Tell Leilan

Last updated
Tell Leilan
Tell Leilan.jpg
View of Tell Leilan
Syria adm location map.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Shown within Syria
Location Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria
Coordinates 36°57′26″N41°30′19″E / 36.95722°N 41.50528°E / 36.95722; 41.50528
TypeSettlement
History
Founded5000 BCE
Abandoned1726 BCE
Cultures Akkadian, Assyrian
Site notes
ConditionIn ruins

Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The site has been occupied since the 5th millennium BC. During the late third millennium, the site was known as Shekhna. During that time it was under control of the Akkadian Empire and was used as an administrative center. [1] [2] Around 1800 BC, the site was renamed "Shubat-Enlil" by the king Shamshi-Adad I, and it became his residential capital. [3] Shubat-Enlil was abandoned around 1700 BC.

Contents

Geography

The site is located close to some other flourishing cities of the time. Hamoukar is about 50 km away to the southeast. Tell Brak is about 50 km away to the southwest, and also in the Khabur River basin. Tell Mozan (Urkesh) is about 50 km to the west.

Leilan, Brak and Urkesh were particularly prominent during the Akkadian period. [4]

History

The city originated around 5000 BC as a small farming village and grew to be a large city c.2600 BC, three hundred years before the Akkadian Empire. The city had a large wall by c.2600 BC. [5] A number of finds from the Ninevite 5 period were found at the site. [6] [7] [8] [9] A 3-foot layer of sediment at Tell Leilan containing no evidence of human habitation offered clues as to the cause of the demise of the Akkadian imperial city; analysis indicated that at around 2200 BC, a three-century drought was severe enough to affect agriculture and settlement. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Shubat-Enlil

Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia
Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia
circa 1809 BCE–circa 1776 BCE
Capital Shubat-Enlil
Government Monarchy
King  
 circa 1809 BCE – 1776 circa BCE
Shamshi-Adad I
Historical era Bronze Age
 Established
circa 1809 BCE
 Disestablished
circa 1776 BCE
Succeeded by
Apum Blank.png
Today part of Syria

The conquest of the region by the Amorite warlord Shamshi-Adad I (1813–1781 BC) of Ekallatum revived the abandoned site of Tell Leilan. Shamshi-Adad saw the great potential in the rich agricultural production of the region and made it the capital city of his empire. He renamed it from Shehna to Shubat-Enlil, or Šubat-Enlil, meaning "the residence of the god Enlil" in the Akkadian language. [14] In the city a royal palace was built and a temple acropolis to which a straight paved street led from the city gate. There was also a planned residential area and the entire city was enclosed by a wall. The city size was about 90 hectares (220 acres). Shubat-Enlil may have had a population of 20,000 people at its peak. After the death of Shamshi-Adad, the city became the capital of Apum and prospered until king Samsu-iluna of Babylon sacked it in 1726 BC. [15] During this period various minor kings ruled there, including Turum-natki, Zuzu, and Haja-Abum. Qarni-Lim, king of nearby Andarig, maintained a large palace there. [16] [17]

Archaeology

Beginning in 1979 the mound of Tell Leilan was excavated by a team of archaeologists from Yale University, led by Harvey Weiss. [18] [19] [20] The dig ended in 2008. Among many important discoveries at Tell Leilan is an archive of 1100 cuneiform clay tablets maintained by the rulers of the city. [21] [22] These tablets date to the eighteenth century BC and record the dealings with other Mesopotamian states and how the city administration worked. [23] Finds from the excavations at Tell Leilan are on display in the Deir ez-Zor Museum. [24]

