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  The Archaeology
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  SETON LLOYD
  The Archaeology
  of Mesopotamia
  From the Old Stone Age
  to the Persian Conquest
  REVISED EDITION
  with 174 illustrations
  THAMES AND HUDSON
  
  Any copy of this book issued by the pubhsher as a
  paperback is sold subject to the condition that it shall
  not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, re-sold, hired
  out or otherwise circulated, without the publisher's
  prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than
  that in which it is pubHshed and without a similar
  condition including these words being imposed on a
  subsequent purchaser.
  © 1978 and 1984 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London
  First pubHshed in the USA in 1978
  by Thames and Hudson Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue,
  New York, New York loi 10
  First paperback edition 1980
  Revised edition 1984
  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-50036
  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be
  reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
  electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
  recording, or any information storage and retrieval
  system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
  Printed and bound in the German Democratic Republic
  
  Contents
  Preface to the First Edition
  9
  Preface to the Revised Edition
  1
  1
  The Land and its Rivers
  12
  The Two Regions
  The Coastline
  The Rivers
  Climate and Irrigation
  Salinization
  Northern Iraq
  2
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  21
  The Old Stone Age
  Garrod and Solecki
  American Excavators in Kurdistan
  The State of Neolithic Research
  Jordan and the Levant; Anatolia; Iran
  The Iraq-Jarmo Project
  3
  The Threshold of Written History
  37
  The Sequence of Discoveries
  Al 'Ubaid; Warka; Eridu; Khafaje
  The 'Ubaid Period
  Architecture; Religion; Pottery and Small
  Objects; The Cemetery
  The Uruk Period
  Warka; The Anu Area; The Eanna Precinct;
  Tell 'Uqair
  Buildings of the Jemdet Nasr Period
  Warka; Khafaje
  The Protoliterate Period
  The First Writing; Sculpture; Cylinder-seals;
  Pottery
  SuMERiAN Antecedents
  
  4
  Pre-literate Peoples of Northern
  65
  Mesopotamia
  Excavations in the North
  Arpachiyah; Tepe Gawra; Kiiyiinjik; Hassuna;
  Other Hassuna Sites; Samarra and Sawwan
  Architecture
  The Pre-Halaf Period; The Samarra Period; The
  Halaf Period; The 'Ubaid Period; The 'Gawra'
  Period; Tell Brak
  Pottery
  Pre-Halaf; Tell Halaf; Northern 'Ubaid; Post-
  'Ubaid
  Burials
  The 'Gawra' Period
  Small Objects
  Figurines; Seals
  Foreign Relations
  Susiana
  5
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  88
  The King-list
  The Earliest Written Texts
  Archaeological Phases
  The 'Flood'
  Early Dynastic Sites
  Khafaje; Tell Asmar; Tell Agrab; Ur-of-the-
  Chaldees; Al 'Ubaid; Kish; Lagash; Nippur;
  Ashur and Mari; Shuaira
  Variants in Terminology
  6
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  111
  Sculpture
  Statues; Relief Carving
  Architecture
  Building Methods; Temples; Palaces
  Cylinder-seals
  Metallurgy and Composite Craftsmanship
  Inlaid Ornament; Composite Objects
  Pottery
  7
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian
  135
  Revival
  Semites in Mesopotamia
  Sargon and his Successors
  Archaeology
  Buildings; Tell Asmar; Khafaje and Brak;
  Sculpture; Cylinder-seals; Gasur
  
  GUTIANS AND LaGASH
  De Sarzec; Telloh; Gudea; Al-Hiba
  The Third Dynasty of Ur
  Buildings at Ur; The Ziggurat; The Terrace;
  The Mausoleum; Temples and Sculpture
  8
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  157
  Conflicting States
  Buildings of the Isin-Larsa Period
  Private Houses
  The Palace at Mari
  Mural Paintings
  Tell Rimah
  Sculpture
  The Kassites
  Mitanni (Nuzi)
  The Middle Assyrian Period
  City of Ashur; Fortifications; Temples and
  Palaces; Some Finds at Ashur; Building
  Practices
  9
  The Late Assyrian Period
  187
  Imperial History
  Early Excavations in Assyrian Cities
  Nimrud (Kalhu)
  Khorsabad
  Nineveh
  American Excavations at Khorsabad
  Building Construction
  Late Assyrian Sculpture
  British Return to Nimrud
  The Nimrud Ivories
  10
  Babylon: The Last Mesopotamian
  222
  Monarchy
  A Dynastic Revival
  The German Excavation
  The City
  Buildings
  Postscript
  Notes on the Text
  233
  Bibliography
  239
  Photographic Acknowledgments
  245
  Index
  246
  
  To the memory of Henri Frankfort
  
  Preface to the First Edition
  Anyone already familiar with the subject of ;his book may well be
  disconcerted at first by the extravagant claim impHcit in its title, and
  justifiably
  feel
  that
  it
  calls
  for some immediate
  quahfication.
  Throughout Mesopotamia, archaeological excavations have been
  in progress almost continuously for more than lOO years, and the
  literature which their results have engendered is by now sufficient
  to
  fill
  a
  fair-sized
  library. From
  field
  reports and
  typological
  analyses,
  to epigraphical commentaries and
  stylistic
  art
  studies,
  every facet
  is represented of a complex and far-reaching enquiry.
  Indeed, one has observed without surprise that a recently published
  bibliography could list over 5,000 relevant books and articles. Since
  it would then clearly be impossible to summarize even the central
  themes of all these writings, the purpose of the conspectus which
  follows has been confined to one specific aspect of the research with
  which
  it
  is concerned, and other minor Hmitations have
  been
  imposed on its coverage. This selective process has in fact primarily
  been made possible by a conspicuous duality in the categories of
  evidence provided by excavations in a country where writing was
  invented at an extremely early age.
  The function of archaeology has been rather arbitrarily defined
  by one writer as 'a way of learning about the past through things
  instead of words'
  :
  a ludicrous over-simplification in the case of
  Egypt or Mesopotamia, where
  a
  significant proportion of the
  'things'
  found
  by
  excavators
  have
  themselves
  been
  written
  documents. On the other hand, the purpose which these documents
  have served, far from being restricted to the recovery of narrative
  history, has embraced the much wider task of re-creating in detail
  the anatomy of ancient civilization. To this remarkable achieve-
  ment the written texts have largely contributed, by perfecting the
  recorded
  patterns
  of
  social
  or economic
  organization
  and
  of
  intellectual development in literate ages. Yet, where excavations
  are concerned,
  it
  is the vestigial remains of the physical setting in
  which the documents themselves were written that has completed
  the
  revelation
  of evolving
  humanity
  and
  its
  adaptation
  to
  environmental
  influences.
  In
  a
  word,
  our
  astonishingly
  wide
  knowledge of Mesopotamian
  civilization
  in
  'historical'
  times
  is
  derived in almost equal proportions from two different sources:
  ancient literature on the one hand and, on the other, the study of
  material
  remains.
  It
  should
  also
  be
  remembered
  that
  these
  'historical'
  ages were
  preceded by
  a
  long
  era
  of
  illiteracy,
  a
  formative period in human development of which our increasingly
  explicit understanding has been derived exclusively from the results
  of 'spade archaeology'.
  
  Preface to the First Edition
  As may already have been inferred from these observations,
  it is
  w^ith the material remains and with the progress of excavations
  which
  have
  revealed them
  that
  this book
  is
  intended
  to
  be
  concerned, rather than with the philological contribution. Other
  limitations have been imposed upon it for a variety of reasons.
  I have
  dealt at length with the pioneer activities of early Mesopotamian
  explorers in another book {Foundations in the Dust, rev. edn, London
  1980), and therefore I have not wished here to become involved in
  anecdotal accounts of primitive digging in Victorian times.
  I have
  preferred that my point of departure should coincide with the first
  introduction
  of
  discipline
  and
  method
  into
  archaeological
  procedure. This is well known to have taken place at the turn of the
  19th century, and something further should be said about
  it.
  In Mesopotamia, the beginnings of systematic excavation and
  proper recording must be credited to the two German scholars,
  Robert Koldewey and Walter Andrae, whose work
  at Babylon
  began in 1899. The method which they rapidly perfected of tracing
  mud-brick walls, enabled them to expose and study the buildings
  and
  fortifications
  in
  a manner which had
  never
  before
  been
  attempted.
  In
  1903 Andrae
  transferred
  his
  activities
  to
  the old
  Assyrian capital at Ashur, whose ruins he proceeded to explore in
  the same ingenious manner. Both excavators continued to deal in
  this way with
  buildings immediately beneath
  the
  surface;
  but
  Andrae went further. Finding that one particular temple showed
  signs of having been repeatedly rebuilt at successive epochs in the
  history of the city, he was able to examine the remains at each level
  in
  turn, down
  to an
  earliest shrine which he
  attributed
  to
  the
  Sumerians
  : a people about whom almost nothing was then known.
  But of even greater importance was the fact that, in doing so, he
  mastered
  the
  art
  of
  'stratified'
  excavation:
  a
  practice
  whose
  understanding
  became
  the
  key
  to
  effective
  research
  in
  all
  Mesopotamian settings. In the third decade of the present century,
  when 'professional' archaeologists of other nationalities began to
  arrive in Iraq, these German methods were adopted by them to
  great advantage. Needless to say, they have been elaborated and
  improved upon as time has gone by; but they can
  still be seen to
  have provided the basis for a developing technique of excavation,
  without which the discoveries recorded in this book could not have
  been made.
  Preface to the Revised Edition
  These introductory paragraphs to the First Edition were written
  at
  a time,
  late in the
  1970s, when the excavation of major
  sites
  in southern Iraq seemed temporarily to have lost impetus. Work
  among the ruins of great
  cities in the alluvial plain had become
  almost
  prohibitively expensive owing
  to
  the
  increased
  cost of
  manual labour, and interest seemed likely for the present to be
  concentrated on more manageable prehistoric settlements in the
  10
  
