Hormuzd Rassam, J. A. Armstrong, Maryam Omran, Haider Almamor
Condition
Ruined
Ownership
Public
Publicaccess
Yes
Dilbat (modern Tell ed-Duleim or Tell al-Deylam) was an ancient Near Eastern city located 25 kilometers south of Babylon on the eastern bank of the Western Euphrates in modern-day Babil Governorate, Iraq. It lies 15 kilometers southeast of the ancient city of Borsippa. The site of Tell Muhattat (also Tell Mukhattat), 5 kilometers away, was earlier thought to be Dilbat. The zigguratE-ibe-Anu, dedicated to Urash, a minor local deity distinct from the earth goddess Urash, was located in the center of the city and was mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh.[1]
Dilbat was founded during the Early Dynastic III period (middle 3rd Millennium BC). It is known to have been occupied, at least, during the Akkadian, Old Babylonian, after an occupation gap or several centuries, Late Kassite, Sasanian and Early Islamic periods. It is also known to have been involved in the various struggles of the middle 1st century BC involving the Neo-Babylonian, Neo-Assyrian, and Achaemenid interests. It was an early agricultural center cultivating einkorn wheat and producing reed products.[2] It lay on the Arahtum canal.[3]
An Old Babylonian period ruler of the city of Marad, roughly from the same time as Babylonian ruler Sumu-la-El was Alumbiumu.[3] One of his year names was "Year Alumbiumu seized Dilbat".[4]
Archaeology
Dilbat hoard necklace
The site of Tell al-Deylam covers an area of about 15 hectares rising to a height of about 6.5 meters. The site is marked with robber pits, mainly at the northern end of the eastern mound. There is a Muslim shrine on the western edge of the site.[5] It consists of two mounds, a small triangular western mound with 1st millennium BC and Early Islamic remains and a larger irregularly shaped east mound, roughly 500 meters in circumference, with remains from the 1st to 3rd millennium BC. In the 1850s a French team led by Jules Oppert vistied the area and examined the nearby site of Tell Muhattat reporting that it consisted of the remains of a single large structure from the Parthian or Sassanian periods.[6] Dilbat was excavated briefly in 1879 by Hormuzd Rassam (as Tel-Daillam), who recovered three minor cuneiform tablets at the site, mainly from the Neo-Babylonian period.[7]
The site was worked in 1989 by J. A. Armstrong of the Oriental Institute of Chicago beginning with a surface survey.[8][9][10][11] Three sounding (A, B, and C) were opened. Soundings A and B revealed Old Babylonian period houses dug with later Kassite dynasty period pottery kilns. Sounding C showed Early Dynastic III and Akkadian period houses and burials. Two fragmentary cuneiform tablets were found and, in an Isin-Larsa context, an inscribed brick of Ur III ruler Amar-Sin.[12]
Excavations, by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Babylon began in 2017 and extended at least until 2023. The first season wa led by Maryam Omran and the second by Haider Almamor. Work began on the eastern mound near the earlier Sounding C and a Kassite period temple to the city god was uncovered. The temple had inner and outer walls and multiple gates.[13] In 2023 a magnetic gradiometry survey was conducted in the northwestern section of Tell al-Deylam.[14] Ten inscribed bricks, found in situ, were of one of the two Kassite dynasty kings named Kurigalzu (Kurigalzu I, Kurigalzu II).
"For Uraš, foremost lord, counselor(?) of heaven and earth, his lord, Kurigalzu, the one called by the god An, who listens to Enlil, built the “E-Ibbi-Anum” (var. “E-ibi-Ana”), his beloved temple, in Dilbat."[15]
Though Dilbat itself has only so far been lightly excavated by archaeologists, numerous tablets from there have made their way to the antiquities market over the years as the result of unauthorized digging.[16][17]
Stone tablet, land purchase, from Dilbat, Iraq. 2400-2200 BCE. Excavated by Hormuzd Rassam. British Museum
Dilbat, like many other Mesopotamian settlements had its own tutelary deity, Urash, a male deity distinct from the more well known goddess Urash associated with Anu.[18] He was regarded as a farming god and a warror,[19] similar to Ninurta.
