Tell Agrab

{{Infobox ancient site

|name = Tell Agrab

|alternate_name =

|image =

|alt =

|caption =

|map_type = Iraq

|map_alt =

|relief=yes

|coordinates = {{coord|33|20|20|N|44|52|28|E|type:landmark_region:SY|display=inline,title}}

|map_size = 200

|location = Diyala Governorate, Iraq

|type = settlement

|part_of =

|length =

|width =

|area =

|height =

|builder =

|material =

|built = 3rd millennium BC

|abandoned =

|epochs = Bronze Age

|cultures = Jemdet Nasr, Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Larsa

|dependency_of =

|occupants =

|event =

|excavations = 1936-1937

|archaeologists = Seton Lloyd

|condition = Ruined

|ownership = Public

|public_access = Yes

|website =

|notes =

}}

Tell Agrab (or Aqrab) is a tell or settlement mound {{convert|12.6|mi}} southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq. It is about 15 miles southeast of Tell Asmar, ancient Eshnunna. It has been suggested that the ancient name of the site was PA.GAR.Marchesi, Gianni and Marchetti, Nicolo, "The Inscriptions on Royal Statues", Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 155-185, 2011

History

File:Stamp seal with Striding Figure Holding Batons, Drill Technique, Tell Agrab, Early-Middle Uruk, 4000-3500 BC, chalky limestone - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07201.JPG

Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during the Early Dynastic period that monumental building occurred, including

the Shara Temple. There is no evidence that it was occupied after the end of the third millennium BC.

Archaeology

File:Hammurabi's Babylonia 1.svg

The site of Tell Agrab is encompassed by a {{convert|500|by|600|m}} rectangle with a height of around {{convert|12|m}}. It was surrounded by a fortification wall made of plano-convex bricks and with defensive towers every 19 meters.Allen, Francis O. "The Oriental Institute Archaeological Report on the Near East: Fourth Quarter, 1935", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 201–14, 1936 Though it had been subject to illegal digging earlier with materials from there appearing with Baghdad antiquities dealers, the site was officially excavated between 1935 and 1937 by a team from the Oriental Institute of Chicago which was also working at Eshnunna, Khafajah and Tell Ishchali during that time. The dig was led by Seton Lloyd.{{Cite book|last1=Delougaz|first1=Pinhas|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip58.pdf|title=Pre-sargonic temples in the Diyala region|last2=Lloyd|first2=Seton|date=1942|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, Ill.|language=English|oclc=1153687033}}"The Oriental Institute Archeological Report on the near East: First Quarter, 1937", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 256–77, 1937

