Tell al-Dhiba'i

Tell al-Dhiba'i

{{{1}}}
Shown within Iraq Show map of Iraq Tell al-Dhiba'i (Near East) Show map of Near East
Location	Baghdad Governorate , Iraq
Region	Mesopotamia
Coordinates	33°18′36″N44°28′48″E / 33.31000°N 44.48000°E / 33.31000; 44.48000
Type	settlement
History
Periods	Isin-Larsa period , Old Babylonian Empire
Site notes
Excavation dates	1947, 1962, 1982–1984
Archaeologists	Muhammed Ali Mustafa, Nahida Abdul Feta

Tell al-Dhiba'i, (also Tell edh-Dhiba'i and Tell adh-Dhiba), is an archaeological site in Baghdad Governorate (Iraq). It lies within the borders of modern Baghdad near Tell Muhammad and 3 kilometers northeast of Shaduppum (Tell Harmal), more specifically in the neighborhood of New Baghdad. ^[1] Uzarzalulu/Zaralulu (Za-ra-lu-lu^ki) has been proposed as the original name of the city. ^{[2] [3] [4]} A text found at Tell Harmal mentioned "They swore the oath of Tišpak and Daduša the king (Before Ige-eḫ-luma high official of Zaralulu)". ^[5] An alternative proposal is Šadlaš. ^[6] Known rulers of Šadlaš are Sumu-Amnānum, Sumu-numḫim and Sumu-Šamaš. ^[7] The city was occupied mainly during the Isin-Larsa period and Old Babylonian period. ^[8] Not to be confused with the Sassanian period site Tell al-Dhiba'i near Uruk. ^[9] A small (80 meters by 95 meters) site, Tell al-Aleimiyat, lies just to the northeast. It had three phases from Isin-Larsa to Kassite. Three cuneiform tablets and a number of cylinder seals were found there. ^[10]

Archaeology

The site consists of three mounds covering a rectangular area of about 45000 square meters (300 meters by 150 meters) and rising to 7 meters. The highest mound is to the north. The Directorate-General of Antiquities of Iraq conducted three seasons of excavations, led by Muhammed Ali Mustafa, in 1947, 1962, and 1965. ^{[1] [11] [12]} Before excavations began the site, being near Baghdad, had already been extensively dug by illegal workers in some areas in search of tablets and small finds. In 1982–84 an Iraqi State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage team led by Nahida Abdul Feta did some additional excavation on Old Babylonian houses there. A 50 meter by 50 meter section was excavated adjacent to the temple, and a number of cuneiform tablets were found. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

History

Five occupation layers were found on the central mound, underlain by scattered Akkadian Empire and Ur III period remains. The city of Zaralulu was known in the Akkadian Empire period. ^[16] Level IV was marked by the remains large Kassite era foundations that cut into the lower level. The most significant level was Level V, where roughly 100 cuneiform tablets, mostly business or administrative records, and a temple (14.5 by 18.5 meters) of the god Lasimu (or Lassimu) were uncovered. The Level V occupation was destroyed by conflagration, and the site was abandoned. The tablets were mainly administrative and loan contracts. Date formulas on tablets, including the death of Belakum, king of Eshnunna. He was a contemporary of Sumu-la-El (c. 1880–1845 BC) of Babylon, showing this level to date to the early period of the First Dynasty of Babylon. ^[17] Most of the city rulers had Amorite names. ^[18] Cylinder seals were also recovered, some the same as at Tell Harmal. ^{[19] [20]} The northern and southern mounds had levels III, IV, and V with level III having a large building. The north mound produced a number of tablets and other finds. In total, roughly 300 tablets were found at the site: 183 administrative documents, 45 receipts, 31 letters, 9 loan contracts, 3 mathematical texts and 8 miscellane". ^{[21] [22] [23]} An important discovery was a copper-smith operation including most of its tools including bellows, crucibles, and lost wax molds, dated to the Old Babylonian period. ^{[24] [25]} There are some Neo-Babylonian and Kassite graves at the surface level of the site.