  Preface to the Revised Edition
  north, where excavations on a smaller scale could produce profit-
  able results more economically. Since the discoveries made in this
  v^ay
  at
  Iraqi
  sites were,
  as expected,
  closely
  related
  to those
  in
  neighbouring countries,
  I found myself hampered m writing about
  them, by the original intention that my coverage should be restric-
  ted to the frontiers of the modern
  state.
  It had of course already
  become clear that exceptions must be made in the case, for instance
  of Andre Parrot's monumental discoveries at Mari on the Middle
  Euphrates, or those of Sir Max Mallowan
  in the Khabur
  cities.
  But when news began to arrive of Paolo Matthiae's marvellous
  finds at Ebla, near Aleppo, and of their Sumcro-Akkadian connec-
  tions, it became evident that the cultural frontiers of Mesopotamia
  were beginning to extend northwestward.
  Also, in the prehistoric field, a new factor now contributed to
  the northward drift ofarchaeological interest. More recent research
  at
  sites
  in northern
  Syria, supplementing simultaneous work
  in
  upper Iraq and Iran, was producing new and important contribu-
  tions to the clarification of Mesopotamian origins
  : to the long-
  standing enigma
  regarding
  the
  antecedents of the
  Sumerians,
  whose creative genius laid the foundations of Western civilization.
  New directions were thus indicated for the migratory movements
  of peoples, whose disparate elements, converging on the Meso-
  potamian delta, merged their varied talents in a common identity.
  A brief summary of the most recent developments
  in
  this
  far-
  reaching enquiry will be found in
  a Postscript appended to my
  final chapter.
  Here also,
  it
  is perhaps desirable to repeat that the book
  itself
  is primarily intended
  as an introduction to further reading. For
  this reason, some care has been taken in the Bibliography, where
  more specialized subjects are concerned, to emphasize references
  to works which are most easily accessible, at the same time giving
  priority to those in English.
  It remains only for me to express further gratitude to Dr Joan
  Oates, who has once more been at pains to help me in up-dating
  and correcting my original text, and to my niece, Dr Dominique
  CoUon, for her prompting on subjects more familiar to her arch-
  aeological age-group than my own.
  II
  