See also

Notes

  1. Ristvet, Lauren, Thomas Guilderson and Harvey Weiss, "The Dynamics of State Development and Imperialization at Third Millennium Tell Leilan, Syria", In Orient Express, vol. 21, no. 2, 2004
  2. F. de Lillis Forest, L. Milano and L. Mori, "The Akkadian Occupation in the Northwest Area of the Tell Leilan Acropolis", KASKAL, vol. 4, 2007
  3. Eidem, J., "Old Assyrian Trade in Northern Syria. The Evidence from Tell Leilan. In J. G. Dercksen (ed.), Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian Period", pp. 31-41, Publications de l’Institut historique et archéologique néerlandais de Stamboul 111. Leiden., 2008
  4. Margreet L. Steiner, Ann E. Killebrew, The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: C. 8000-332 BCE. OUP Oxford, 2014 p398
  5. Risvet, L., "The Third Millennium City Wall at Tell Leilan, Syria: Identity, Authority and Urbanism", in J. Bretschneider, J. Driessen and K. Vanlerberghe, eds., Monumental Public Architecture in the Bronze Age Near East and Aegean. Leuven: Peters, pp. 183-212, 2007
  6. Weiss, Harvey, "Ninevite 5 Periods and Processes.", In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors. 2003
  7. Parayre, Dominique, "The Ninevite 5 Sequence of Glyptic at Tell Leilan", In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors., 2003
  8. van Gijn, Annelou, The Ninevite 5 Chipped Stone Assemblage from Tell Leilan: Preliminary Results", In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors., 2003
  9. Wetterstrom, Wilma, "Ninevite 5 Period Agriculture at Tell Leilan: Preliminary Results", In The origins of North Mesopotamian civilization: Ninevite 5 chronology, economy, society. Brussels: Brepols. E. Rova and H. Weiss, editors., 2003
  10. Leilan.yale.edu, Harvey Weiss et al., The genesis and collapse of Third Millennium north Mesopotamian Civilization, Science, vol. 291, pp. 995-1088, 1993
  11. Leilan.yale.edu, H. M. Cullen, Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: Evidence from the deep sea, Geology, vol. 28, pp. 379-382, 2000
  12. Leilan.yale.edu, M. Staubwasser and H. Weiss, Holocene Climate and Cultural Evolution in Late Prehistoric-Early Historic West Asia," in M. Staubwasser and H. Weiss, eds., Holocene Climate and Cultural Evolution in Late Prehistoric-Early Historic West Asia. Quaternary Research (special issue) Volume 66, Issue 3 (November 2006), pp. 372-387.
  13. Ristvet, L. and H. Weiss 2005 "The Hābūr Region in the Late Third and Early Second Millennium B.C.," in Winfried Orthmann, ed., The History and Archaeology of Syria. Vol. 1. Saabrucken: Saarbrucken Verlag.
  14. Harvey Weiss, Tell Leilan and Shubat Enlil, Mari, Annales de Recherches Interdisciplinaires, vol. 4, pp. 269-92, 1985
  15. L. Ristvet, "Resettling Apum: Tribalism and Tribal States in the Tell Leilan Region, Syria.", In N. Laneri, P. Philzner and S. Valentini (eds.), Looking North: the Socioeconomic Dynamics of Northern Mesopotamian and Anatolian Regions during the Late Third and Early Second Millennium BC. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp.37-50, 2012
  16. Eidem, Jesper. 2008. The Royal Archives from Tell Leilan: Old Babylonian Letters and Treaties from The Lower Town Palace. Yale Tell Leilan Research, Vol. 2. London and New Haven: Yale University Press.
  17. Pulhan, Gül. 2000. On the Eve of the Dark Age: Qarni-Lim’s Palace at Tell Leilan. Ph.D. Dissertation, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University, New Haven, CT
  18. Harvey Weiss, Excavations at Tell Leilan and the Origins of North Mesopotamian cities in the Third Millennium B.C., Paléorient, vol 9, iss. 2, pp. 39-52, 1983
  19. Harvey Weiss et al., 1985 Excavations at Tell Leilan, Syria, American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 94, no. 4, pp. 529-581, 1990
  20. Weiss, Harvey, "Tell Leilan 1989: New Data for Mid-Third Millennium Urbanization and State Formation.", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin, vol. 122, pp. 193-218, 1990
  21. Claudine Adrienne Vincente, "The 1987 Tell Leilan Tablets Dated by the Limmu of Habil-kinu: Volume 1 and 2", AMI, 1992
  22. Van De Mieroop, Marc, "The Leilan Tablets 1991 a Preliminary Report", Orientalia, NOVA SERIES, vol. 63, no. 4, pp. 305-344, 1994
  23. Jesper Eidem, with a contribution by Lauren Ristvet and Harvey Weiss: The Royal Archives from Tell Leilan. Old Babylonian Letters and Treaties from the Lower Town Palace East (PIHANS 117). The Netherlands Institute for the Near East, Leiden, 2011.
  24. Bonatz, Dominik; Kühne, Hartmut; Mahmoud, As'ad (1998). Rivers and steppes. Cultural heritage and environment of the Syrian Jezireh. Catalogue to the Museum of Deir ez-Zor. Damascus: Ministry of Culture. OCLC   638775287.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hurrians</span> Historical ethnic group of Southwest Asia

The Hurrians were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria, upper Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamhad</span> Semitic kingdom in Syria

Yamhad (Yamḫad) was an ancient Semitic-speaking kingdom centered on Ḥalab (Aleppo) in Syria. The kingdom emerged at the end of the 19th century BC and was ruled by the Yamhad dynasty, who counted on both military and diplomacy to expand their realm. From the beginning of its establishment, the kingdom withstood the aggressions of its neighbors Mari, Qatna and the Old Assyrian Empire, and was turned into the most powerful Syrian kingdom of its era through the actions of its king Yarim-Lim I. By the middle of the 18th century BC, most of Syria minus the south came under the authority of Yamhad, either as a direct possession or through vassalage, and for nearly a century and a half, Yamhad dominated northern, northwestern and eastern Syria, and had influence over small kingdoms in Mesopotamia at the borders of Elam. The kingdom was eventually destroyed by the Hittites, then annexed by Mitanni in the 16th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washukanni</span>