Urash was regarded as the father of Nanaya, a goddess of love from the entourage of Inanna,[20] as well as the minor underworld deity Lagamal,[21] worshiped in Susa as an attendant of Inshushinak moreso than in Mesopotamia.[22] Urash was also the husband of Ninegal ("lady of the palace"), and they had a joint temple,[23] as attested by an Assyrian account of its renovation undertaken on the orders of Ashur-etil-ilani.[24]
One of the gates of Babylon, the one leading to Dilbat, was named after the god Urash.[5] The ninth year name of Old Babylonian ruler Sabium reports the rebuilding of the Urash temple "Year (Sabium) restored the house / temple of Ibbi-Anum" (mu e2 i-bi2-a-nu-um mu-un-gibil).[25] The Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC) states in a text "I renovated the E’ibbi’Anum of Dilbat for my lord Uraš".[26]
↑ Stephen Langdon, "The Epic of Gilgamish. A Fragment of the Gilgamish Legend in Old-Babylonian Cuneiform", 1919
↑ A. Goddeeris, "Economy and Society in Northern Babylonia", Peeters, 2002, ISBN90-429-1123-9
1 2 Yoffee, Norman, "Aspects of Mesopotamian Land Sales", American Anthropologist, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 119–30, 1988
↑ Leemans, W. F., "King Alumbiumu", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 48–49, 1966
1 2 Abed, Ghadeer Ahmed, Jwad Kadhim Manii, and Jaffar Hussain Ali, "Some Engineering Properties of Ancient Fire Clay Bricks Discovered at the Dilbat Archaeological Site, South of Hilla City", The Iraqi Geological Journal, pp. 121-130, 2022
↑ Oppert, J., "Expédition scientifique en Mesopotamie exécutée par ordre du gouvernement de 1851 à 1854", Paris, 1857–1863
↑ Hormuzd Rassam and Robert William Rogers, "Asshur and the land of Nimrod", Curts & Jennings, 1897
↑ Armstrong, J.A., "Surface Survey at Tell al-Deylam", Sumer 47, pp. 28-29, 1995
↑ J. A. Armstrong, "Dilbat revisited: the Tell al-Deylam project", Mar Sipri, vol. 3, no. 1, pp, 1-4, 1990
↑ James A. Armstrong, "West of Edin: Tell al-Deylam and the Babylonian City of Dilbat", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 219-226, 1992
↑ Armstrong, James A., "Late Old Babylonian pottery from area B at Tell ed-Deylam (Dilbat)", in C. Breniquet/C. Kepinski (Hg.), Études mésopotamiennes. Recueil de textes offert à Jean-Louis Huot, Paris, pp. 1-20, 2001
↑ "Excavations in Iraq 1989-1990", Iraq, vol. 53, pp. 169–82, 1991
↑ Omran, M., H. A. Oraibi [Almamori]/K. J. Salman (2019): natā’iǧ tanqībāt Tall ad-Daylam (Dilbāt). al-mausim al-avval 2017 [= Results of the excavations at Tell at-Deylam (Dilbat). First season 2017], Sumer 65, 3–34 (Arabic section)
↑ Khawaja, Ahmed Muslim, et al. "Using Gradiometric Technique to Prospect Archaeological Features in Tell Al-Deylam, South of Babylon City, Middle of Iraq.", IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. Vol. 1300. No. 1, IOP Publishing, 2024
↑ Haider Oraibi Almamori and Alexa Bartelmus, "New Light on Dilbat: Kassite Building Activities on the Uraš Temple “E-Ibbi-Anum” at Tell al-Deylam", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, iss. 2, 2021
↑ SG Koshurnikov, "A Family Archive from Old Babylonian Dilbat", Vestnik Drevnii Istorii, vol. 168, pp. 123-133, 1984
↑ S. G. Koshurnikov and N. Yoffee, "Old Babylonian Tablets from Dilbat in the Ashmolean Museum", Iraq, vol. 48, pp. 117–130, 1986
↑ M. Krebernik, Uraš A [in:] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol. 14, 2014, p. 404; note that in the electronic edition authors of the entry on the two deities named Uraš and geographical location in Asia Minor are accidentally swapped
↑ Ch. Lilyquist, The Dilbat Hoard, Metropolitan Museum Journal 29, 1994, p. 6; note there's a typo in the article, "Ningal" is mentioned instead of "Ninegal"
↑ O. Drewnowska-Rymarz, Mesopotamian Goddess Nanajā, 2008, p. 139
↑ K. van der Torn, Migration and the Spread of Local Cults [in:] A. Schoors, K. Van Lerberghe (eds.), Immigration and Emigration Within the Ancient Near East: Festschrift E. Lipinski, 1995, p. 368
↑ W. G. Lambert, Lāgamāl [in] Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie vol 6, 1983, p. 418-419
↑ Da Riva, Rocio, "Nebuchadnezzar II’s Prism (EŞ 7834): A New Edition", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 103, no. 2, pp. 196-229, 2013
Further reading
Charpin, Dominique, "L'onomastique hurrite à Dilbat et ses implications historiques", M.-Th. Barrelet (Hg.), Méthodologie et critique I: problèmes concernant les Hurrites. Centre de Recherches Archéologiques, Publications de l’URA 8, pp. 51-70, 1977
Klengel, Horst, "Untersuchungen zu den sozialen Verhältnissen im altbabylonischen Dilbat", Altorientalische Forschungen 4.JG, pp. 63-110, 1976
