Tell Agrab

Tell Agrab (or Aqrab) is a tell or settlement mound southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq.

History

Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during the Early Dynastic period that monumental building occurred, including
the Shara Temple. There is no evidence that it was occupied after the end of the third millennium BC.

Archaeology

The site of Tell Agrab is encompassed by a rectangle with a height of around . Though it had been subject to illegal digging earlier, the site was officially excavated in 1936 and 1937 by a team from the Oriental Institute of Chicago which was also working at Eshnunna, Khafajah and Tell Ishchali during that time. The dig was led by Seton Lloyd. The primary excavation effort was on the large Early Dynastic temple, which was formerly believed to be dedicated to Shara based on a bowl inscription. However, subsequent research revealed that it belonged to a local deity, Iluma'tim, while the name ^dLAGABxIGI-''gunû'' from the bowl fragment, formerly read as Shara, might instead be Ishara, which according to Gianni Marchesi and Nicolo Marchetti is more plausible in the light of the distribution of cult centers of these two deities. Only the western end of the temple was studied, the rest being badly eroded. The temple was about square and was surrounded by a wall wide with large supporting buttresses. The presence of sling stones and a sappers tunnel indicated an attack in the Early Dynastic era. Aside from a number of treasure caches and cylinder seals found, the most notable find was a copper chariot pulled by four onagers, one of the earliest examples known.

Gallery

File:Kneeling Nude Male Holding Vase on Head, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Early Dynastic period, 2900-2700 BC, calcite - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07462.JPG, Kneeling Nude Male Holding Vase on Head, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Early Dynastic period, 2900-2700 BC, calcite - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07462
File:Male statue from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab.jpg, Fragment of a Sumerian male statue from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
File:Head of a Sumerian woman from Tell Agrab, Shara Temple.jpg, Head of a Sumerian woman from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
File:Male head from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg, Male head from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
File:Female statuette, fragment, from Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg, Female statuette from Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
File:Gilgamesh in a Sculptured Vase, Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg, Gilgamesh wrestling two bulls, from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
File:Model of a chariot drawn by four horses abreast. Quadriga consists of a chariot and a charioteer with four onagers. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Early Dynastic period, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg, Quadriga consists of a chariot and a charioteer with four onagers. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Early Dynastic period, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum
File:Cylinder seal, white marble. Two goats, two shrines, and stars. Jemdet Nasr period, 3100-2900 BCE. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.jpg, Cylinder seal, white marble. Two goats, two shrines, and stars. Jemdet Nasr period, 3100-2900 BCE. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq

See also

* Cities of the ancient Near East

References

Further reading

*

L., “A Female Clay Figurine from Tell Agrab (Iraq) in the Vatican Museum,”
Direzi-one dei Musei Stato della Città del Vaticano, vol.22, pp. 1–11, 2002

External links

Pedestalled Cup from Shara Temple - Oriental Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrab
Populated places disestablished in the 3rd millennium BC
1936 archaeological discoveries
Agrab
Agrab
Tells (archaeology)
Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)