The primary excavation effort was on the large Early Dynastic temple consisting of a main sanctuary with altar and offering table and two smaller subsidiary sanctuaries on the same plan The temple was believed by the excavators to be dedicated to Shara based on a stone bowl fragment inscription "To Shara has Anunu, foreman of (yeo)men, presented (this) as a gift.". However, subsequent research suggests that it may have belonged to a local deity, Iluma'tim, while the name ^dLAGABxIGI-gunû from the bowl fragment, formerly read as Shara, might instead be Išḫara, which according to Gianni Marchesi and Nicolo Marchetti is more plausible in the light of the distribution of cult centers of these two deities.{{cite book|last1=Marchesi|first1=Gianni|last2=Marchetti|first2=Nicolo|title=Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia|publisher=Penn State University Press|date=2011|isbn=978-1-57506-651-6|doi=10.1515/9781575066516|page=227}} Only the western end of the temple was studied, the rest being badly eroded. The temple was about {{convert|60|m}} square and was surrounded by a wall {{convert|6|m}} wide with large supporting buttresses. The presence of sling stones and a sappers tunnel indicated an attack in the Early Dynastic era. Aside from a number of treasure caches, cylinder seals,{{Cite book|last=Frankfort|first=Henry|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/oip72.pdf|title=Stratified cylinder seals from the Diayala region|date=1964|publisher=The Univ. Pr.|location=Chicago|language=English|oclc=249158786}} and a sculptured mace-head of gypsum ornamented with lions' head found, the most notable find was a copper chariot pulled by four onagers, one of the earliest examples known.Hughes, George R., et al., "The Oriental Institute Archeological Report on the Near East: Third Quarter, 1937", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 97–112, 1938{{Cite book|last=Littauer|first=M. A.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/6031713|title=Wheeled vehicles and ridden animals in the ancient Near East|date=1979|publisher=E.J. Brill|others=J. H. Crouwel|isbn=90-04-05953-9|location=Leiden|oclc=6031713}} Three cuneiform tablets in Old Akkadian were also found[https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/mad1.pdf] I.J. Gelb, "Sargonic Texts from the Diyala Region", Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary, vol. 1, Chicago, 1961 as well as "two small bronze statuettes of men and one of a woman (all with inlaid eyes of mother of pearl)" as well as tools and weapons made of bronze and the remains of a copper statue that would have originally been 4/5 life size.Nims, Charles F, "The Oriental Institute Archeological Report on the near East: Fourth Quarter, 1936", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 199–216, 1937 A metal hoard consisting of "silver wires, rings/coils, ornaments, beads and an enigmatic ‘gold weight'" was found in a long corridor and dated to Early Dynastic II.[https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/1028176/2/peyronel_2023_in%20weights%20and%20measures.pdf]Peyronel, L., "Metrology in action: Hacksilver and Scale Weights in Western Asia during the 3rd Millennium BCE", Münchener Abhandlungen zum Alten Orient 9, pp. 153-170, 2023 A single neolithic clay token was also found.Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. Before writing: From counting to cuneiform, Vol. II, University of Texas Press, 1992Overmann, Karenleigh A., The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, Table 9.2, pp. 169-170, 2019 A notable find was a green steatite vase, elaborately engraved.Parker, Richard A., "The Oriental Institute Archaeological Report on the Near East: Second Quarter, 1936", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 52–72, 1936

Gallery

File:Kneeling Nude Male Holding Vase on Head, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Early Dynastic period, 2900-2700 BC, calcite - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07462.JPG|Kneeling Nude Male Holding Vase on Head, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Early Dynastic period, 2900-2700 BC, calcite - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC07462

File:Male statue from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab.jpg|Fragment of a Sumerian male statue from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum

File:Head of a Sumerian woman from Tell Agrab, Shara Temple.jpg|Head of a Sumerian woman from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum

File:Male head from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg|Male head from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum

File:Female statuette, fragment, from Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg|Female statuette from Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum

File:Gilgamesh in a Sculptured Vase, Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq.jpg|Gilgamesh wrestling two bulls, from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum

File:Model of a chariot drawn by four horses abreast. Quadriga consists of a chariot and a charioteer with four onagers. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Early Dynastic period, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|Quadriga consists of a chariot and a charioteer with four onagers. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Early Dynastic period, 2600-2370 BCE. Iraq Museum

File:Cylinder seal, white marble. Two goats, two shrines, and stars. Jemdet Nasr period, 3100-2900 BCE. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.jpg|Cylinder seal, white marble. Two goats, two shrines, and stars. Jemdet Nasr period, 3100-2900 BCE. From Tell Agrab, Iraq. Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq

References

External links

[https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/images/archive/highlights/A17948_3Qtr_Right_8337.jpg Pedestalled Cup from Shara Temple - Oriental Institute]
[http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/ex_nos.htm#tellagr_a Tell Agrab items possibly lost from Baghdad Museum]
[https://isac.uchicago.edu/article/mace-head-misidentified-fidget-spinner Mace Head Misidentified as a Fidget Spinner - Oriental Institute - August 3, 2017]

Category:Populated places disestablished in the 3rd millennium BC

Category:1936 archaeological discoveries

Agrab

Category:Tells (archaeology)

Category:Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)