![]() View of Tell Leilan | |
Location | Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°57′26″N41°30′19″E / 36.95722°N 41.50528°E |
Type | Settlement |
History | |
Founded | 5000 BCE |
Abandoned | 1726 BCE |
Cultures | Akkadian, Assyrian |
Site notes | |
Condition | In 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.
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]
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]
Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia | |||||||
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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 | ||||||
| |||||||
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]
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]
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.
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.
Washukanni was the capital of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni, from around 1500 BC to the 13th century BC.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ekallatum (Akkadian: 𒌷𒂍𒃲𒈨𒌍, URUE2.GAL.MEŠ, Ekallātum, "the Palaces") was an ancient Amorite city-state and kingdom in upper Mesopotamia.
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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.
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.
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.
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.