  Chapter One
  The Land and its Rivers
  The name 'Mesopotamia'
  is an archaism, traditionally more often
  applied to the setting of ancient history than to a clearly defined
  geographical
  area. The Greek translators of the Old Testament
  thought of it as the homeland of the Patriarch Abraham around
  the ancient city of Harran, which lies between the middle courses of
  the Euphrates and Tigris. Strabo also used
  it to denote only the
  northern
  part of the
  interfluvial lowland, and
  referred
  to
  the
  southern part as 'Babylonia'. It was Pliny who extended its limits to
  the Arabian
  Gulf, making
  it approximately
  the
  equivalent of
  modern Iraq. But the use of this Arabic name, meaning 'the Cliff, is
  also slightly equivocal.
  It was applied by the Arab conquerors only
  to Babylonia, and requires some explanation. Ifone approaches the
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  The Land and its Rivers
  river valley, as they did in the 7th century ad, from the Hamad or
  high Arabian Desert to the west, one fmds oneself suddenly on an
  escarpment about 30 m above the plain, looking out over the tree-
  tops of the Euphrates cultivation to that of the Tigris beyond and,
  in the remoter distance, to the thin line of the Zagros Mountains,
  which form the eastern limits of Mesopotamia. At Kufah, on the
  edge of the
  'cliff, there
  is a shrine called As-Safinah,
  'the Ship',
  marking the place where Moslems think that the Ark rested.
  Already,
  these few
  sentences
  will have drawn
  attention
  to
  the
  disparity between northern and southern Mesopotamia, and this
  will become more apparent if we now consider the geophysical
  character
  of
  the
  country,
  its
  geological
  formation,
  climatic
  peculiarities
  and
  all
  the
  other
  environmental
  elements
  which
  combined to make a distinctive pattern in the lives of its earliest
  inhabitants.
  ' As a geographical unit - not yet satisfactorily defmed
  -
  it
  consists
  of
  a
  broad
  and
  shallow
  depression,
  running
  northwestward from the head of the Gulf, of which geologically it
  is a prolongation. The allocation of its limits on either side present
  Httle difficulty. To the northeast they correspond to the diminish-
  ing foothills of the Iranian Mountains,
  to the southwest, to the
  The Two Regions
  CASPIAN
  SEA
  U.S.S.R
  I RAN
  Tepe Yahya.
  I Map showing some Near
  Eastern sites mentioned in the
  text
  13
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  2 Map showing Mesopotamian
  sites mentioned in the text
  fringes of the tremendous desert which geologists call the 'Arabian
  Plateau'. What is less apparent on an ordinary map is a horizontal
  dividing-line, running approximately through Hit on the Euph-
  rates and Samarra on
  the
  Tigris, which marks
  the uppermost
  limit of the alluvial plain. To the north of this line, the rivers are
  separated by
  a barren limestone
  plateau
  called
  Al-Jazirah,
  'the
  Island', which
  restricts
  the
  Euphrates
  to
  a narrow
  valley. The
  Tigris,
  however,
  profiting
  from
  its
  eastern
  tributaries,
  passes
  through a wide upland of undulating ploughland and pasture: the
  productive countryside which was once Assyria. To the south of
  the Hit-Samarra line, where the two rivers reach their common
  14
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  delta, there is an entirely different landscape, a country which is the
  creation of two rivers. Here, from time immemorial, the Tigris
  and
  Euphrates
  have
  been
  depositing
  alluvium
  over
  a
  bed
  of
  sedimentary rock; and this has brought into being an immense and
  entirely
  flat plain, of which, from the point of view of potential
  fertility, there is no equivalent in the whole of the Near East.
  Having reached this point in a description of Mesopotamia,' we are
  confronted by one of the most outstanding problems regarding the
  geological
  formation
  of
  the
  southern
  delta.
  For
  it
  has
  been
  tempting in the past to consider that a great part of the present
  alluvial plain has, in the course of time, actually been reclaimed
  from the sea. Throughout the first half of the present century, the
  concensus
  of opinion among
  historians
  and
  geologists
  alike
  favoured
  this
  interpretation.
  It
  was
  clear
  of course
  that
  any
  recession of the coastline must have started at a very early period,
  since
  the upper two-thirds of the
  plain
  is dotted with ancient
  mounds representing the great cities of Sumer and Akkad, whose
  history goes back
  to
  the
  earliest human settlements
  in the 6th
  millennium bc. But here again there is a line across the country at
  about the latitude of Nasiriyah, southward ofwhich no mounds are
  to be seen
  ; ^ and between this line and the present coast there
  is a
  wide and sparsely populated region of marshes and lakes.
  It was
  supposed therefore that the Gulf, which had once perhaps extended
  over the whole of the delta, by early historic times had receded as
  far as the Nasiriyah line; the rivers Karkheh and Karun, flowing
  westward from Khuzistan, had
  built forward
  their own
  delta,
  closing off the head of the Gulf and converting it into a huge lake,
  which the Tigris and Euphrates had since partially contrived to fill
  in with their own burden of alluvium.
  In 1952, however, this easily accepted hypothesis was demolished
  by
  two
  geologists 3
  who,
  after
  a
  lengthy
  investigation
  with
  improved equipment, were able to show that the position of the
  coastline had in fact not varied greatly since the earliest historical
  times. Their initial observations confirmed the fact that very little
  of the alluvium carried by the two rivers ever reached the sea, and
  that the consequent
  rise in level of the southern plain could be
  calculated at almost 60 cm in every 100 years. No marshes or lakes
  in the south could therefore have continued to
  exist unless
  this
  infilling were countered by a corresponding subsidence of the basic
  rock beneath the delta. The occurrence and approximate rate of this
  subsidence they were then able to substantiate.
  Archaeologists at first found all this a little difficult to reconcile
  with certain, fully established historical facts. The Sumerian city of
  Eridu
  for
  instance
  (Tell Abu
  Shahrain),
  which,
  according
  to
  Mesopotamian tradition, ranks as 'the oldest city in the world',
  is
  explicitly described by ancient writers as 'standing upon the shores
  of the sea'
  ; and Ur, situated only a few miles away, had quays at
  which ocean-going vessels discharged their cargoes.
  "* Both of these
  today are almost 100 miles from the seashore; so some acceptable
  compromise had to be arrived at. One small detail of archaeological
  The Coastline
  15
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  The Rivers
  evidence has helped to make this possible. In the temple at Eridu,
  fish-offerings were made to the god Enki, and among them were
  found bones of a sea-perch
  species which can only
  live
  in the
  brackish water of tidal estuaries. Perhaps the shallow depression in
  which Eridu lies was then part of the present lake system which, in
  its turn, connected by deep channels with the Euphrates estuary.
  Similarly, Ur would have been served by an ancient course of the
  Euphrates itself.
  Perhaps one should now return to the character of the two rivers,
  on which the whole economy of the country depends.
  The Tigris rises in a small lake (Hazar Golii), .about lOO miles
  west of Lake Van, and flows down
  easterly and
  southeasterly
  towards Nineveh and the Assyrian uplands. The Euphrates, which
  is a much longer river (1,780 as opposed, to 1,150 miles), has two
  sources between Van and Erzerum. Both branches flow
  at
  first
  westward, to unite near Elazig, where the Keban dam now creates a
  lake. The main stream then follows a winding course southward,
  crossing
  from
  Turkey
  into
  Syria
  near
  the
  ancient
  city
  of
  Carchemish and so eventually into Iraq. At this point it is separated
  from the Tigris by some 250 miles ofsteppe country and the two do
  not draw
  together again
  until reaching
  the neighbourhood of
  Baghdad and Ramadi. Here the Euphrates is flowing at a level 9 m
  higher than the Tigris, and a sequence of ancient irrigation canals,
  draining from one river into.the other, in earlier days made the belt
  of country between them extremely
  fertile. Beyond
  this,
  their
  streams
  separate
  again,
  and
  the
  plain
  is
  served
  by
  a
  more
  complicated system of canals and diversions.
  In their passage through Iraq, before reaching the Hit-Samarra
  Line, the two rivers are flowing through beds which they have
  themselves cut into hard limestone and shale, so that their courses
  have hardly changed at all since prehistoric times. For this reason,
  cities like Carchemish, Nineveh, Nimrud and Ashur are still to be
  seen, standing as they always have beside the river banks. South of
  the same line the situation
  is quite different. Here rivers meander
  through
  the
  alluvial
  plain,
  frequently
  changing
  course
  and
  throwing off side-branches. Also, like all sediment-bearing rivers
  which flow at a very low gradient, they gradually raise the level of
  their own beds, so that, for the greater part of the time, they flow at
  a higher level than the surrounding plain.
  If, as inevitably happens
  on
  occasion,
  they
  overflow
  their
  banks
  in
  floodtime,
  great
  permanent lakes and swamps tend to be created, and occasionally
  the river changes
  its course. This explains why some of the great
  cities of the alluvial plains, which once stood beside the Tigris or
  Euphrates,
  are now huge
  de
  cated
  ruinfields,
  far
  out
  in
  the
  unwatered desert.
  This picture, of the two rivers running between semi-artificial
  banks
  rather higher than
  the surrounding
  plain,
  will
  serve
  to
  introduce the subject of irrigation in Mesopotamia, and its primary
  contribution to the country's economy. For this purpose, water has
  to be drawn off in such a way that the banks are not damaged or
  16
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  floods
  released. The system by which
  this
  is done
  is
  naturally
  dependent upon the seasonal regime of flooding, itself dictated by
  climatic conditions.
  Where
  the climate of Mesopotamia
  is concerned,
  it
  is well
  to
  remember that, according to the findings of geologists, there has
  been no perceptible change since very early times. The country has
  summer temperatures ranging from no
  to
  130 degrees
  in the
  shade, and eight months in the year without rainfall. By the end of
  the dry season, the rivers are reduced to sluggish brown meanders
  in a waste of dried mud. Then comes the winter, with pale sunshine
  at midday and cold nights, bringing intermittent rainstorms. But
  the rivers do not receive their full volume of water until the spring,
  when the melting snows in the Taurus and Zagros Mountains feed
  their tributaries. Then come the spring floods which, a generation
  ago, were considered practically uncontrollable and
  all through
  history represented an ominous threat to the inhabitants of the
  lower plain. Paradoxically also,
  this happens between April and
  June, which from an agricultural point of view is too late to water
  the main crop, usually harvested in April.
  This was the climatic regime and seasonal fluctuation with which
  the ancient farmers of southern Mesopotamia were faced
  : rain in
  inadequate quantities at the wrong time; river water, also at the
  wrong time, and concentrated around the river-beds in almost
  unmanageable
  quantities. So
  in the end the country had
  to be
  supplied
  with
  water,
  simply
  by
  the
  contrivances
  of human
  ingenuity:
  a complex
  system of canals,
  reservoirs,
  dykes and
  regulator-sluices. This needed a great deal of organization and also
  a great deal of patience. The canals themselves very rapidly filled up
  their beds with silt, and consequently required repeated dredging.
  Then, as this process went on, the banks became too high to throw
  out the spoil, and consequently a new canal had to be dug, parallel
  to the first. Today, looking at the country from the air, one can see
  these extraordinary networks of canals, some ofthem with as many
  as three parallel channels. The overall impression is that of a single
  complicated pattern, and this extraordinary sight could lead to the
  illusion that all these channels have been in use at the same time. In
  fact, for a previous generation
  it created an historical picture of
  Iraq as one vast granary, whose fabulous prosperity survived until it
  was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th century ad. This was of
  course a complete misconception, and a reverse situation has been
  revealed by agricultural research
  in recent years. One
  specialist
  investigation after another has added to the record of declining
  productivity,
  to be explained not by some
  isolated
  disaster
  in
  comparatively
  recent
  times, but by
  a longstanding and
  radical
  deficiency
  in
  the
  basic system of cultivation, going back
  to
  a
  surprisingly early period. ^
  Next
  to
  the
  effects of flooding,
  the most
  disastrous danger
  to
  Mesopotamian agriculture generally has been the salinization ofthe
  Climate and Irrigation
  Salinization
  17
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  soil and the consequent practice of what
  is known as 'extensive
  cultivation'. Travelling in Iraq today, one cannot
  fail to see the
  results of the mishandling of the
  soil. Wide
  areas, no
  longer
  cultivated, are covered with a white incrustation caused by over-
  prolonged
  cultivation. The water comes from the river with a
  strong saline content and, as it evaporates in the hot sun, the salt is
  deposited, ruining the fertiUty of the
  soil. When this happens to
  land in an 'extensive economy',
  the farmer simply transfers
  his
  cultivation to new ground and starts irrigating all over again. But
  an even more serious source of salinization is the rise in level of the
  ground-water as a result of prolonged irrigation, which pushes the
  salt up to the surface. Only efficient drainage can counteract this
  effect; but there
  is no inducement to go to such lengths as long as
  'extensive' agriculture can be practised.
  In the late 1950s much new light was thrown on
  this subject
  durmg the course of a study by Thorkildjacobsen, one of the great
  Assyriologists of our time.^ In
  a variety of cuneiform
  texts, he
  found unmistakable references to the results of salinization, and
  could study its effects over a long period of history. Jacobsen was
  able for instance to gather that soil deterioration was particularly
  serious in the city state of Lagash, where salinization began in about
  2400 BC and spread westward towards the Euphrates. A thousand
  years
  later,
  it had reached
  as
  far
  as Babylonia. He was able to
  calculate that wheat at first accounted for 16% of the total crop.
  Three
  centuries
  later,
  the percentage had dropped
  to 2%
  and,
  between 2000 and 1700 bc his reports contained no mention of
  wheat
  at
  all.
  Even
  the
  barley,
  whose
  greater
  toleration
  of
  salinization had long made it the principal crop, could now be seen
  to have a greatly reduced yield per acre in many southern districts.
  Information of this sort gave substance to a picture of diminishing
  agricultural prosperity, moving continually northward as a result
  of soil impoverishment in the south. This, he thought, could even
  account
  for
  the
  sequence of major
  changes
  in Mesopotamian
  history, by which political ascendancy transferred itself first from
  Sumer
  to Babylonia and
  later
  to
  the Assyrian kingdom in the
  north, where the problem of salinization did not arise. Neverthe-
  less,
  there
  is much evidence
  to
  suggest
  that
  the diminution of
  agricultural
  productivity
  during
  these
  centuries
  was
  only
  a
  temporary affair. For Jacobsen and his colleagues, examining the
  Diyala area east of Baghdad, were able to detect already in the late
  3rd millennium bc improved techniques for combating
  saliniz-
  ation, or at least delaying
  it. Long experience had resulted in the
  contrivance of better practices for extracting a maximum yield
  from the soil. A Sumerian agricultural manual of about 2100 bc
  describes the use of fallow agriculture and elementary forms of
  drainage.
  It
  seems
  therefore
  that,
  even
  if we
  discard
  Herodotus'
  exaggerated account of the harvest in Babylonia at his time, we
  should be justified in concluding that some sort of recovery took
  place in the agricultural productivity of southern Mesopotamia
  during the 2nd and early ist millennia b c. Undoubtedly there must
  have been periodic
  disasters, due to flooding and unpredictable
  changes
  in
  the
  course of the
  river-beds.
  For
  that
  matter,
  the
  18
  