Kobayashi, Yoshitaka, "A Comparative Study of Old Babylonian Theophorous Names from Dilbat, Harmal and ed-Der", Acta Sumerologica Hiroshima 2, pp. 67-80, 1980
Koshurnikov S., "Chef de cités, gouverneurs et bourgmestres: Acte légal, administration royale et communauté dans la ville babylonienne ancienne de Dilbat", Vestnik drevnej istorii, vol. 194, pp. 76-93, 1990
Leemans, Wilhelmus François, "Old Babylonian Texts from Dilbat, Sippar, and Other Places", Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2023
Matthew W. Stolper, "Late Achaemenid Texts from Dilbat", Iraq, vol. 54, pp. 119–139, 1992
Unger, Eckhard, "Topographie der Stadt Dilbat (mit 2 Tafeln)", Archiv Orientální 3.1, pp. 21-48, 1931
Unger, Eckhard, "Dilbat", in E. Ebeling and B. Meissner (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie 2, Berlin/Leipzig, pp. 218–225, 1938
Nippur was an ancient Sumerian city. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind", ruler of the cosmos, subject to An alone. Nippur was located in modern Nuffar 5 miles north of modern Afak, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. It is roughly 200 kilometers south of modern Baghdad and about 96.56 km southeast of the ancient city of Babylon. Occupation at the site extended back to the Ubaid period, the Uruk period, and the Jemdet Nasr period. The origin of the ancient name is unknown but different proposals have been made.
The Kassites were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC.
Isin (Sumerian: 𒉌𒋛𒅔𒆠, romanized: I3-si-inki, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq which was the location of the Ancient Near East city of Isin, occupied from the late 4th millennium Uruk period up until at least the late 1st millennium BC Neo-Babylonian period. It lies about 40 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Al Diwaniyah.
Dur-Kurigalzu was a city in southern Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Tigris and Diyala rivers, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the center of Baghdad. It was founded by a Kassite king of Babylon, Kurigalzu I and was abandoned after the fall of the Kassite dynasty. The city was of such importance that it appeared on toponym lists in the funerary temple of the Egyptian pharaoh, Amenophis III at Kom el-Hettan". The prefix Dur is an Akkadian term meaning "fortress of", while the Kassite royal name Kurigalzu is believed to have meant "shepherd of the Kassites". The tradition of naming new towns Dur dates back to the Old Babylonian period with an example being Dūr-Ammī-ditāna. The city contained a ziggurat and temples dedicated to Mesopotamian gods, as well as a royal palace which covered 420,000 square meters.
Bad-tibira, "Wall of the Copper Worker(s)", or "Fortress of the Smiths", identified as modern Tell al-Madineh, between Ash Shatrah and Tell as-Senkereh and 33 kilometers northeast of ancient Girsu in southern Iraq, was an ancient Sumerian city on the Iturungal canal, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. Its Akkadian name was Dûr-gurgurri. It was also called Παντιβίβλος (Pantibiblos) by Greek authors such as Berossus, transmitted by Abydenus and Apollodorus. This may reflect another version of the city's name, Patibira, "Canal of the Smiths".
Zababa was the tutelary deity of the city of Kish in ancient Mesopotamia. He was a war god. While he was regarded as similar to Ninurta and Nergal, he was never fully conflated with them. His worship is attested from between the Early Dynastic to the Achaemenid periods, with the Old Babylonian kings being particularly devoted to him. Starting with the Old Babylonian period, he was regarded as married to the goddess Bau.
Uraš, or Urash, was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the personification of the earth. She should not be confused with a male deity sharing the same name, who had agricultural character and was worshiped in Dilbat. She is well attested in association with Anu, most commonly as his spouse, though traditions according to which she was one of his ancestors or even his alternate name are also known. She could be equated with other goddesses who could be considered his wives, namely Ki and Antu, though they were not always regarded as identical. Numerous deities were regarded as children of Urash and Anu, for example Ninisina and Ishkur. However, in some cases multiple genealogies existed, for example Enki was usually regarded as the son of Nammu and Geshtinanna of Duttur, even though texts describing them as children of Urash exist. Not much evidence for the worship of Urash is available, though offerings to her are mentioned in documents from the Ur III period and it is possible she had a temple in Nippur.
