Tell al-Lahm (also Tell el-Lahm or Tell el-Lehem or Tell Al-Laham) is an archaeological site in Dhi Qar Governorate (Iraq). It is southeast of the site of ancient Ur. Its ancient name is not known with certainty, with Kuara, Kisig, and Dur-Iakin having been proposed. Durum was also suggested but has since been discounted.Falkinstein, A., "Zur Lage des sudbabylonisches Durum", AfO 21, pp.50-51, 1966 Today the Euphrates River is away, but in antiquity, it ran by the site (or a branch of it did), continuing to flow there until the Muslim Era.
Archaeology The site is oblong with an extent of 350 meters by 300 meters, consisting of one main mound with some peripheral ridges and depressions, and near a dry canal bed. The surface is irregular due to use in modern times as a cemetery and from local Bedouin camping and digging defensive trenches. The mound rises to about 15 meters. Around the main mound are a number of low (less than 2 meters) mounds, mostly from much later occupation. The largest, 30 meters to the northeast, has about the same area as the main mound. The site is surrounded by the remains of a city wall, which had circular buttresses at the corners.
The location was excavated for a few days in 1855 by John George Taylor. After digging a number of deep trenches, he found no buildings, only the remnants of a few brick pavements, and a single cuneiform tablet. The brick inscriptions were too defaced to read. He also found a number of graves from later periods. The content or the disposition of the tablet is unclear. J. E. Taylor, "Notes on Abu Shahrein and Tel el Lahm", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 15, pp. 404-415, 1855E. Sollberger, "Mr. Taylor in Chaldaea", Anatolian Studies, vol. 22, pp. 129-139, 1972 While working at Eridu for the British Museum in 1918, R. Campbell Thompson excavated there briefly, finding two bricks of the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nabonidus and one of the Ur III Empire ruler Bur-Sin. There was a sizable Neo-Babylonian settlement to the east of the site (later worked by Fuad Safar), so it is uncertain if the Nabonidus brick is in its original location.R. Campbell Thompson, "The British Museum excavations at Abu Shahrain in Mesopotamia in 1918", Oxford, 1920
In more modern times, Fuad Safar conducted soundings at Tell al-Lahm in 1949. Six deep soundings were dug on the main mound, providing a detailed stratigraphy of the site. The main mound ranged from a substantial settlement in the Early Dynastic period at the lowest level to a smaller settlement in Kassite period in the final levels. The first sounding found an inscribed brick of Bur-Sin. Small pits excavated on the large low mound to the northeast found some Neo-Assyrian remains, including a cylinder seal and the rim of a stone vase (thought to be from the main mound originally) inscribed with "dShu-nir". Five soundings were also conducted on the low mound. It found remains of a large building, a few fragmentary cuneiform tablets (disposition unclear), a figurine (thought to be of the god Nabu), and a damaged baked clay cylinder of Nabonidus. At the upper level, three blackish partly baked tablets (disposition unclear) were found, two with a date of Achaemenid Empire king Darius. No transcriptions or translations of epigraphy were reported.Fuad Safar, "Soundings at Tell Al-Laham", Sumer, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 154-172, 1949 Three bathtub shaped terracotta coffins were found.Álvarez-Mon, Javier, "The Arjan Tomb", At the Crossroads of the Elamite and the Persian Empires, 2010Perkins, Ann, "Archaeological News", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 81–100, 1951
In 1965 the site (as EP-172) was examined as part of the Southern Margins of Sumer Survey. It was described as being 390 meters by 310 meters and 13 meters in height. Air photograph showed town wall. Occupation was described as Early Dynastic c. 5 hectares), Akkadian (c. 5 hectares), Ur III-Early Larsa (c. 8 hectares), Late Larsa (c. 8 hectares), and Cassite-Post-Cassite (c 11 hectares). Wright, H.T., "The southern margins of Sumer: archaeological survey of the area of Eridu and Ur", in R.M. Adams (ed.) Heartland of Cities: Surveys of Ancient Settlement and Land Use on the Central Floodplain of the Euphrates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 323–45, 1981
The inscription on the Nabonidus cylinder (in literature referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, 6", "[Nabonidus] Inscription 10", and the "Eamaškuga Cylinder"), which figures heavily in debates about the site's original name, reads:
An earlier epigrapher had translated the key phrase "the pure sheepfold that is inside the city Kissik" as "which is within Dur", sparking speculation about "Dur" and its implication for the name of the city. H. W. F. Saggs, "A cylinder from Tell Al-Laham", Sumer, vol. 13, no. 1+2, pp. 190–195, 1957 Another epigrapher suggest the goddess Annunitum rather than Ningal.
The inscribed brick of Ur III ruler Amar-Sin read:
In 2008, a team of Iraqi and British Museum archaeologists assessing damage to archaeological sites in Iraq visited Tell al-Lahm. They found numerous looting holes and significant damage from military activity and the remains of tank emplacements.Curtis, John, et al., "An Assessment of Archaeological Sites in June 2008: An Iraqi-British Project", Iraq, vol. 70, pp. 215–37, 2008
History The earliest known occupation at the site is in the Early Dynastic period. Occupation was extensive in the following Akkadian Empire period, Ur III period, Isin-Larsa period, Old Babylonian period, and Kassite period. Afterward, the site showed at most modest occupation (Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian on a 30-meter distant low mound), aside from later use as a cemetery.