  The Land and its Ri vers
  northern provinces too must occasionally have suffered, as they do
  today, from abnormal
  shortages of rainwater.
  But,
  taken
  as
  a
  whole, Mesopotamia may be said to have been a country rich in
  agricultural products and well able, during the greater part of its
  early history, to feed its own population. In addition, it has as a rule
  been able to barter
  its surplus cereals for stone, metals and other
  materials, which had to be obtained by trade with neighbouring
  countries. Nor was
  its agricultural productivity limited to grain
  alone. We
  learn from
  ancient
  texts
  that
  as
  early
  as
  the
  3rd
  millennium b c southern Iraq had extensive palm-groves' and that
  dates were already being cultivated by artificial pollination. In fact,
  flour and dates formed the staple diet of ancient Mesopotamians,
  though cattle and sheep were also bred and grazed in uncultivated
  areas,
  while
  rivers,
  lakes,
  canals and
  the
  sea produced
  fish
  in
  abundance. Fruit and vegetables were grown in gardens, sheltered
  from the sun by palm-trees and irrigated by very simple water-lift
  devices, of a sort which are still used in Iraq today.
  We should now complete the geophysical picture of Mesopotamia
  with a short description of the northern uplands; beyond the Hit-
  Samarra line. To the west of the barren Al-Jazirah plateau, as we
  have
  said, the Euphrates
  irrigates
  a narrow
  strip of agricultural
  land, punctuated by small market-towns such as Hit, Rawa and
  Anah. North ofthe present Syrian border the cultivation widens out
  into a considerable agricultural province, dependent in early times
  on the purely Mesopotamian city called Mari. Beyond the Jazirah
  to the east, the Tigris and its tributaries. Greater Zab, Lesser Zab
  and
  Adhaim,
  form
  the
  agricultural
  arteries
  of
  the
  Assyrian
  countryside. This is undulating gravel steppe, with rich ploughland
  in the valleys and a plentiful supply of building stone. The rainfall
  in an average year
  is here sufficient to produce a single crop of
  wheat
  without
  irrigation.
  Only
  gardens
  and
  plantations
  are
  artificially watered from the rivers or wells. For much of the year
  the country is bare, but spring covers it with grass and flowers. ^
  Finally,
  enfolding
  Assyria
  to
  the
  east
  and
  north
  is
  the
  mountainous country known today as Iraqi Kurdistan
  : a crescent
  of highlands, with one corner resting on modern Khanikin and the
  other on the crossing of the Tigris at modern Faish Khabur, where
  the Syrian, Iraqi and Turkish frontiers now meet. The country here
  differs only in minor respects from the eastern vilayets of Turkey.
  There are stone-built villages, terraced into the hillsides, with tall
  Lombardy poplars and terraced cultivation including vines and
  tobacco. Large areas of mountainside are covered with scrub-oak
  or more rarely conifers, and there is much game below the snow-
  line in winter. We shall later be visiting this area (sometimes called
  the
  'hilly-flanks' zone of Breasted's
  'Fertile Crescent'),
  in search
  of the earliest human settlement.
  After
  this general description of the background against which
  archaeological research in Mesopotamia has taken place,
  a word
  may be added regarding
  the
  historical relationship between
  its
  Northern Iraq
  19
  
  The Land and its Rivers
  inhabitants and those of the countries by which it was enclosed on
  either side
  : of the Syrian desert, that is, and of the tribal areas of the
  Zagros Mountains. The Sumerians and Babylonians were essen-
  tially town-dwellers and peasant folk. Unlike the nomads of the
  desert and the migratory herdsmen of the Iranian uplands, they
  preferred to turn their backs on the open spaces and to concentrate
  upon a settled life among the amenities ofthe river valleys. In doing
  so, however, they were seldom free from the attentions of their less
  fortunate neighbours, whose practice was to interfere with their
  trade-routes and raid their outlying villages. As we shall see, long
  chapters in the history of their country are primarily concerned
  with the struggle to preserve their sedentary way of Hfe and to
  protect themselves against these avaricious nomads. At times, the
  active hostility of such raiders became
  less significant than their
  peaceful
  penetration of river-valley
  society and
  their
  eventual
  establishment of a formidable majority.
  It was on such occasions
  that the hegemony of indigenous rulers could be replaced by
  a
  hitherto unfamiliar Dynasty-of-Akkad or by a largely Semitic line
  of Babylonian kings. These in their turn might in due course be
  replaced by a tribal invasion from the east or the intrusion of a
  Kassite aristocracy. Such events are the substance of Mesopotamian
  history.
  20
  