Ninegal or Belat Ekalli (Belet-ekalli) was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with palaces. Both her Sumerian and Akkadian name mean "lady of the palace."
Marad was an ancient Near Eastern city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern-day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River. The site was identified in 1912 based on a Neo-Babylonian inscription on a truncated cylinder of Nebuchadrezzar noting the restoration of the temple. The cylinder was not excavated but rather found by locals so its provenance was not certain, as to some extent was the site's identification as Marad. In ancient times it was on the canal, Abgal, running between Babylon and Isin.
Kisurra was an ancient Sumerian tell situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of Shuruppak and due east of Kish.
Sippar-Amnanum was an ancient Near Eastern tell about 70 kilometers north of Babylon, 6 kilometers northeast of Sippar and about 26 kilometers southwest of modern Baghdad. Occupation dates back to the days of the Akkadian Empire and later the Ur III period but most of the development was during the Old Babylonian period. Early archaeologists referred to the site as "Der" or Dair".
Akkad was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which was the dominant political force in Mesopotamia during a period of about 150 years in the last third of the 3rd millennium BC.
Šuqamuna (dšu-qa-mu-na) and Šumaliya (dšu-ma-li-ia) were a pair of deities introduced to Mesopotamia during the Kassite dynasty of Babylonia. They had a close association with the royal family; the pair of gods are referred to as 'the gods of the king', with Šuqamuna being the 'king's god' and Šumaliya his patron goddess. Šuqamuna and Šumaliya are the only two Kassite gods known to be referenced outside of theophoric personal names and some poorly preserved glossaries, and they are the only ones to consistently receive a divine determinative.
Malgium is an ancient Mesopotamian city tentatively identified as Tell Yassir which thrived especially in the Middle Bronze Age, ca. 2000 BC - 1600 BC. Malgium formed a small city-state in an area where the edges of the territories controlled by Larsa, Babylon and Elam converged. Inscribed in cuneiform as ma-al-gi-imKI, its chief deities were Ea and Damkina. A temple of Ulmašītum is known to have been there. There was also a temple to the goddess Bēlet-ilī called Ekitusgestu as well as a temple to the god Anum.
Lagamal or Lagamar was a Mesopotamian deity associated chiefly with Dilbat. A female form of Lagamal was worshiped in Terqa on the Euphrates in Upper Mesopotamia. The male Lagamal was also at some point introduced to the pantheon of Susa in Elam.
Urash (Uraš) was a Mesopotamian god who was the tutelary deity of Dilbat. He was an agricultural god, and in that capacity he was frequently associated with Ninurta. His wife was the goddess Ninegal, while his children were the underworld deity Lagamal, who like him was associated with Dilbat, and the love goddess Nanaya.
Tadmuštum or Dadamušda was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with the underworld. She was regarded as the daughter of Nergal, and in known texts often appears in association with his main cult center, Kutha.
Sadarnunna was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Nuska. Very little is known about her individual character. She was worshiped in Nippur, and appears alongside other deities of this city in texts from the Ur III period already. In later times she is also attested in sources from other locations, for example Harran and Uruk.
Epithets of Inanna were titles and bynames used to refer to this Mesopotamian goddess and to her Akkadian counterpart Ishtar. In Mesopotamia, epithets were commonly used in place of the main name of the deity, and combinations of a name with an epithet similar to these common in ancient Greek religion are comparatively uncommon. Inanna had more titles than any other Mesopotamian deity. They pertained to her associations with specific cities or areas, such as Uruk, Zabalam, Akkad, Nineveh, or the Sealand. Others instead highlighted her specific roles, for example, that of an astral goddess personifying the planet Venus—or that of a war deity. In some cases, her individual epithets eventually developed into separate deities.
Irisaĝrig was an ancient Near East city in Iraq whose location is not known with certainty but is currently thought to be at the site of Tell al-Wilayah, on the ancient Mama-šarrat canal off the Tigris river, near the ancient site of Kesh, Tulul al-Baqarat. The city was occupied during the Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Ur III, and early Old Babylonian periods. While cuneiform tablets from the city had appeared from time to time, the flood of artifacts entering the private market from looting which followed the 2003 war in Iraq included a large number from Irisaĝrig. This spurred interest by archaeologist in finding the site. The city became of popular interest because of the Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal. While there were a number of significant temples in the city, the titular deity is not known though the Isin-Larsa period literary composition Lament for Eridu names the goddess Aruru in that role. It has also been suggested that there were temples of Ashgi and Alla. There is known to have been a temple of Ninisina and one of Nergal of Eresh in Irisagrig in the Ur III period, at least back to the reign of Shu-Suen and Amar-Sin respectively, and continuing under the rule of Malgium.
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