Shuruppak (Sumerian: 𒋢𒆳𒊒𒆠ŠuruppagKI, "the healing place"), modern Tell Fara, was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate. Shuruppak was dedicated to Ninlil, also called Sud, the goddess of grain and the air.[1]
Shuruppak is located in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, approximately 55 kilometres (35 mi) south of Nippur. The site of extends about a kilometer from north to south. The total area is about 120 hectares, with about 35 hectares of the mound being more than 3 meters above the surrounding plain, with a maximum of 9 meters.
Archaeology
List of titles of different occupations, clay tablet from Shuruppak, Iraq. 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BCE. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
Pig-shaped rattle from Shuruppak, Iraq. Baked clay. Early Dynastic period, 2500-2350 BCE. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
Recently a full magnetometer survey of the site was completed. The researchers found thousands of robber holes left by looters which had disturbed surface in many places. They were able to use remains of the 900 meter long trench left by excavators in 1902 and 1903 to orient old excavation documents and aerial mapping with their geomagnetic results. Part of the site was inaccessible because of the spoil heaps from the excavations. A city wall was found (in Area A), which had been missed in the past.[7][8]
Shuruppak became a grain storage and distribution city and had more silos than any other Sumerian city. The earliest excavated levels at Shuruppak date to the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BC; it was abandoned shortly after 2000 BC. Erich Schmidt found one Isin-Larsa cylinder seal and several pottery plaques which may date to early in the second millennium BC.[9] Surface finds are predominantly Early Dynastic.[10]
The report of the 1930s excavation mentions a layer of flood deposits at the end of the Jemdet Nasr period at Shuruppak.[3] More recently, it has been suggested that the nature of this deposit is more like that deposited by river avulsions, a process that was very common in the Tigris–Euphrates river system.[11]
Metalwork
Several objects made of arsenical copper were found in Shuruppak/Fara dating from the mid-fourth to early third millennium BC (approximately Jamdat Nasr period), which is quite early for Mesopotamia. Similar objects were also found at Tepe Gawra (levels XII-VIII).[12]
The city expanded to its greatest extent at the end of the Early Dynastic III period (2600 BC to 2350 BC) when it covered about 100 hectares. At this stage it was destroyed by a fire which baked the clay tablets and mudbrick walls, which then survived for millennia.[13]
Two possible kings of Shuruppak are mentioned in epigraphic data from later sources found elsewhere. In some versions of the Sumerian King List a king Ubara-Tutu is listed as the ruler of Shuruppak and the last king "before the flood". In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a man named Utanapishtim (also Uta-na'ishtim), son of Ubara-Tutu, is noted to be king of Shuruppak. The names Ziusudra and Atrahasis are also associated with him. These figures have not been supported by archaeological finds and may well be mythical.
^Jacobsen, Thorkild (1 January 1987). The Harps that Once--: Sumerian Poetry in Translation. Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-07278-5.
^Heinrich, Ernst; Andrae, Walter, eds. (1931). Fara, Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft in Fara und Abu Hatab. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.
^ abSchmidt, Erich (1931). "Excavations at Fara, 1931". University of Pennsylvania's Museum Journal. 2: 193–217.
^Martin, Harriet P. (1983). "Settlement Patterns at Shuruppak". Iraq. 45 (1): 24–31. doi:10.2307/4200173. JSTOR 4200173. S2CID 130046037.
^Otto, A., & Einwag, B., "The survey at Fara - Šuruppak 2016-2018", In Otto, A., Herles, M., Kaniuth, K., Korn, L., & Heidenreich, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 2. Wiesbaden, pp. 293–306. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2020
^Otto, A., Einwag, B., Al-Hussainy, A., Jawdat, J. A. H., Fink, C., & Maaß, H., "Destruction and looting of archaeological sites betweenFara/ˇSuruppak and Iˇsan Bahrīyat/Isin damage assessment during the Fara Regional Survey Project FARSUP", Sumer,64, pp. 35–48, 2018
^Martin, Harriet P. (1988). FARA: A reconstruction of the Ancient Mesopotamian City of Shuruppak. Birmingham, UK: Chris Martin & Assoc. p. 44, p. 117 and seal no. 579. ISBN0-907695-02-7.
