Lagaba was a city in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq). It is the place of origin of many illicitly excavated clay tablets, [1] all in Old Babylonian. More than 400 tablets are known to have originated there. Tablets from Lagaba are kept in various collections around the world, among which
Most of the known Lagaba tablets are from the Old Babylonian period. [11] In the time of Sumu-la-El (c. 1880-1845 BC), ruler of the First Babylonian empire, the ruler of Lagaba was Mutumme-El. [12] After a long period of control by Babylon the year names of the next to last ruler of that empire Samsu-iluna (c. 1750-1712 BC) ceased to be used in Lagaba in his year 30 suggesting that city, like others in the empire, had gained independence. [13] [14]
The tutelary god of Lagaba was Ishtar of Lagaba (Lagabītum, Bēlet-Lagaba, "Lady of Lagaba") though other gods were also worshiped there including Nabu and Laṣ. [6] It has been suggested that this god corresponds to Lakuppītu who is worshiped in Isin. [15]
The precise location of Lagaba is unknown to this day. The first thorough investigation into the location of Lagaba was undertaken by Leemans, on the basis of tablets kept in Leiden, suggesting that Lagaba lay on a waterway (possibly the Shatt en-Nil canal) between Babylon and Kutha in the vicinity of Kutha. [7] By reviewing a tablet from Lagaba kept in Yale, Tammuz in 1996 concluded it to be 15 km North-north-east of the city of Babylon, on the western bank of the Euphrates River. [1]
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.
Samsu-ditāna, inscribed phonetically in cuneiform sa-am-su-di-ta-na in the seals of his servants, the 11th and last king of the Amorite or First Dynasty of Babylon, reigned for 31 years, 1625 – 1595 BC or 1562 – 1531 BC. His reign is best known for its demise with the sudden fall of Babylon at the hands of the Hittites.
Kutha, Cuthah, Cuth or Cutha, modern Tell Ibrahim, is an archaeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. The site of Tell Uqair is just to the north. The city was occupied from the Old Akkadian period until the Hellenistic period. The city-god of Kutha was Meslamtaea, related to Nergal, and his temple there was named E-Meslam.
Abī-Ešuḫ was the 8th king of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon and reigned for 28 years from c. 1648–1620 BC or 1711–1684 BC. He was preceded by Samsu-iluna, who was his father.
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.
Babylon was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Iraq. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia, with its rulers establishing two important empires in antiquity, namely the 19th-16th century BC Old Babylonian Empire and the 7th–6th century BC Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the city would also be used as a regional capital of other empires, such as the Achaemenid Empire. Babylon was one of the most important urban centres of the ancient Near East until its decline during the Hellenistic period.
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".
The First Sealand dynasty (URU.KÙKI), or the 2nd Dynasty of Babylon, very speculatively c. 1732–1460 BC, is an enigmatic series of kings attested to primarily in laconic references in the king lists A and B, and as contemporaries recorded on the Assyrian Synchronistic king list A.117. Initially it was named the "Dynasty of the Country of the Sea" with Sealand later becoming customary.
Ulam-Buriaš, contemporarily inscribed as Ú-la-Bu-ra-ra-ia-aš or mÚ-lam-Bur-áš in a later chronicle and meaning “son of Buriaš”, was a Kassite king of Sealand, which he conquered during the second half of 16th century BC and may have also become king of Babylon, possibly preceding or succeeding his brother, Kaštiliašu III. His reign marks the point at which the Kassite kingdom extended to the whole of southern Mesopotamia.
Nabû-šumu-libūr, inscribed dAG.MU-li-bur or dna-bi-um-MU-li-bur, meaning "O Nabû, may (my) progeny / the son stay in good health," was the 11th and last king of the 2nd Dynasty of Isin, the 4th Dynasty of Babylon. He ruled during a period of instability due to incursions of Aramean nomadic tribesmen in Northwest Babylonia.
