliest historical record, a bowl inscription, indicates that Zabala was under the control of Lugalzagesi of
Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...
. In the Sargonic Period,
Rimush Rimush (or Rimuš, ''Ri-mu-uš'') was the second king of the Akkadian Empire. He was the son of Sargon of Akkad and Queen Tashlultum. He was succeeded by his brother Manishtushu, and was an uncle of Naram-Sin of Akkad. Rimush reported having a st ...
of Akkad reports Zabala as attempting to rebel against the control of the
Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one ru ...
:
Shar-kali-sharri Shar-Kali-Sharri (, '' DShar-ka-li-Sharri''; reigned c. 2217–2193 BC middle chronology, c. 2153–2129 BC short chronology) was a king of the Akkadian Empire. Rule Succeeding his father Naram-Sin in c. 2217 BC, he came to the throne in an age ...
and Naram-Sin both reported building a temple to the goddess
Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...
in Zabala. After the fall of Akkad, Zabala came into the sphere of the city-state of
Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited b ...
as reported by the year names of several rulers including Itar-pisa and Ur-Ninurta. The town was later subject to
Abisare Abisare ruled the ancient West Asian city-state of Larsa from 1841 BC to 1830 BC. He was an Amorite.Chronology of the Larsa Dynasty, E.M. Grice , C.E. Keiser, M. Jastrow, AMS Press, 1979, The annals of his 11-year reign record that he smote Isin in ...
of
Larsa Larsa ( Sumerian logogram: UD.UNUGKI, read ''Larsamki''), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossos and connected with the biblical Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the cul ...
, whose year name reported the building of the "Favorite of Inanna of Zabalam" canal. During the
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 ...
period, Zabala was controlled by the Ur governor in
Umma Umma ( sux, ; in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell J ...
which was the capital of Umma Province.
Cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic writing system, script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East, Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is nam ...
texts state that
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-stat ...
built Zabala's temple Ezi-Kalam-ma to the goddess
Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...
. The temple of Inanna in Zabalam is the subject of hymn 26 in the temple hymns of
Enheduanna Enheduanna ( sux, , also transliterated as , , or variants) was the priestess of the moon god Nanna (Sīn) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur in the reign of her father, Sargon of Akkad. She was likely appointed by her father as the leader of ...
.


Archaeology

The site, which covers an areas of about 61 hectares, was first identified during the South Mesopotamian Mound Survey in 1954. Beginning in the early 1900s, a great deal of illegal excavation occurred in Zabala. An example of writing from 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-stat ...
was removed from Zabala during this period. This activity reached a new height in the 1990s, at which time the Iraqi State Organization of Antiquities and Heritage authorized an official excavation, the first at the site. Two seasons of excavation, in 2001 and 2002, occurred under the direction of Haider Al-Subaihawi. Several public and religious buildings were uncovered, a number of cuneiform tablets and an inscribed stone foundation cylinder of
Warad-Sin Warad-Sin (, ARAD- Dsuen) ruled the ancient Near East city-state of Larsa from 1770 BC to 1758 BC (short chronology). There are indications that his father Kudur-Mabuk was co-regent or at very least the power behind the throne. His sister En-ane-d ...
, king of
Larsa Larsa ( Sumerian logogram: UD.UNUGKI, read ''Larsamki''), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossos and connected with the biblical Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the cul ...
were found. A bronze sculpture ( canephor, which is a form of
Caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "m ...
), from Warad-Sin which mentions his father
Kudur-Mabuk Kudur-Mabuk was a ruler in the ancient Near East city-state of Larsa from 1770 BC to 1754 BC. His sons Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin I were kings of Larsa. His daughter En-ane-du was high priestess of the moon god in Ur. Chronology of the Larsa Dyna ...
was also found. A further outbreak of archaeological looting at Zabala broke out after the
2003 War in Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
.al Hamdani, A. (2008): Protecting and Recording our Archaeological Heritage in Southern Iraq, NearEastern Archaeology, vol. 71, pp. 221–230


Notes


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 ...


References

*Andrew George, House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamian Civilizations, Vol 5), Eisenbrauns, 1993, *B. Alster, Geštinanna as Singer and the Chorus of Uruk and Zabalam: UET 6/1 22, JCS, vol. 37, pp. 219–28, 1985


External links


CDLI background on Zabala
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228194444/http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4801.htm , date=2005-12-28
Post 2003 war looting at Zabala
Sumerian cities Archaeological sites in Iraq Former populated places in Iraq Dhi Qar Governorate 2nd-millennium BC disestablishments Inanna Jemdet Nasr period City-states