  Chapter Two
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  The subject with which this chapter
  is intended primarily to be
  concerned
  is
  the
  outcome
  of
  research
  into
  the
  origins
  and
  sociological development of peoples whose descendants comprised
  the inhabitants of Mesopotamia
  in
  historical times. The thread
  which connects them with humanity of Palaeolithic (Old Stone
  Age) times
  is
  still tenuous and controversial.
  It cannot however
  be ignored; and, since we have already set arbitrary limits to the
  geographical area with which we are dealing, it would be wrong to
  neglect the evidence that has been found within those frontiers of
  human occupation preceding
  the end of the Old
  Stone Age.
  Naturally this subject merges with, or rather emerges from, the
  geological history of southwestern Asia. Yet
  it
  is only with
  its
  terminal or most recent phases that we need be concerned. It is the
  order of these phases or the pattern which they are thought to have
  created which we should perhaps first endeavour to recollect.
  The Old Stone Age
  The Palaeolithic period then, which saw the evolution of man
  Table I
  from ape-like ancestry
  to
  the
  true semblance of Homo
  sapiens,
  corresponds roughly with the Pleistocene or 'most recent' phase in
  geological history.
  It started over 2,000,000 years ago and ended
  between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. It was during this period that,
  at
  least four times
  in
  succession, huge
  glaciers which were an
  extension of the polar ice-cap crept southward to cover large parts
  of Eurasia and North America. ^ The earliest phase of the Old Stone
  Age, the Lower Palaeolithic, extends from well before 2,000,000
  years ago to about 80,000 years ago. In Europe during the latter
  part of this long era, the first evidence is found of primitive cultures
  (Abbevillian,
  Clactonian
  and
  Acheulian),
  material
  remains
  of
  creatures already related to the forebears of modern man. With the
  Middle Palaeolithic (80,000-30,000 years ago) we
  shall be more
  closely concerned in our present context, since in northern Iraq it is
  represented by cave-occupations of the Mousterian period, and also
  by human remains which include the bones of Neanderthal man,
  that strange, extinct offshoot from the tree ofhuman heredity.
  The Upper Palaeolithic (30,000-12,000 years ago) will also be of
  great interest to us here. In Iraqi Kurdistan, as in other parts of the
  Near
  East,
  its remains have been
  closely
  studied whenever an
  opportunity occurred, because they constitute a preface to the great
  change which took place at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The
  phases corresponding to the Aurignacian and Gravettian in Europe,
  21
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  BEFORE
  PRESENT
  CTT L
  WEST
  IRAQ
  LEVEL OF
  b 1 Aor,
  EUROPE
  SHANIDAR
  CAVE
  OTHER
  SITES
  CULTURE
  12,000
  Layer B
  10,600 BP
  Layer B2
  12,000 BP
  Zawi-
  Chemi
  KarimShahir
  M'lefaat
  FOOD
  PRODUCING
  Hazar Merd
  Magdalenian
  Palegawra
  15,000
  U
  XH
  2<
  Hiatus
  1
  N-l<
  0-
  ce:
  Solutrean
  20,000
  0.
  a.
  Zarzi
  Gravettian
  Z
  30,000
  Perigordian
  Aurignacian Top Layer C
  28,000 BP
  XH<
  Q
  2
  Q
  '
  ^
  '
  '
  1
  40,000
  50,000
  Mousterian
  Bot
  Lay
  35,0(
  1
  Hic
  >
  TopL
  46,0
  Up
  Lay
  50,0(
  torn
  erC
  DO BP
  I
  itus
  ayerD
  DO BP
  per
  2rD
  DOBP
  <
  7
  n
  Table
  I
  Generalized scheme for
  the Palaeohthic in Europe and
  the Near East. (After Solecki,
  1971)
  80,000
  >
  Base
  fCave
  Other Caves
  and
  Open Sites
  represented by discoveries on Mount Carmel in Palestine and in
  Iran at sites ranging from the Zagros Mountains to Lake Urmia, are
  of interest in themselves, as shov^ing the geographical distribution
  of these
  cultures; but
  the terminal or
  transitional
  stage which
  follows has even greater significance,
  in that
  it bridges the gap
  between the study of man's imperfectly developed ancestors and
  the
  fuller
  revelation of Homo
  sapiens
  as we know him
  today,
  profiting as we may from ampler evidence of his early accomplish-
  ments and aspirations. The chronology of this final phase of the
  Palaeolithic
  is
  still a
  little uncertain.
  Its terminal limit, however,
  must
  be
  associated
  with
  the
  appearance
  of the
  first
  farming
  communities at the beginning of the Neolithic period, soon after
  10,000 BC.
  22
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  It is a little difficult to imagine the geological and climatic changes
  which took place in Western Asia during the Pleistocene, when
  early man made his appearance for the first time. Some traces of
  periodic glaciation have been recognized in the high mountains of
  Anatolia and, to a lesser extent, in western Iran
  ; yet it has become
  apparent that the encroaching ice-sheet itself did not reach as far as
  the Near East. On the contrary, throughout most of the Ice Age,
  moist air from the Mediterranean blew around the lower contours
  of the mountains in an easterly and southeasterly direction, creating
  grassy steppes and uplands, which benefited from a comparatively
  temperate and uniform climate. For the greater part of the time,
  therefore, the southward-facing lower slopes of the Taurus and
  Zagros (what has been called the 'upper piedmont zone of foothills
  and intermontane valleys'), offered good hunting and favourable
  climatic conditions for Palaeolithic food-hunters.
  It may accord-
  ingly have been no great surprise for Old World prehistorians to
  discover
  traces
  of
  their
  flint
  industries
  in
  the
  caves
  of
  Iraqi
  Kurdistan, or for that matter in Palestine, southwest Anatolia or
  northwest Iran. Nor need it have seemed strange that the cultures of
  such hunters proved to have affinities with those already recognized
  in Europe. For all these areas corresponded to a geographical line of
  migration, which may have been more obvious
  in Pleistocene
  times than
  it
  is today. Speaking of changes in the inland seas of
  western Asia at this time, one authority suggests for instance that,
  during
  the
  last
  glacial
  age,
  the accumulation of pluvial waters
  raised the Caspian Sea something like 76 m above its present level.
  The Black Sea by contrast was reduced to a brackish lake, cut off
  from the Mediterranean by a dry Bosphorus, and so leaving an easy
  connection for early man between Europe and Asia. Further east,
  however,
  the
  Caspian and
  vast swamps around
  the
  Aral
  Sea
  inhibited his movements. ^
  The
  first Palaeolithic discoveries in northern Iraq were made
  as
  early as 1928 by Dorothy A. E. Garrod, whose name afterwards
  became well known for her more prolonged excavations on Mt
  Carmel. Her first sounding was made in a cave called Zarzi, near
  the headwaters of the Lesser Zab river, about 20 miles north of
  Sulaimaniya. She found undisturbed deposits corresponding to the
  Gravettian culture in Europe, and Zarzi became the type-site for
  material of that period. ^^
  Garrod's second experiment was in a cave nearer to Sulaimaniya
  called Hazar Merd, where a brief sounding revealed an earlier flint
  industry which could be identified as Mousterian, partly by the
  presence of characteristic unifacial points and scrapers. Garrod was
  also
  able
  to
  publish
  a
  list
  of contemporary
  animal
  remains,
  identified for her by her colleague Dorothea Blake.
  ' ° After her
  departure for Palestine, Palaeolithic research in Iraq remained in
  abeyance until 1949, when a succession of American scholars took
  up the thread of her investigations. Most successful of all was the
  work of Ralph
  S. Solecki in the cave called Shanidar, which he
  selected from
  a numerous group on
  the southern
  flank of the
  Garrod and Solecki
  23
  