Name One researcher, based on the recovered cylinder of Nabonidus, contended that Tell al-Lahm was the site of the 1st-millennium BCE city of Kisik. The primary argument is based on the mention of the E-amas-ku-ga temple of Ningal in that cylinder. Another researcher based this on the fact that there is thought to have been an E-amas-ku-ga temple of Istar in Kisig which has been proposed as the earlier name for Kisik.Jacobsen, Thorkild, "The Waters of Ur", Iraq, vol. 22, pp. 174–85, 1960Kessler, K., "Zu den keilschriftlichen Quellen des 2./1. Jahrtausends v. Chr. über Dilmun", in D.T. Potts(ed.), Dilmun: New Studies in the Archaeology and Early History of Bahrain, Berlin, pp. 147-160, 1983Ahmed, Sami Said, "Geographical Framework", Southern Mesopotamia in the time of Ashurbanipal, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 17-26, 1968 Based on the possible mention of a "Dur" in the Nabonidus cylinder an epigrapher proposed that the 1st Millennium BC name of the site was Dur-Iakin. a fortress of the Sealands belonging to the Bit-Iakin tribe.Howard-Carter, Theresa, "Dilmun: At Sea or Not at Sea?: A Review Article", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 39, pp. 54-117, 1987 The possibility of being named Kuura in the Early Dynastic period is somewhat more tenuous. It relies on 1) the reading of Annunitum instead of Ningal in the Nabonidus cylinder, 2) that Annunitum is an epitaph of Istar, 3) that a temple of Istar with the name E-amas-ku-ga was thought to be in Kisik, and 4) the possibility that Kuara was an earlier name for Kisik.
Dur-Iakin Dur refers to a fortress in Akkadian, so Dur-Iakin is the "Fortress of the Iakin", more formally the Bit-Iakin (also Bit-Yakin). The name is only attested in the 1st Millennium BC. Its most notable occurrence is from the battles between the Neo-Assyrian ruler Sargon II and the Neo-Babylonian (sometimes called Chaldean) ruler Marduk-apla-iddina II. Marduk-apla-iddina II, who is the Merodach-Baladan of the Hebrew Bible, rallied opposition to Sargon, including the Bit-Iakin, at Dur-Iakin, digging a canal to the Euphrates for water. In 709 BC Sargon, according to Assyrian sources, sieged and then in 707 BC destroyed Dur-Iakin, deported its populace, and took away its gods, though Marduk-apla-iddina II escaped to Elam and lived to fight another day. Johnson, Erika Diane, "Stealing the enemy‘s Gods: an exploration of the phenomenon of Godnap in Ancient Western Asia", Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 2011Frame, Grant, "Uncertain Dynasties", Rulers of Babylonia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 90-274, 1995 Frame, Grant, "A" New" Cylinder Inscription of Sargon II of Assyria from Melid", Studia Orientalia Electronica 106, pp. 65-82, 2009
Kisik/Kisig Also, sometimes Kissik. It is mostly attested in the 1st Millennium BC with one possible mention in the early 2nd Millennium BC. It has been suggested that the city was named Kisik, usually spelled syllabically but also logographically (EZENxKU7ki) in the 1st millennium BC, but had been named Kisig (EZENxSIGki) in earlier periods.Beaulieu, Paul-Alain, "Kissik, Düru and Udannu", Orientalia, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 400–24, 1992 A calendar of Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II mentions sangu (high priests) of Kissik.Beaulieu, Paul-Alain, "The City of Ur and the Neo-Babylonian Empire", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelphia, July 11–15, 2016, edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 153-170, 2021 It is believed to have been in the region controlled by the Bit-Iakin, like Dur-Iakin.Zadok, R., "Repértoire Géographique des Textes Cunéi-formes 8: Geographical Names According to New- and Late Babylonian Texts", Beihefte zum TAVO B 7/8, Wiesbaden, 1985Da Riva, Rocio, "Nebuchadnezzar II’s Prism (EŞ 7834): A New Edition", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 103, no. 2, pp. 196-229, 2013 One researcher suggested that the residence of the early 2nd Millennium BC Isin-Larsa period ruler Naplanum was at Kisig and that the city was Amorite.Michalowski, Piotr, "Love or Death? Observations on the Role of the Gala in Ur III Ceremonial Life", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 58, pp. 49–61, 2006Steinkeller, Piotr, "A History of Mashkan-shapir and Its Role in the Kingdom of Larsa", The Anatomy of a Mesopotamian City: Survey and Soundings at Mashkan-shapir, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 26-42, 2004Michalowski, Piotr, "The Amorites in Ur III Times", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 82-121, 2011 In the time of Neo-Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC) the Elamite ruler Nabu-bel-shumate carried away some citizens of Kisig and as a result that town swore an oath to Ashurbanipal and provided troops. They later complained that their troops were not being treated well.Ahmed, Sami Said, "V. Kandalanu in Babylon and Bel-ibni, Governor of the Sea Land", Southern Mesopotamia in the time of Ashurbanipal, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 104-120, 1968 Sargon II (722–705 BC) awarded andurāru status to "Dēr, Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Larsa, Kullab, Kisik, and Nemed-Laguda".Frazer, Mary and Adalı, Selim Ferruh, "“The just judgements that Ḫammu-rāpi, a former king, rendered”: A New Royal Inscription in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 231-262, 2021
Kuara (Ku'ara) Personal names such as Lú-a.ḫaki "The man from Kuara" are known in the Early Dynastic period.Tavernier, Jan, "Ur and Other Cities in Some Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names: The Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Periods", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelphia, July 11–15, 2016, edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 485-502, 2021