Mardaman (modern Bassetki) was a northern Mesopotamian city that existed between ca.2200 and 1200 BC. It was uncovered in 2018 after translation of 92 cuneiform tablets. The tablets were discovered in summer 2017, near the Kurdish village of Bassetki, by a team of archaeologists. The team hailed from Tübingen's Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and were led by Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner of the University of Tübingen. The city-god of Mardaman was the Hurrian goddess Shuwala. After the time of Assyrian occupation it is uncertain if this continued. It is thought that later in the 1st millennium BC a temple of Gula was at Mardaman.Sibbing-Plantholt, Irene, "Gula in the 2nd and 1st Millennia BCE", The Image of Mesopotamian Divine Healers. Brill, pp. 51-105, 2021
History The city was occupied from the Ninevite 5 period (c. 2900–2600 BC) until 600 BC.Peter Pfälzner et al., "Urban developments in northeastern Mesopotamia from the ninevite V to the neo-assyrian periods: excavations at Bassetki", Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie, vol. 11, pp. 42-87, 2018
Early Bronze Akkadian Period The earliest reference dates to the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad with a year name being "Year in which Naram-Sin destroyed Maridaban".Douglas R. Frayne, "Akkad", The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113), University of Toronto Press, pp. 5-218, 1993, According to the later Sumerian literary composition The Great Revolt Against Naram-Sin, the city (then named Maridaban - Akkadian: ma-ri-da-ba-anki) joined under its ruler Duhsusu in the "Great Revolt" against the fourth Akkadian Empire ruler.Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "The Great Revolt against Naram-Sin", Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 221-262, 1997Westenholz, Joan Goodnick, "“Naram-Sin and the Enemy Hordes”: The “Cuthean Legend” of Naram-Sin", Legends of the Kings of Akkade: The Texts, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 263-366, 1997
Ur III Period The city was destroyed, but was later rebuilt and is mentioned by sources from the Third Dynasty of Ur with ruler Shu-Sin attacking Mardaman and using prisoners from there to work the gold and silver mines.Michalowski, Piotr, "The Royal Letters in Their Historical Setting 2: Great Walls, Amorites, and Military History: The Puzur-Šulgi and Šarrum-bani Correspondence (Letters 13–14 and 19–20)", The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur: An Epistolary History of an Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2011, pp. 122-169, 2011Wilcke, C., "Sumerian: What We Know and What We Want to Know", Proceedings of the 53th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: Vol. 1: Language in the Ancient Near East (2 parts), edited by Leonid E. Kogan, Natalia Koslova, Sergey Loesov and Serguei Tishchenko, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 1-76, 2010
Middle Bronze The city was then the center of a kingdom, and was captured by Shamshi-Adad I in 1786. Morandi Bonacossi, Daniele; Qasim, Hasan Ahmad; Coppini, Costanza; Gavagnin, Katia; Girotto, Elisa; Iamoni, Marco & Tonghini, Cristina, "The Italian-Kurdish Excavations at Gir-e Gomel in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Preliminary Report on the 2017 and 2018 Field Seasons", Mesopotamia 53: 67–162, 2018Charpin, D. - Ziegler, N., "Mari et le Proche-Orient à l’époque amorrite: essai d’histoire politique", Paris, 2003
After his fall, the city became an independent kingdom under the Hurrian ruler Tish-ulme. A text was found at Mari addressed to multiple recipients including Tishe-ulme from Zimri-Lim requesting that they hand over the cities to Zimri-Lim, who would give their city back to them. Earlier it was thought that the text was never sent but it is now understood to be a copy.
The relations with Mari seem to have been hostile, also seen in Mardaman's support for Hadnum. The latter changed its alliance from Zimri-Lim to the city of Kurda. Haqba-Hammu, the ruler of Karana and ally of Mari, invaded Hadnum in retaliation, with 2,000 men. Even relief forces from Mardaman could not prevent the capturing of five cities of Hadnum. Another letter in the Mari archives informed Zimri-Lim of the conquest of Mardaman by his allies Quarni-Lim of Andarig and Sharraya of northern Razama.Heimpel, Wolfgang, "4. Translation of Texts from ARM 26/1", Letters to the King of Mari: A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes, and Commentary, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 173-283, 2003 Mardaman suffered another sacking by the Turukkaeans around 1769/1768.
In the Old Babylonian period a letter to the staff of Zimri-Lim in Mari read:
Late Bronze During the Middle Assyrian Empire, the city had a final period of prosperity as a governor's seat, under the name Mardama, between 1250 and 1200 BC.Puljiz, Ivana, "Faience for the empire: A Study of Standardized Production in the Middle Assyrian State", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, no. 1, pp. 100-122, 2021 Clay tablets indicate the name of the governor, Assur-nasir and list some of his activities.
Archaeology The ruins of a Bronze Age city in Bassetki were discovered in 2013 during a field search by the University of Tübingen. Since 2016 excavations, led by Prof. Dr. Peter Pfälzner and Dr. Hasan Qasim of the archaeological department in Duhok, have been conducted at the site.Peter Pfälzner and Hasan A Qasim, The first and second seasons of the german-kurdish excavations at Bassetki in 2015 and 2016, Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie, vol. 10, pp. 10-43, 2017 Excavation continued in 2018 and 2019.Pfälzner, P./H. A. Qasim, "From Akkadian Maridaban to Middle-Assyrian Mardama. Excavations at Bassetki in 2018 and 2019", ZOrA 13, pp. 12-89, 2020
In 2016, it was discovered that the city had a wall from c. 2700 BC protecting the upper city and an extensive road network, several residential districts and a palatial building. A temple dedicated to Adad, a Mesopotamian weather god, evidently existed there. In summer 2017, the archaeologists excavated 92 tablets dating to the Middle Assyrian Empire, about 1,250 BC in a ceramic vessel that was protected by a thick layer of clay, possibly for storing of the included tablets. The small, partially broken tablets were deciphered by Dr. Betina Faist, who identified Mardaman.Pfälzner, P., and B. Faist, "Eine Geschichte der Stadt Mardama (n)", In mu-zu an-za3še3 kur-ur2-še3 ḫe2-ĝal2, Altorientalische Studien zu Ehren von Konrad Volk, pp. 347-389, 2020
See also Cities of the Ancient Near East Bassetki Statue Shuwala
References
External links Video about the current excavations - Aug 18, 2020 On the Fringe of Mesopotamia - Peter Pfalzner Oriental Institute lecture on the excavations at Bassketi