  TURKEY
  Lake Van
  Mt Ararat )*y
  JamtamaQ
  y
  Tar
  J-^
  ,^ ., P
  ^Rizaiyeh'
  ShanidarJ
  USSR
  ....-.''
  Tabriz
  Lake Urmia
  ^^^
  3 Map showing major
  Palaeolithic sites in northern Iraq
  Ushnavieh
  Mahabad
  «Hamadan
  Bisitun and Ghar-i-Khar
  ^
  _
  r~
  .
  PaSangar
  ^
  Yafteh Cave^ Khorra'mabad ^
  GarArjeneh^
  Kunji Cave
  • Dezful
  Baradost mountain range, above Rowanduz. His sounding there
  reached a depth of 13.7 m, and the earhest sequence of occupations
  (level D) he was able to attribute to
  a Mousterian phase,
  w^ith
  artifacts 'characterising a predominantly flake culture, as opposed
  to the blade culture of the Upper Palaeolithic (level C) horizon'.
  But it was here also that, between the years 1953 and 1957, he had
  the great good fortune to uncover the remains of four human
  skeletons, unmistakably exhibiting the characteristics of Neander-
  thal man.
  '
  ^
  In western Iran, material comparable to that found by Solecki at
  Shanidar
  had
  already
  been
  reported
  by
  Carleton
  Coon,
  an
  anthropologist
  from
  Pennsylvania,
  in
  1949.
  Following
  the
  supposed line of migration we have already mentioned. Coon had
  come upon a cave site at Bisitun, near Kermanshah, with traces of a
  Mousterian industry similar to that found at Hazar Merd. He also
  claimed
  to have
  discovered human
  skeletal
  material which he
  described
  as
  'characteristically Neanderthaloid'.
  Similar parallels
  were
  later
  found
  by
  Turkish
  archaeologists
  at
  Beldibi
  and
  elsewhere, near the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia; so the pattern
  of diffusion began to be better defined.
  It appears that the two final phases of the Late Palaeolithic in
  Europe,
  the
  Solutrean and
  the Magdalenian, which accounted
  among other things
  for most of the famous rock-paintings of
  24
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  western France, did not reach the Near East. Garrod's assemblage
  of late Aurignacian or 'extended Gravettian' from Zarzi accord-
  ingly came to be regarded as representing the terminal phase of the
  Old Stone Age in Iraq. Since it already comprised some features of
  the
  transitional
  period
  which
  followed,
  it
  is
  perhaps
  worth
  examining a little more closely.
  American Excavators in Kurdistan
  The
  rather
  limited
  range
  of
  Garrod's
  finds
  at
  Zarzi
  were
  conveniently supplemented by those from
  a cave
  at Palegawra,
  some miles to the southeast, excavated by H. E. Wright and Bruce
  Howe in 1950, and the combined results consequently give a fuller
  picture. One important innovation is the use of microlithic flints, a
  newly refined blade industry which included the first chipped stone
  arrowheads, in addition to a wide variety of microlithic bladelets,
  scrapers and burins. Among other stone implements was a polished
  celt, fragments of querns for grinding and some obsidian (volcanic
  glass), for which the nearest source would have been the area of
  Lake Van in eastern Anatolia. There were also beads and pendants
  of shell. Animal bones showed that the onager or wild ass was the
  most commonly hunted species
  ; but wild goats, sheep, cattle and
  gazelle also indicated the nature ofthe terrain in which 'Baradostian
  Man'
  lived. Wood remains included oak, tamarisk, poplar and
  conifer, all of which are to be found in Kurdistan today. They also
  provided
  a
  convenient
  radiocarbon
  date, between
  13,060 and
  14,210 years ago. The cultural situation envisaged from
  all
  this
  evidence could therefore be treated as a point of departure for the
  intensified investigation which now took place, of the transition
  from a Palaeolithic way of life to the vastly changed economy of
  the Early Neolithic.
  It will now be important to recollect the state of this enquiry
  during
  the
  fifth
  decade
  of
  the
  present
  century,
  when
  R.J.
  Braidwood of Chicago initiated the Iraq-Jarmo project, supported
  by an inter-disciplinary team of specialists, whose composition was
  in
  itself an innovation.
  ^ ^ In Iraq
  at that time, archaeologists of
  various nationalities had for many years been devoting themselves
  to
  the
  study
  of pre-Sumerian
  cultures
  and
  the
  origins
  of
  Mesopotamian
  civilization.
  Following Leonard
  Woolley's
  dis-
  covery of primitive marsh-dwellers at the site called Al 'Ubaid and
  his deep sounding in the prehistoric levels at Ur-of-the-Chaldees,
  his younger
  colleague, M. E. L. Mallowan, had made an even
  deeper penetration beneath the Kiiyiinjik mound at Nineveh, and
  had recognized a sequence of occupations, throughout which the
  smelting
  of copper
  appeared
  to
  have
  been
  understood
  and
  increasingly practised.
  It was not however until 1943 that an Iraq
  Government excavation at Hassuna, on the western periphery of
  the Assyrian uplands, revealed in its deepest level a nomadic camp-
  site, which could be regarded stratigraphically as Late Neolithic.
  The period of some five millennia which separated these remains
  from the terminal Palaeolithic horizon
  at Zarzi and Palegawra
  represented a hiatus in the prehistoric sequence, whose completion
  became the purpose of Braidwood's expedition during the 1950s.
  25
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  Braidwood's
  enterprise
  in
  Kurdistan
  made
  a
  number
  of
  worthwhile contributions to the solution of the problem in hand.
  But today
  it must be considered in terms of the very
  plentiful
  information since accumulated from similar investigations in
  all
  parts of the Near
  East. For the moment, therefore, our review
  cannot be confined to Iraq alone. We must rather examine the
  pattern created by discoveries at a score or more of ancient sites in
  the Levant, western Anatolia and
  Iran.
  First, however,
  a word
  should be said about the term 'NeoHthic Revolution', first used by
  the doyen of British prehistorians, Gordon Childe.
  Childe
  was
  primarily
  concerned
  with
  the
  transition
  from
  hunting and food-gathering to a food-producing economy. In his
  time
  {c. 1927 onwards) 'Neohthic' had already long been accepted
  as a name for the phase in human development during which this
  change
  took
  place. He
  himself qualified
  the
  additional word
  'Revolution' by explaining that it should not of course imply any
  violent
  upheaval,
  but
  'the
  culmination
  of sudden
  progressive
  change
  in
  the economic
  structure
  and
  social
  organisation
  of
  communities.
  . .'.'^ Childe accepted the two existing criteria for
  the Neolithic development - namely, the practice of agriculture
  and the domestication of animals. He also saw the manufacture of
  pottery
  as
  a hallmark of the period; although the more recent
  discovery of pre-ceramic food-producing cultures has shown this
  to be too broad a generalization, in northern Syria at least pottery-
  making
  and
  the
  collection
  of wild
  cereals
  do
  seem
  to
  have
  coincided. Yet the most recent assessments of the great 'revolution'
  have
  in
  fact come
  to
  suggest
  an
  evolutionary
  rather
  than
  a
  revolutionary process of change, one that was neither rapid in time
  nor geographically uniform.
  It has been pointed out, for instance,
  that 'the earliest species of domesticated animals and plants do not
  appear in one particular area or at one point of time, but rather at
  different sites at different times'. Conclusions like these have tended
  to refute in turn theories propounded by at least one of Childe's
  successors in the Neolithic field. Braidwood, over a long period,
  had attempted to define geographically a 'Natural Habitat Zone',
  in which plant and animal domestication took place, forming
  a
  crescent
  around
  the
  'hilly
  flanks'
  of the
  Zagros
  and
  Taurus
  Mountains with
  its western point on the Mediterranean.
  Since
  many newly
  discovered
  sites, showing
  Neolithic communities
  practising agriculture and herdsmanship,
  plainly
  lie outside
  this
  'zone', this concept has also had to be revised.
  The State of Neolithic Research
  We should now briefly summarize those excavations in countries of
  the Near East other than Iraq which have, in the past years, made
  major contributions to our knowledge of Neolithic cultures and
  their immediate antecedents. In doing so, we should perhaps start
  with the Levant where, as long ago as 1928, settlements were found
  showing the earliest evidence of food production. And here once
  more we return to the work of Dorothy Garrod, this time in the
  Wadi-al-Natuf on Mt
  Carmel.
  Her
  'Natufian'
  culture,
  there
  26
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  ANATOLIA
  BC
  LEVANT
  IRAN
  OTHER SITES
  MERSIN
  2500
  Bronze Age
  Susa®
  a-c
  Susa ©
  c
  3000
  b
  t
  a
  1
  3500
  Uruk-'Ubaid
  Susa®
  4000
  'Ubaid xi-xv
  Susa ^
  (Old Susa
  I)
  t
  4500
  PNB
  Fortress xvi
  Susiana e
  PNA
  Susiana
  1
  ^
  Halaf xvii-xix
  a-d
  5000
  6000
  Gi
  m
  pp
  \P
  NB
  X
  T
  Guran
  X
  -2
  G
  ><
  X
  'Neolithic'
  1
  1
  '
  ^
  >
  >
  '
  7000
  .
  Qayonii
  ,
  >
  '
  >
  PP VA
  >
  '
  h
  Mureybet
  Asiab
  8000
  '
  (Syria)
  1
  Table II
  Generalized chronology
  for sites in the Levant, Anatolia
  and Iran
  27
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  recognized in caves and
  shelters, has since served
  as
  a point-of-
  departure
  for
  the
  identification
  of
  phases
  and
  sub-phases
  in
  NeoHthic development. But
  it was
  also
  in
  itself a remarkable
  revelation of a new way of life, departing in important respects
  from
  that of the terminal
  Palaeolithic which preceded
  it. The
  microhthic flint industry was of a sort at that time provisionally
  described
  as
  'Mesohthic'. Hunting and
  fishing were
  the main
  sources of food
  ; but flint sickle-blades, showing evidence of use,
  pointed to the reaping of wild wheat or barley. Craftsmanship
  extended to the carving ofanimal figures and this was applied to the
  handles of bone
  hafts
  in which
  the
  blades were
  set.
  Personal
  ornaments were also found, including headdresses of dentalia and
  necklaces. Other
  sites
  in the Levant,
  especially Mureybet, Abu
  Hureyra, Eynan (Ain Mallaha), and Jericho described below, have
  more recently added new features of this comparatively sophisti-
  cated
  culture,
  including primitive architecture and evidence of
  organized religion. In the words of one authority, the Natufians
  'founded the earliest permanent settlements in the world'.
  Jordan and the Levant
  At Jericho in Jordan, where the deepest levels of the great 'oasis'
  city-mound were excavated with such sensational results by the
  late Kathleen M. Kenyon between 1952 and 1958, there were two
  earliest occupations, termed respectively 'Mesolithic' and 'Proto-
  Neolithic', both corresponding to the Natufian period elsewhere.
  Kenyon
  describes
  the
  earhest occupants
  (in about 9000 bc)
  as
  hunters and
  food-gatherers, but
  a conspicuous
  feature of their
  settlement
  was
  a
  stone-built
  shrine
  or
  sanctuary. The
  Proto-
  Neolithic was succeeded by two more productive phases, referred
  to as Pre-Pottery NeoHthic (PPN) 'A' and 'B'. The first of these
  shows a rapid advance in the organization of a communal society.
  There are circular or rectangular houses, now built of sun-dried
  bricks whose shape is described as 'hog-backed'. The town, which
  now covered an area of some 10 acres, was defended by a massive
  stone wall with a circular tower measuring over 12 m in diameter,
  and a rock-cut ditch. Understandably, Kenyon conjectured that a
  defensive system of this sort must imply
  a surprising degree of
  social solidarity and leadership
  : an idea supported by the evidence
  of organized agriculture and a far-reaching trade in commodities
  such
  as obsidian. Radiocarbon dates for this period
  fall between
  8350 and 6770 BC.
  The PPNB stage at Jericho, like its predecessor, must have lasted
  a long period of time, since no less than twenty-six structural phases
  were distinguished. During this phase, domestic architecture was
  greatly improved, each house having large intercommunicating
  rooms. Walls were still of curiously shaped mud-bricks, the floors
  being
  carefully paved with gypsum
  plaster and
  in some
  cases
  covered with reed matting. Again, one symmetrically planned
  building was thought by Kenyon to be a temple. But the most
  curious artistic feature of this period were the human skulls, with
  faces skilfully remodelled in plaster and inlaid eyes. No less than ten
  of these were
  found,
  suggesting some
  cultic
  practice
  for
  the
  posthumous commemoration of individuals. For the
  rest,
  there
  28
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  4 Three examples of human
  skulls, with features carefully
  modelled in plaster and inlaid
  eyes of shell, found in the PPNB
  levels at Jericho (yth millennium
  Bc), perhaps implying a form of
  ancestor worship
  were the bones of wild animals, among which the gazelle was
  preponderant, and of goats which were plainly domesticated. The
  carbonized remains of food-grains were also found, the emmer
  wheat of the previous period having now largely been replaced by
  einkorn.
  The
  Pottery
  Neolithic
  phase,
  which
  followed
  the
  temporary abandonment of the Jericho
  settlement, was
  distin-
  guished as its name implies by the appearance of plain or clumsily
  painted ceramics, of a sort which are better represented at other
  sites.
  At Jericho, Kenyon's excavation had been hampered to some
  extent by the limited area of her deep sounding. Soon afterwards,
  Diana Kirkbride (Mrs Hans Helbaek) had the good fortune to
  discover a site on the banks of a dry wadi to the north of Petra,
  where
  the
  buildings of a
  Neolithic
  settlement were
  accessible
  directly beneath the surface. At Beidha (Seyl Ahlat) she excavated a
  wide area during the years between 1958 and 1967, revealing an
  attractively detailed picture of primitive village life. After a short
  occupation in the early Natufian period, the site was temporarily
  deserted and then reoccupied sometime after 7000 b c by a people
  corresponding to the later Pre-Pottery inhabitants ofJericho. Their
  houses,
  developing
  from
  round
  to
  rectangular
  shapes,
  were
  constructed with heavily built, dry-stone walling and the rooms
  repeatedly plastered. Clusters of small rooms were later replaced by
  larger, single compartments with plastered walls, and pavements a
  little below ground-level were decorated with lines of coloured
  paint. A baker's and a butcher's shop were recognized and there
  was
  other
  evidence
  suggesting
  a
  precocious
  development
  of
  specialized trades. Stone implements were variously contrived for
  every
  conceivable
  purpose,
  while
  toys
  or
  cult-objects
  were
  modelled in clay.
  The evidence of sites like these in Jordan and the coastal Levant
  has been supplemented by new and impressive exposures in inland
  Syria, in process of publication. The implications of at least one
  have been
  disconcerting.
  At Mureybet,
  50
  miles
  southeast of
  Aleppo, M. van Loon and J. Cauvin have excavated a settlement
  29
  
