Puzrish-Dagan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Puzrish-Dagan
Puzrish-Dagan is located in Iraq
Puzrish-Dagan
Shown within Iraq
LocationIraq
RegionAl-Qādisiyyah Governorate
Coordinates32°3′29.34544″N 45°17′20.44158″E / 32.0581515111°N 45.2890115500°E / 32.0581515111; 45.2890115500Coordinates: 32°3′29.34544″N 45°17′20.44158″E / 32.0581515111°N 45.2890115500°E / 32.0581515111; 45.2890115500
Typearchaeological site, human settlement
Area10 hectare, 15 hectare
Height8.5 metre
History
BuilderShulgi
PeriodsEarly Dynastic period, Akkad period, Ur III period
Site notes
Excavation dates2007
ArchaeologistsAli Ubeid Shalkam

Puzrish-Dagan (modern Drehem) is an important archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate (Iraq). It is best-known for the thousands of clay tablets that are known to have come from the site through looting during the early twentieth century.

History of research[]

Puzrish-Dagan came first to the attention of scholars when clay tablets coming from the site started to appear on the antiquities market in 1909-1910. Based on information from the antiquities traders who sold the tablets, Puzrish-Dagan could be identied with modern Drehem in Iraq.[1] Since then, some 12,000 tablets alleged to have come from the site have been published.[2][3] The objects are scattered across numerous collections, for example those of the Royal Ontario Museum and the Oriental Institute and the Iraq Museum. The site was surveyed by Robert McCormick Adams as part of his important archaeological work in the region. Iraqi archaeologists excavated the site in 2007 under the direction of Ali Ubeid Shalkam.[4] The Iraqi-Italian QADIS-project surveyed the site in 2016.[5] The Oriental Institute has received permission to start new excavations at the site as part of their renewed work at the nearby site of Nippur and carried out a preliminary survey in 2019.[6]

The site and its environment[]

Puzrish-Dagan is located some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Nippur, of which it has sometimes been called a suburb. The site consists of two areas; a northern and a southern mound. The northern mound measures 380 by 240 by 4 metres (1,247 by 787 by 13 ft) for a total area of 10 hectares (25 acres). The southern mound is slightly larger: it measures 560 by 275 metres (1,837 by 902 ft), is 8.5 metres (28 ft) high and occupies an area of 15 hectares (37 acres). Parts of the site are now obscured by modern agricultural fields and several irrigation canals cut through it.[5] The mound has been described as a "beehive" due to the illegal looting taking place since the early 1900s.[6]

Based on the site morphology, the southern mound possibly contains a ziggurat. Both mounds probably contain large buildings over 100 metres (330 ft) in length. Traces of the walls are still visible on the surface and the regularity of these traces suggests that the buildings were planned and built within a short period of time. The QADIS-survey has documented possible traces of a city wall, a large temple complex next to the ziggurat, ancient canals that ran alongside and through the settlement, as well as a harbor.[5][6]

Occupation history[]

Traces of the Early Dynastic, Akkadian and Ur III periods have been found at the site according to a 1967 publication of the Iraqi Directorate General of antiquities.[7] The QADIS-survey found sherds dating to the Middle Uruk period and confirmed that the Ur III period was probably the most important settlement level at Drehem. Evidence for the Isin-Larsa as well as the Parthian and/or Sasanian periods has also been found.[5] The thousands of texts coming from the site all date to the Ur III period. In the absence of excavations these texts from provide the most information on the nature of the settlement at Drehem. Puzrish-Dagan was founded by king Shulgi as an important administrative center in the bala tax system of the Ur III period.[6] Witnessed by thousands of cuneiform tablets, livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats) of the state was centralized at Drehem and subsequently redistributed to temples, its officials and royal palaces. The temples of nearby Nippur were the main destinations of the livestock.

References[]

  1. ^ Ebeling, Erich; Weidner, Ernst F (2008). Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie 11 11 (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-020383-7. OCLC 645080633.
  2. ^ [1]M. Hilgert, "Cuneiform Texts from the Ur III Period in the Oriental Institute, Volume 1: Drehem Administrative Documents from the Reign of Shulgi", Oriental Institute Publications 115 Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1998 ISBN 1-885923-07-4
  3. ^ [2]Markus Hilgert, Clemens D. Reichel, Cuneiform Texts from the Ur III Period in the Oriental Institute, Volume 2: Drehem Administrative Documents from the Reign of Amar-Suena, Oriental Institute Publications 121 Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2003 ISBN 1-885923-24-4
  4. ^ Al-Mutawalli, Nawala; Sallaberger, Walther; Shalkham, Ali Ubeid (2017-12-30). "The Cuneiform Documents from the Iraqi Excavation at Drehem". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie (in German). 107 (2): 151–217. doi:10.1515/za-2017-0101. ISSN 1613-1150.
  5. ^ a b c d Marchetti, N. "QADIS. The Iraqi-Italian 2016 Survey Season in the South-Eastern Region of Qadisiyah". Sumer. 63: 63–92.
  6. ^ a b c d Alizadeh, Abbas (2020). "Nippur Expedition". The Oriental Institute 2019-20 Annual Report (PDF). pp. 95–99. ISBN 978-1-61491-055-8.
  7. ^ The Archaeological Map of Iraq. Baghdad: The Republic of Iraq Directorate General of Antiquities. 1967.
Retrieved from ""