^Adams, Robert McC. (1981). Heartland of Cities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fig. 33 compared with Fig. 21. ISBN0-226-00544-5.
^Morozova, Galina S. (2005). "A review of Holocene avulsions of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and possible effects on the evolution of civilizations in lower Mesopotamia". Geoarchaeology. 20 (4): 401–423. doi:10.1002/gea.20057. ISSN 0883-6353. S2CID 129452555.
^Daniel T. Potts, Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations. Cornell University Press, 1997 ISBN0801433398 p167
^Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. London: Penguin. ISBN0-14-026574-0.
References
Andrae, W., "Aus einem Berichte W. Andrae's über seineExkursion von Fara nach den südbabylonischen Ruinenstätten(TellǏd, Jǒcha und Hamam)", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,16, pp. 16–24, 1902 (in german)
Andrae, W., "Die Umgebung von Fara und Abu Hatab (Fara,Bismaja, Abu Hatab, Hˇetime, Dschidr und Juba’i)", Mitteilungen derDeutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,16, pp. 24–30, 1902 (in german)
Andrae, W., "Ausgrabungen in Fara und Abu Hatab. Bericht über dieZeit vom 15. August 1902 bis 10. Januar 1903", Mitteilungen derDeutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,17, pp.4–35, 1903 (in german)
Koldewey, R., "Acht Briefe Dr. Koldewey's (teilweise im Auszug)(Babylon, Fara und Abu Hatab)", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,15, pp. 6–24, 1902 (in german)
Koldewey, R., "Auszug aus fünf Briefen Dr. Koldewey's (Babylon,Fara und Abu Hatab)", Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,16, pp. 8–15, 1902 (in german)
Matthews, R. J. (1991). "Fragments of Officialdom from Fara". Iraq. 53: 1–15. doi:10.2307/4200331. JSTOR 4200331. S2CID 164100986.
Nöldeke, A., "Die Rückkehr unserer Expedition aus Fara", Mitteilun-gen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft,17, pp. 35–44, 1903 (in german)
Pomponio, Francesco; Visicato, Giuseppe; Westenholz, Aage; Martin, Harriet P. (2001). The Fara Tablets in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. CDL Press. ISBN1-883053-66-8.
Wencel, M. M., "New radiocarbon dates from southern Mesopotamia (Fara and Ur)", Iraq, 80, pp. 251-261, 2018
External links
E Schmidt 1931 excavtion video at Archive.org
Aramco article on Samuel Kramer
Photographs from the University of Pennsylvania expedition to Fara
January 31, 2023
shuruppak, archaic, piece, wisdom, literature, instructions, sumerian, 𒋢𒆳𒊒𒆠, Šuruppagki, healing, place, modern, tell, fara, ancient, sumerian, city, situated, about, kilometres, south, nippur, banks, euphrates, iraq, qādisiyyah, governorate, dedicated, ninlil. For the archaic piece of wisdom literature see Instructions of Shuruppak Shuruppak Sumerian 𒋢𒆳𒊒𒆠 SuruppagKI the healing place modern Tell Fara was an ancient Sumerian city situated about 55 kilometres 35 mi south of Nippur on the banks of the Euphrates in Iraq s Al Qadisiyyah Governorate Shuruppak was dedicated to Ninlil also called Sud the goddess of grain and the air 1 ShuruppakShown within IraqShow map of IraqShuruppak Near East Show map of Near EastAlternative nameTell FaraLocationAl Qadisiyyah Governorate IraqRegionSumerCoordinates31 46 39 N 45 30 35 E 31 77750 N 45 50972 E 31 77750 45 50972 Coordinates 31 46 39 N 45 30 35 E 31 77750 N 45 50972 E 31 77750 45 50972Typearchaeological site human settlementArea120 hectareHeight9 metreHistoryPeriodsJemdet Nasr period Early Dynastic period Akkad period Ur III periodSite notesExcavation dates1902 1931ArchaeologistsRobert Koldewey Friedrich Delitzsch Erich Schmidt Harriet P Martin Contents 1 Shuruppak and its environment 2 Archaeology 3 Occupation history 3 1 Metalwork 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksShuruppak and its environment EditShuruppak is located in Al Qadisiyyah Governorate approximately 55 kilometres 