Tell Agreb

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Tell Agrab is located east of ancient Eshnunna
Stamp seal with striding figure holding sticks, Drill Technique, Tell Agrab. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago

Tell Agrab (or Aqrab ) is a tell or settlement mound located 20.3 km southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region. Tell Agrab was inhabited from approx. 3000 BC ( Jemdet-Nasr period ) to approx. 2000 BC ( Isin-Larsa period ). In the early dynastic period , monumental structures were built, including the Shara Temple. The site of Tell Agrab is surrounded by a 500 by 600 meter long, approximately 12 meter high and 5.5 meter wide wall in pillar niches. Remnants of settlement were discovered on flatter hills in the vicinity, which were later used as a cemetery.

Research history

Although it was a victim of robbery excavations, an official excavation began in 1936 and 1937 by a team from the Oriental Institute of Chicago , which was also working in Eshnunna , Khafajah and Tell Ishchali during this time . The dig was directed by Seton Lloyd . A great success was achieved when the great early dynastic temple was discovered. In 1992 the Oriental Institute started the Diyala project to process the old excavations and to create a database of excavation results and finds. The work suffered a serious setback with the looting of the Iraqi National Museum in 2003, when a considerable number of finds and the like. a. was stolen from Tell Agrab. The project could therefore not be completed on schedule in 2006, although the database is currently already accessible.

Shara temple

The early dynastic so-called Shara Temple, located in the east of the hill, is the most important excavated structure in Tell Agrab. It is 60 meters long and has a square base, a 6-meter-wide wall with large pillars surrounds it. Its name is based on a stone bowl found in the area, the inscription of which names the Sumerian god Shara. A total of three construction phases could be proven, although the focus of the excavations and publications was on the youngest layer ("Main Level"), since the poor state of preservation of the older two layers (summarized as "Earlier building") makes even an approximate reconstruction difficult .

Earlier building

Since the older phases of the building could not be completely excavated, only limited statements can be made about the dimensions and function of the individual rooms. However, based on an altar, a cult room could be identified in which a large number of small finds could be made, mostly clubs, some of which were built into the altar and walls. Furthermore, fragments of praying statuettes were found in this construction phase, which suggest a date in the earlier early dynastic period, as well as an image of a quadriga made of copper, which is drawn by four onagers. It is one of the earliest known examples.

Main level

The excavated west wing is divided into three parts. In the northernmost at least three smaller sanctuaries and a granary are being reconstructed.

The middle part includes the main sanctuary with a large offering table, further ritual tables and assumed treasure houses, as well as a well laid out with plano-convex bricks. A large number of sling balls were found in this area, which is sometimes taken as an indication of fighting.

The southern part of the west wing was laid out around a central courtyard, from which the surrounding rooms, including an assumed reception room but also a bathroom, could be reached, so that the priestess's private apartments are assumed to be here.

Dedicatory plates

The majority of the fragmentary dedicatory plates from Tell Agrab were recovered from the Main Level layers of the Shara Temple. This type of object is an integral part of the inventory of South Mesopotamian temples of the early Dynastic period. Other sites for which numerous dedicatory plate finds are documented are z. B. Tell Asmar and Ḫafāǧī .

The originally square, centrally perforated stone slabs have representations in the form of figural reliefs, which are usually divided into three friezes. Banquet scenes, as well as the preparation for the banquet, or the bringing or the transport of goods, are the topics most frequently presented within this type of object - this also applies to the consecration plates from Tell Agrab. On the basis of the realities depicted, or the iconography used and the execution of the sitter, all of the consecration plates from Tell Agrab that have been documented to date can be dated to the earlier early dynastic period.

In contrast to the depictions of the earlier early dynastic period, the execution of the earlier group is mainly characterized by angular, pointed shapes, oversized round eyes and an almost foreheadless face with a massive pointed nose. Parallels to this method of representation are within the location - but also beyond, in locations such as B. Tell Asmar and Ḫafāǧī - documented in other types of objects, the so-called prayer statuette or the glyptic .

literature

  • John Bagnell Bury et al .: The Cambridge Ancient History. Cambridge University Press, 1925, ISBN 0-521-07791-5
  • Jean M. Evans: The Square Temple at Tell Asmar and the Construction of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia ca. 2900-2350 BCE American Journal of Archeology, Vol. 111, No. October 4, 2007
  • Henri Frankfort: More Sculpture from the Diyala Region. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications, Volume LX
  • Pinhas Delougaz and Seton Lloyd: Pre-Sargonid Temples in the Diyala Region. The University of Chicago Press, Volume LVIII
  • Johannes Boese: Ancient Mesopotamian consecration plates, investigations into Assyrology and Near Eastern archeology 6. Walter de Gruyter (1971)
  • Ernst Heinrich: temples and sanctuaries in ancient Mesopotamia. DAI Volume 14, Walter de Gruyter (1982)
  • Edwards: IES Edwards ea, The Cambridge Ancient History, Early History of the Middle East, 1, Part 2, Cambridge (1971)
  • Eva-Aandrea Braun-Holzinger, Mesopotamian votive offerings, Heidelberg Studies on the Ancient Orient 3 (Heidelberg 1991)
  • Hans Jörg Nissen, History of the Ancient Near East, Oldenburg Outline of History (Munich 1999)

Web links

Commons : Tell Agrab  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pinhas Delougaz, Seton Lloyd: Pre-Sargonid Temples in the Diyala region. (with Henri Frankfort and Thorkild Jacobsen ) Oriental Institute Publication 58, 1942
  2. ↑ https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/diyala-project
  3. ↑ http://diyala.uchicago.edu/pls/apex/f?p=101:1:11756408944482 :::::
  4. ^ MA Littauer, JH Crouwel: Wheeled Vehicle and Ridden Animals in the Ancient Near East. Brill Academic Pub, 1997, ISBN 90-04-05953-9
  5. ^ Edwards: IES Edwards ea, The Cambridge Ancient History, Early History of the Middle East, 1, Part 2, Cambridge (1971), pp. 266-268