A History of Sumer and Akkad: An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchy — John Shaqi
A History of Sumer and Akkad: An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchyKing, L. W. (Leonard William)
History
A History of Sumer and Akkad: An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchy
King, L. W. (Leonard William)
Akkadians; Babylonia -- History; Sumerians
No excavations have yet been conducted on this site, but it was visited
by Dr. Andrae in the winter of 1902-3. He noted traces of a large
building on a platform to the north of the principal ridge, marked A
on the plan. It appears to have formed a square, its sides measuring
seventy metres in length, and a small mound rises in the centre of
it. Quantities of square, kiln-burnt bricks are scattered on the
mound which covers it, and on the south side traces of a rectangular
chamber are visible.[12] Numerous fragments of diorite also suggest
the presence of sculptures, and at the south corner of the building,
at the spot marked with a cross on the plan, the Germans found a
fragment of diorite with part of a carefully chiselled inscription
in archaic characters. The occurrence of unglazed potsherds, flint
implements, and plano-convex bricks on other parts of the mound are an
indication that, like Fâra, the site contains relics of still earlier
habitation. Moreover, it is said that for years past Arab diggings
have been carried out there, and early tablets and three cones of the
patesi Galu-Babbar have reached Europe from this site. In view of the
promising traces he noted and of the important part which the city
played in early Sumerian history, it is almost to be regretted that
Dr. Andrae did not substitute Jôkha for Abû Hatab as a site for his
subsequent excavation.
Other mounds in the same neighbourhood also suggest prospects of
success for the future excavator. One of these is Hammâm, which lies
about seven and a half miles W.S.W. of Jôkha and close to the bed of
the Shatt el-Kâr. It consists of a group of separate mounds, on one of
which are the remains of a rectangular building resembling a ziggurat
or temple-tower. Its side measures thirty metres, and it rises to
a height of twelve metres above the surface of the mound, which in
turn is three metres above the plain. Clay, in which layers of reeds
are embedded, has been spread between the bricks as at Warka. More
to the north of it in the same mound are traces of another building,
possibly the temple of which it formed a part. To the south of Hammâm,
and a little over three miles to the west of the Shatt el-Kâr is
Tell 'Îd, another site which might repay excavation. It consists of
a well-defined mound, about thirty metres high at the summit, and is
visible from a considerable distance. Unlike Hammâm and Jôkha, however,
it shows no trace upon its surface of any building, and there are no
potsherds, bricks, or other objects scattered on the mound to afford
an indication of its date. Both Tell 'Îd and Hammâm stand on a slightly
elevated tract of desert soil, some ten miles broad, which raises
them above the marshes caused by the inundations of the Euphrates. On
the same tract farther to the south are Senkera and Warka, which were
examined by Loftus in the early fifties.[13]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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