Būr-Sîn, c. 1831 – 1811 BC or c. 1895 – 1874 BC was the 7th king of the 1st Dynasty of Isin and ruled for 21 years according to the Sumerian King List, 22 years according to the Ur-Isin king list. His reign was characterized by an ebb and flow in hegemony over the religious centers of Nippur and Ur.
Stephanie Mary Dalley FSA is a British Assyriologist and scholar of the Ancient Near East. Prior to her retirement, she was a teaching Fellow at the Oriental Institute, Oxford. She is known for her publications of cuneiform texts and her investigation into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and her proposal that it was situated in Nineveh, and constructed during Sennacherib's rule.
The complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir is a clay tablet that was sent to the ancient city-state Ur, written c. 1750 BCE. It is a complaint to a merchant named Ea-nāṣir from a customer named Nanni. Written in Akkadian cuneiform, it is considered to be the oldest known written complaint. It is currently kept in the British Museum. In 2015, the tablet's content and Ea-nāṣir in particular gained popularity as an online meme.
Tell Khaiber is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in southern Mesopotamia. It is located thirteen kilometers west of the modern city of Nasiriyah, about 19 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Ur in Dhiq Qar Province and 25 kilometers south of the ancient city of Larsa. In 2012, the site was visited by members of the Ur Region Archaeology Project (URAP), a cooperation between the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, the University of Manchester and the Iraqi State Board for Antiquities and Heritage. They found that the site had escaped looting, and applied for an excavation permit.
The Middle Babylonian period, also known as the Kassite period, in southern Mesopotamia is dated from c. 1595 – c. 1155 BC and began after the Hittites sacked the city of Babylon. The Kassites, whose dynasty is synonymous with the period, eventually assumed political control over the region and consolidated their power by subjugating the Sealand dynasty c. 1475 BC. After the subjugation of the Sealand dynasty, the Kassites unified the region of Babylonia into a single political entity. At the height of the Middle Babylonian period, the Kassite kings were engaging in commerce, trade, and organising diplomatic marriages with the kings of Egypt and other regional powers. However, after a period of gradual decline, the Middle Babylonian period collapsed with the fall of the Kassite dynasty c. 1155 BC. The collapse came as a result of an Assyrian invasion, that temporarily displaced the Kassites from their rule over southern Mesopotamia. Finally, the Elamites conducted various raids and eventually invaded Babylonian c. 1158 BC, which brought the Kassite dynasty and Middle Babylonian period to an end.
Šubula (Shubula) was a Mesopotamian god. He was associated with the underworld, and commonly appears in association with Nergal, Ishum, Laṣ and other deities of similar character. He was worshiped in small settlements such as Ṣupur-Šubula and Lagaba, likely located in the proximity of Kutha, but also in Susa and Uruk.
Franz "Frans" Marius Theodor de Liagre Böhl was a Dutch professor of Assyriology and Hebrew.
Dūr-Abī-ešuḫ was built by Abi-Eshuh a ruler of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Its name means "Fortress of Abi-Eshuh". A year name of that ruler reads "Year in which Abi-eszuh the king built 'Dur-Abi-eszuh-szarrum / the fortress of Abi-eszuh the king' above / upstream the gate of the city on the bank of the Tigris". Its location is not yet known though it is thought to be near the ancient city of Nippur and presumably on the Tigris river. In cuneiform text it is usually called Dur-Abi-ešuh(canal) or more formally Dur-Abi-ešuhki ša zibbat i₇Hammu-rabi-nuhuš-niši meaning "Dur-Abiešuh-at-the-outlet-of-the-canal-Hammu-rabi-nuhuš-niši". In occasional unprovenaced tablets it is called Dur-Abi-ešuh(Tigris). Recent thinking is that there was actually a pair of fortresses with the name Dur-Abi-ešuh. While the site has not been found hundreds of cuneiform tablets began appearing on the antiquities market beginning around 1998 and as they are published more is being learned about the site. Because the threat from the Sealand dynasty and the movement of the Tigris river forced some cultic institutions, including that of the prominent Ekur temple community of Enlil, to move to Dur-Abi-ešuh there should be a number of temple records there.