35 mi south of Nippur The site of extends about a kilometer from north to south The total area is about 120 hectares with about 35 hectares of the mound being more than 3 meters above the surrounding plain with a maximum of 9 meters Archaeology Edit List of titles of different occupations clay tablet from Shuruppak Iraq 2nd half of the 3rd millennium BCE Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin Pig shaped rattle from Shuruppak Iraq Baked clay Early Dynastic period 2500 2350 BCE Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin After a brief survey by Hermann Volrath Hilprecht in 1900 it was first excavated in 1902 by Robert Koldewey and Friedrich Delitzsch of the German Oriental Society for eight months 2 Among other finds hundreds of Early Dynastic tablets were collected which ended up in the Berlin Museum and the Istanbul Museum In March and April 1931 a joint team of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University of Pennsylvania excavated Shuruppak for a further six week season with Erich Schmidt as director and with epigraphist Samuel Noah Kramer 3 4 The excavation recovered 87 tablets and fragments mostly from pre Sargonic times biconvex and unbaked In 1973 a three day surface survey of the site was conducted by Harriet P Martin Consisting mainly of pottery shard collection the survey confirmed that Shuruppak dates at least as early as the Jemdet Nasr period expanded greatly in the Early Dynastic period and was also an element of the Akkadian Empire and the Third Dynasty of Ur 5 A surface survey was conducted in 2016 to 2018 6 Recently a full magnetometer survey of the site was completed The researchers found thousands of robber holes left by looters which had disturbed surface in many places They were able to use remains of the 900 meter long trench left by excavators in 1902 and 1903 to orient old excavation documents and aerial mapping with their geomagnetic results Part of the site was inaccessible because of the spoil heaps from the excavations A city wall was found in Area A which had been missed in the past 7 8 Occupation history Edit Summary account of silver for the governor written in Sumerian Cuneiform on a clay tablet From Shuruppak Iraq circa 2500 BC British Museum London Shuruppak became a grain storage and distribution city and had more silos than any other Sumerian city The earliest excavated levels at Shuruppak date to the Jemdet Nasr period about 3000 BC it was abandoned shortly after 2000 BC Erich Schmidt found one Isin Larsa cylinder seal and several pottery plaques which may date to early in the second millennium BC 9 Surface finds are predominantly Early Dynastic 10 The report of the 1930s excavation mentions a layer of flood deposits at the end of the Jemdet Nasr period at Shuruppak 3 More recently it has been suggested that the nature of this deposit is more like that deposited by river avulsions a process that was very common in the Tigris Euphrates river system 11 Metalwork Edit Several objects made of arsenical copper were found in Shuruppak Fara dating from the mid fourth to early third millennium BC approximately Jamdat Nasr period which is quite early for Mesopotamia Similar objects were also found at Tepe Gawra levels XII VIII 12 The city expanded to its greatest extent at the end of the Early Dynastic III period 2600 BC to 2350 BC when it covered about 100 hectares At this stage it was destroyed by a fire which baked the clay tablets and mudbrick walls which then survived for millennia 13 Two possible kings of Shuruppak are mentioned in epigraphic data from later sources found elsewhere In some versions of the Sumerian King List a king Ubara Tutu is listed as the ruler of Shuruppak and the last king before the flood In the Epic of Gilgamesh a man named Utanapishtim also Uta na ishtim son of Ubara Tutu is noted to be king of Shuruppak The