  5
  Excavations at Beidha, near
  Petra, exposing the stone-built
  houses of a settlement founded ir
  Natufian times, but reoccupied
  from about 7000 bc onwards by
  a characteristically Neolithic
  people
  ot the 9th millennium bc, where a people living in substantially
  built
  clay houses may already have
  cultivated einkorn, herded
  goats, and made pottery (see D. and J. Oates (1976), p. 74 etc.)
  Anatolia
  If we must now choose from
  a dozen
  relevant excavations
  in
  modern Turkey, one in particular immediately suggests itself as
  being likely to provide the Anatolian equivalent of the Pre-Pottery
  Neolithic
  at Jericho. This
  is Qayonii, in the Diyarbakir area,
  at
  which Braidwood has more recently been collaborating with a
  Turkish scholar, Halet fambel. The material remains here can now
  be regarded as characteristic of a developing society in its 'aceramic'
  stage,
  with
  an
  adequate
  knowledge
  of
  agriculture
  and
  the
  exploitation
  of domestic
  animals.
  But
  it
  has
  two
  unusual
  characteristics, one of which is architectural. During the second of
  four phases, the building remains consist of stone foundations or
  'sleeper-walls', forming a regular
  'grill' with spaces between too
  small for any purpose other than storage
  ;
  '
  "^ while,
  in the third
  phase, an extraordinary concrete floor was found, decorated in the
  manner of a 'terrazzo' pavement with a pattern of stone chippings,
  ground
  to
  a smooth
  surface. A second and
  equally
  surprising
  innovation was the manufacture of simple implements by cold-
  hammering native copper - the earliest use of metal yet known.
  The Cayonii site represents 1000 years of occupation
  {c. "JS^o to
  6500
  bc),
  immediately
  preceding
  the
  earliest
  levels
  of James
  Mellaart's now-famous settlement at Qatal Hiiyiik on the Konya
  Plain, where the record is prolonged through a further 800 or 900
  years of spectacular progress and invention.
  '
  ^
  30
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  It would be out of place here to describe in detail the many
  aspects of the
  Qatal
  Hiiyiik
  settlement,
  so
  well published and
  publicized in recent years. A township covering more than 15 acres
  is composed of brick-built houses, arranged contiguously like
  a
  honeycomb and entered by ladders from the communal roof-
  space. Of unique interest are buildings apparently associated with a
  religious cult, their walls decorated with coloured murals, recalling
  the cave-paintings of an earlier era, and with the heads or horns of
  animals. Not only
  are pottery
  vessels
  in general
  use, but
  their
  prototypes in wood or basketwork have survived - no less well
  preserved than the fragments of woven fabrics which accompany
  them. Human and animals figures are carved in stone or modelled
  in clay, weapons and implements fashioned from delicately shaped
  cores
  of
  flint
  or
  obsidian.
  Hunting
  still
  takes
  its
  place
  as
  an
  important occupation, but the economy
  is now mainly sustained
  by
  agriculture, with
  a
  surprising
  variety of food-plants under
  cultivation and indications that even irrigation was beginning.
  One would be reluctant to believe that this crescendo of cultural
  advancement was an isolated phenomenon, unparallelled
  at
  this
  time in other parts of the Near East. Yet, for the present this appears
  to be the case, and there
  is little evidence of its having served to
  accelerate
  the
  tempo
  of development
  in
  Neolithic
  societies
  elsewhere.
  Indeed,
  during
  the
  Late
  Neolithic
  phase
  which
  followed, many of its attainments seem to have been forgotten, and
  signs are apparent of renewed intellectual inertia. In Turkey, this
  period
  is well represented in the deeper levels of sites like Hacilar,
  Sak^agozu,
  Mersin
  and
  Tarsus,
  where
  stone-built
  houses
  are
  associated with characteristic black- or brown-burnished pottery
  6 The restored interior of a
  shrine-room in the NeoHthic
  township of Qatal Hiiyiik, near
  Konya in AnatoHa, ornamented
  with mural paintings of bulls and
  a stag-hunt
  {c. 5800 Bc). (After
  Mellaart, 1967)
  31
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  and finely made obsidian artifacts. But
  its culture seems no more
  than a prelude to that of the more advanced ChalcoHthic period
  that followed, about which there will be much to say when we
  return to Mesopotamia.
  Iran
  For the moment, however, a few words must finally be said about
  contemporary developments in Iran. For this purpose we should
  first mention the particular areas in which discoveries have been
  made and note their significantly wide distribution. The search for
  prehistoric origins of Iranian culture hardly began until the 1950s
  and many contributory discoveries have therefore been made too
  recently yet to be recorded in the form of definitive publications.
  An admirable summary published by P. Singh draws mainly on
  preliminary communications; but in the present context it can be
  highly recommended. Singh
  is able to distinguish geographically
  three
  clusters of newly
  discovered
  sites, which have produced
  'cultural assemblages' relevant to the Neolithic enquiry.
  ' ^ The first
  is in the river valleys to the south and east of Kermanshah
  ; the
  second in the plain of Khuzistan, within a 50-mile radius of Susa,
  while the third lies to the south and southwest of Lake Reza'iyeh
  (Urmia)
  in Azarbaijan.
  In each of these areas major and minor
  excavations
  have
  taken
  place,
  resulting
  in
  discoveries
  which
  amplify rather than supplement those we have already referred to
  in Anatolia and the Levant.
  Here are some details of primary sites in the above groupings and
  their contributions to the sequence of Neolithic developments.
  First, in the Kermanshah group, Tepe Asiab contains 'the vestige
  of a semi-permanent settlement of food collectors ... on the verge
  of achieving
  food-production'
  (estimated
  date
  7100—6800 bc).
  A further phase of the early food-collecting culture is seen at Tepe
  Sarab, where there is still no mud-walled architecture, though the
  manufacture of pottery,
  plain and painted,
  is now in evidence.
  Another use ofbaked clay at this site is for various forms of figurine,
  one of which, known
  as the 'Sarab Venus', shows particularly
  skilful modelling. The goat
  is now domesticated, but there
  is no
  proof of the presence of cereals (earliest carbon date 6000 bc). The
  first signs of solid architecture are found at Ganj Dareh Tepe
  : mud-
  brick,
  rectiUnear houses of the
  'cluster-type',
  built against each
  other, with walls of long plano-convex bricks laid in mortar. The
  flint industry represents a blade-flake tradition and a total absence
  of obsidian is still evident. Signs of polishing on some blades suggest
  the harvesting of grain. Clay figurines already include a 'stalky-
  headed' type which we shall meet with again in a later setting.
  (Time bracket of this site, 7300-6900 bc). A well documented site
  in
  this group
  is Tepe Guran, which again
  illustrates
  'transition
  from the hut to house and from aceramic to the ceramic stage'.
  Plain pottery appears at the fourth occupation level and painted
  or burnished wares later. The stone industry now includes obsidian
  and marble is used for making vessels by grinding. A notable archi-
  tectural feature is the making of pavements of feldspar laid in clay
  which
  is
  coloured
  with
  red
  ochre.
  (Neohthic
  culture
  dated
  6500-5500 bc).
  32
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  The second group of
  sites,
  in
  the Deh Luran
  plain west of
  Susiana,
  also
  creates
  a sequence of cultural
  phases, now
  distin-
  guished by site-names. The first two phases (Bus Mordeh and All
  Kosh), are aceramic, but pottery appears in the third (Jaffar) phase.
  Together they show that 'the era of early dry farming and caprine
  domestication,
  starting
  from
  around
  7000
  bc,
  was
  gradually
  succeeded and replaced by the era of irrigation farming and cattle
  dornestication, which began around 5000 bc', and finds a parallel
  at Choga Mami in Iraq.
  The third group of early village cultures, represented by
  sites
  such as Hajji Firuz, Dalma and Pisdeli in southwest Azarbaijan, are
  of a more-nearly Chalcolithic type and have less relevance in the
  present context. The same may be said of Tepe Yahya, halfway
  between Kirman and Bandar Abbas, whose remote situation alone
  serves
  to emphasize
  the extended geographical
  pattern of such
  sites, and may indicate a direction for further exploration.
  ' ^
  The Iraq-Jarmo Project
  Having attempted
  a
  conspectus of major
  contributions
  to
  the
  Neolithic enquiry, made over
  a quarter-century by workers
  in
  three important areas of western Asia, we are now in a position to
  appraise the results of similar operations in northern Mesopotamia.
  For
  this purpose, we should return
  to
  the Iraq-Jarmo
  project,
  initiated by Braidwood in the 1950s; and if in doing so we discover
  that some of his conclusions have been superseded, we should
  remember in extenuation the pioneer character of his work.
  The results of operations
  at two of Braidwood's
  sites may be
  selected,
  as
  taking
  a modest
  place
  in
  the sequence of cultural
  developments now so well documented elsewhere. One of these is
  the open site called Karim Shahir, to the north of Chemchemal in
  the Kirkuk Liwa. This appears to have been one of several sites in
  the neighbourhood, occupied only as a 'seasonal camp', at a time
  imprecisely fixed (perhaps contemporary with Kenyon's 'Meso-
  lithic' at Jericho), when the movement from caves and shelters to
  open settings was becoming more general. Hunting and fishing
  were
  the main
  sources of food and
  there were no permanent
  dwellings. Animals were not yet domesticated, and sickle-blades
  were thought only to have been used in reaping reeds for building
  purposes.
  Polished-stone
  celts
  and
  simple
  clay
  figurines
  were
  among the few positive criteria ofemancipation from a Palaeolithic
  way of life. There is a long gap in time between Karim Shahir and
  the
  site of Jarmo
  itself, where Braidwood excavated on
  a larger
  scale
  between
  1948
  and
  1955.
  The
  radiocarbon
  dates
  are
  unsatisfactory;
  but,
  in
  modern
  charts
  of chronology, Jarmo
  occupies a short period before and after the beginning of PPNB at
  Jericho, with
  a mean
  date of about 6750 bc.
  In Braidwood's
  terminology,
  it still takes its place in the category called 'Primary
  Effective Village Farming Communities'. '^
  The village itself occupied about 3 acres, on an eroded shoulder
  of conglomerate, overlooking a deep, dry wadi. In a total deposit of
  7.6 m there were twelve building levels with walls of pise (slabs of
  clay superimposed on each other), latterly on stone foundations.
  33
  