See also

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• IM 67118

References

1. Mustafa, M.A., "Soundings at Tell al-Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 5, iss. 2, pp. 173–88, 1949
2. Abdullah, A.K., "The paramount god and the old name of Al-Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 23, no. 1-2, pp. 189–92, 1967
3. Matoušová , M., "Running Adad", Sumer, vol. 22, iss. 1-2, pp. 115-117, 1966
4. Viaggio, Salvatore, "Tell adh-Dhiba’i / Zaralulu", Geo-Archeologia, vol. 2000/1, pp. 27-41, 2000
5. Van Wyk, Susandra, "The phrase, 'Should a claimant raise a claim, he will pay...' In the division of an inheritance from Old Babylonia Tell Harmal", Fundamina 24.1, pp. 170-197, 2018
6. Rashid, F., "The old name of Tell Al-Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 23, no. 1-2, pp. 177*-82*, 1967 [in Arabic]
7. Boer, Rients de, "Beginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-abum and Sumu-la-El", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 70.1, pp. 53-86, 2018
8. Al-Hashimi, R., "New light on the date of Harmal and Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 28, no. 1-2, pp. 29–33, 1972
9. R. McC. Adams and H. Nissen, "The Uruk Countryside: The Natural Setting of Urban Societies", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972 ISBN   0-226-00500-3
10. Clayden, Tim, "Early Kassites East of the Tigris1", Archaeology from Every Angle: Papers in Honor of Richard L. Zettler, pp. 44-81, 2024
11. Al-Gailani, L., "Tell Al-Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 21, iss. 1-2, pp. 33–40, 1965
12. Jeffery Orchard, "Recent Archaeological Activity in Iraq: A Review", Iraq, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 104–09, 1963
13. Hamoudi, K.K., Al-Khayaat, A.A. and Mihawish, N.G., "Excavations at Tell Al-Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol.46, pp. 91*–112*, 1989–90 [in Arabic; English translation in Supplement to Sumer 46 (1999): 20–27]
14. "Excavations in Iraq, 1981-82", Iraq, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 199–224, 1983
15. "Excavations in Iraq, 1983-84". Iraq, vol. 47, pp. 215–39, 1985
16. Gentili, P., "Sargonic Names in the Diyala Region and Beyond", Cuneiform Digital Library Preprints 12, 2008
17. Isma’el, Khalid Salim, and Eleanor Robson, "Arithmetical Tablets from Iraqi Excavations in the Diyala", in Your Praise Is Sweet: A Memorial Volume for Jeremy Black from Students, Colleagues and Friends, British Institute for the Study of Iraq, pp. 151–64, 2010
18. Baqir, T., "Date formulae from Dhiba’i", Sumer, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 140–3, 1949
19. Matoušová-Rajmova, M., "Some cylinder seals from Dhiba’i and Harmal", Sumer, vol. 31, no. 1-2, pp. 49–66, 1975
20. Beatrice, Teissier, "Tbe Old Babylonian Period", Ancient Near Eastern Cylinder Seals from the Marcopoli Collection, Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 20-27, 1984
21. Baqir, T., "Tell Dhiba’i: new mathematical texts", Sumer, vol. 18, iss. 1-2, pp. 11–14, 1962
22. Khalid Salim Isma’el and Eleanor Robson, "Arithmetical tablets from Iraqi excavations in the Diyala.", YOUR PRAISE IS SWEET, British Institute for the Study of Iraq, pp. 151-164, 2010
23. Abdul Karim and Abdullah Ahmad, "Old Babylonian Loan Contracts in the Iraq Museum from Tell Al-Dhiba'i and Tell Harmal", University of Baghdad, 1964
24. Davey, C. J., "The Metalworker's Tools from Tell Edh Dhiba'i.", Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology, London University, vol. 20, pp. 169-185, 1983
25. Davey, Christopher J. "Tell edh-Dhiba’i and the southern Near Eastern metalworking tradition." The Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys (1988): 63-8