names Ziusudra and Atrahasis are also associated with him These figures have not been supported by archaeological finds and may well be mythical See also EditHistory of Sumer List of cities of the ancient Near East Instructions of ShuruppakNotes Edit Jacobsen Thorkild 1 January 1987 The Harps that Once Sumerian Poetry in Translation Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 07278 5 Heinrich Ernst Andrae Walter eds 1931 Fara Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft in Fara und Abu Hatab Berlin Staatliche Museen zu Berlin a b Schmidt Erich 1931 Excavations at Fara 1931 University of Pennsylvania s Museum Journal 2 193 217 Kramer Samuel N 1932 New Tablets from Fara Journal of the American Oriental Society 52 2 110 132 doi 10 2307 593166 JSTOR 593166 Martin Harriet P 1983 Settlement Patterns at Shuruppak Iraq 45 1 24 31 doi 10 2307 4200173 JSTOR 4200173 S2CID 130046037 Otto A amp Einwag B The survey at Fara Suruppak 2016 2018 In Otto A Herles M Kaniuth K Korn L amp Heidenreich A Eds Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Vol 2 Wiesbaden pp 293 306 Harrassowitz Verlag 2020 Otto A Einwag B Al Hussainy A Jawdat J A H Fink C amp Maass H Destruction and looting of archaeological sites betweenFara ˇSuruppak and Iˇsan Bahriyat Isin damage assessment during the Fara Regional Survey Project FARSUP Sumer 64 pp 35 48 2018 doi 10 1002 arp 1878 Martin Harriet P 1988 FARA A reconstruction of the Ancient Mesopotamian City of Shuruppak Birmingham UK Chris Martin amp Assoc p 44 p 117 and seal no 579 ISBN 0 907695 02 7 Adams Robert McC 1981 Heartland of Cities Chicago University of Chicago Press Fig 33 compared with Fig 21 ISBN 0 226 00544 5 Morozova Galina S 2005 A review of Holocene avulsions of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and possible effects on the evolution of civilizations in lower Mesopotamia Geoarchaeology 20 4 401 423 doi 10 1002 gea 20057 ISSN 0883 6353 S2CID 129452555 Daniel T Potts Mesopotamian Civilization The Material Foundations Cornell University Press 1997 ISBN 0801433398 p167 Leick Gwendolyn 2002 Mesopotamia The Invention of the City London Penguin ISBN 0 14 026574 0 References EditAndrae W Aus einem Berichte W Andrae s uber seineExkursion von Fara nach den sudbabylonischen Ruinenstatten TellǏd Jǒcha und Hamam Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 16 pp 16 24 1902 in german Andrae W Die Umgebung von Fara und Abu Hatab Fara Bismaja Abu Hatab Hˇetime Dschidr und Juba i Mitteilungen derDeutschen Orient Gesellschaft 16 pp 24 30 1902 in german Andrae W Ausgrabungen in Fara und Abu Hatab Bericht uber dieZeit vom 15 August 1902 bis 10 Januar 1903 Mitteilungen derDeutschen Orient Gesellschaft 17 pp 4 35 1903 in german Koldewey R Acht Briefe Dr Koldewey s teilweise im Auszug Babylon Fara und Abu Hatab Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 15 pp 6 24 1902 in german Koldewey R Auszug aus funf Briefen Dr Koldewey s Babylon Fara und Abu Hatab Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 16 pp 8 15 1902 in german Matthews R J 1991 Fragments of Officialdom from Fara Iraq 53 1 15 doi 10 2307 4200331 JSTOR 4200331 S2CID 164100986 Noldeke A Die Ruckkehr unserer Expedition aus Fara Mitteilun gen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 17 pp 35 44 1903 in german Pomponio Francesco Visicato Giuseppe Westenholz Aage Martin Harriet P 2001 The Fara Tablets in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology CDL Press ISBN 1 883053 66 8 Wencel M M New radiocarbon dates from southern Mesopotamia Fara and Ur Iraq 80 pp 251 261 2018External links EditE Schmidt 1931 excavtion video at Archive org Aramco article on Samuel Kramer Photographs from the University of Pennsylvania expedition to Fara Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shuruppak amp oldid 1132268439, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