Washukanni was the capital of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni, from around 1500 BC to the 13th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mari, Syria</span> Ancient Sumerian and Amorite city

Mari was an ancient Semitic city-state in modern-day Syria. Its remains form a tell 11 kilometers north-west of Abu Kamal on the Euphrates River western bank, some 120 kilometers southeast of Deir ez-Zor. It flourished as a trade center and hegemonic state between 2900 BC and 1759 BC. The city was built in the middle of the Euphrates trade routes between Sumer in the south and the Eblaite kingdom and the Levant in the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamshi-Adad I</span> Amorite conqueror (r. 1808–1776 BC)

Shamshi-Adad, ruled c. 1808–1776 BC, was an Amorite warlord and conqueror who had conquered lands across much of Syria, Anatolia, and Upper Mesopotamia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yahdun-Lim</span> King of Mari

Yahdunlim was the king of Mari probably in 1820—1796 BC. He was of Amorite origin, and became king after the death of his father Iagitlim. Yahdunlim built Mari up to become one of the major powers of the region. He led a successful campaign to the coast of the Mediterranean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamshi-Adad V</span> King of Assyria

Shamshi-Adad V was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Brak</span> Archaeological site in Syria

Tell Brak was an ancient city in Syria; its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city's original name is unknown. During the second half of the third millennium BC, the city was known as Nagar and later on, Nawar.

Harvey Weiss is an archaeologist who teaches at Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eshnunna</span> ِArchaeological site in Iraq

Eshnunna was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the Diyala Valley northwest of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu. It is sometimes, in archaeological papers, called Ashnunnak or Tuplias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Barri</span>

Tell Barri is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in north-eastern Syria in the Al-Hasakah Governorate. Its ancient name was Kahat as proven by a threshold found on the south-western slope of the mound. Tell Barri is situated along the Wadi Jaghjagh, a tributary of the Khabur River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Mesopotamia</span>

The history of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing in the late 4th millennium BC, an increasing amount of historical sources. While in the Paleolithic and early Neolithic periods only parts of Upper Mesopotamia were occupied, the southern alluvium was settled during the late Neolithic period. Mesopotamia has been home to many of the oldest major civilizations, entering history from the Early Bronze Age, for which reason it is often called a cradle of civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rimush</span> King of Akkad

Rimush c. 2279–2270 BC 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. Naram-Sin posthumously deified Sargon and Manishtushi but not his uncle. Rimush reported having a statue of himself made out of tin, then a recent introduction to the region. His sister was Enheduana, considered earliest known named author in world history. Little is known about his brother Shu-Enlil. There was a city, Dur-Rimuš, located near Tell Ishchali and Khafajah. It was known to be a cult center of the storm god Adad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ekallatum</span>

Ekallatum (Akkadian: 𒌷𒂍𒃲𒈨𒌍, URUE2.GAL.MEŠ, Ekallātum, "the Palaces") was an ancient Amorite city-state and kingdom in upper Mesopotamia.

The Old Assyrian period was the second stage of Assyrian history, covering the history of the city of Assur from its rise as an independent city-state under Puzur-Ashur I c. 2025 BC to the foundation of a larger Assyrian territorial state after the accession of Ashur-uballit I c. 1363 BC, which marks the beginning of the succeeding Middle Assyrian period. The Old Assyrian period is marked by the earliest known evidence of the development of a distinct Assyrian culture, separate from that of southern Mesopotamia and was a geopolitically turbulent time when Assur several times fell under the control or suzerainty of foreign kingdoms and empires. The period is also marked with the emergence of a distinct Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, a native Assyrian calendar and Assur for a time becoming a prominent site for international trade.

Tell Shemshara is an archaeological site located along the Little Zab in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, northeastern Iraq. The site was inundated by Lake Dukan until recently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akkad (city)</span> Ancient Mesopotamian city

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of ancient Assyria</span>

The timeline of ancient Assyria can be broken down into three main eras: the Old Assyrian period, Middle Assyrian Empire, and Neo-Assyrian Empire. Modern scholars typically also recognize an Early period preceding the Old Assyrian period and a post-imperial period succeeding the Neo-Assyrian period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King of the Universe</span> Royal title in Ancient Mesopotamia

King of the Universe, also interpreted as King of Everything, King of the Totality, King of All or King of the World, was a title of great prestige claiming world domination used by powerful monarchs in ancient Mesopotamia. The title is sometimes applied to God in the Judeo-Christian and Abrahamic tradition.