  w:rk
  7 The site ofJarmo, on the
  brow of an escarpment in the
  Kurdish hill-country. In this
  excavation a system of
  stratigraphic soundings was used
  to locate the Neohthic
  settlement, where pottery
  appeared only in the later levels
  {c. 5800 BC onwards)
  Pottery was found in the upper third of these strata, but there were
  'baked-in-place' floor-basins throughout. The impHcations of flint
  or stone implements for reaping or grinding were confirmed by the
  presence of food-grains, including emmer wheat and two-row
  barley. A flint industry comprised both blades and microliths, with
  a good deal of obsidian from Lake Van in use.
  The pottery at Jarmo presented something of an enigma. Rather
  well-made
  stone jars
  in
  the
  deeper
  levels
  gave way
  in
  mid-
  occupation to a range of clay vessels, competently finished with a
  burnished
  slip or painted with simple designs; but their quality
  seemed
  to
  deteriorate
  nearer
  to
  the
  surface.
  Braidwood
  had
  expected, through this medium, to establish a link with the earliest
  pottery at Hassuna. In this however he was unsuccessful and the
  most recent assessment of his painted wares'^ finds a parallel with
  those
  at Tepe Guran
  (one
  of the
  best
  published
  sites
  in
  the
  Kermanshah group of Iran), thus suggesting an association with the
  Zagros
  Mountains,
  rather
  than
  the
  Mesopotamian
  lowlands.
  34
  
  The Twilight of Neolithic Man
  Braidwood's dating of Jarmo may in
  fact be taken to suggest a
  point in time for the abandonment of his settlement near the end of
  the Late Neohthic elsewhere.
  If so, the earliest evolution of the
  Hassuna culture should be sought in the lowlands themselves:
  at
  Umm Dabaghiyah and
  sites excavated by the Russians in Sinjar
  (p. yoff.). Here, however,
  the Neolithic phase merges so amor-
  phously with that until recently called the 'Chalcolithic', that
  it
  may better be dealt with in another chapter.
  Before leaving Braidwood's site, there is something further to be
  said about his findings.
  We have earlier mentioned the inter-disciplinary element in the
  group of research-workers which he brought to Iraq in the 1950s.
  For the first time in the Near East, geologists and climatologists,
  together with
  specialists
  in
  flora and
  fauna, were
  to be found
  collaborating
  with
  archaeologists
  in
  their
  search
  for
  the
  en-
  vironmental background of ancient man. From their reports,
  a
  picture emerged of an ecological situation remarkably different
  from that ofthe present day. The contrast which they have revealed
  between 'then' and 'now' in the physical aspect of northern Iraq is
  one outstanding result of their work.
  As Braidwood says.
  During the period which has elapsed since Jarmo was a village, man has
  been
  the pre-eminent environmental
  influence, and
  the
  effects of his
  handiwork are to be seen throughout the Near East. In general the role of
  man, of his agriculture and of his flocks has been destructive, and
  this
  without any one man wishing to be destructive.
  'Today', Braidwood says,
  throughout much of the once-wooded
  plain and
  foothill
  area of the
  Chemchemal
  valley, hardly
  a shrub
  remains. The scrub-oak
  is
  rarely
  allowed to reach more than six feet in height before it is hacked away by
  the charcoal-burners. With the trees and the bush-cover gone, and the grass
  eaten down to its roots each spring, the soil has largely gone too to silt up
  the rivers. ... In winter it washes away on every slope almost as fast as it
  can form and the rains rage off the land in chocolate torrents. ^°
  Here
  then
  is
  the
  source
  of the
  alluvium
  which
  created
  the
  Mesopotamian plain.
  35
  
  BC
  PERIOD
  UR
  URUK
  ERIDU
  UBAID
  NIPPUR
  KISH
  'UQAIR
  DIYALA SITES
  ASMAR
  KHAFAJE
  AGRAB
  Akkadian
  Graves
  Buildings
  Monument
  Z
  iiib
  2500
  First
  Dynasty
  Royal
  Tombs
  Enmerkar
  Seal
  ipressions
  3000
  3250
  Jemdet Nasr
  Temenos
  Survives
  Palaces
  Graves
  Nm-Khursag
  Temple
  i
  Inanna
  Temple
  Cemetery
  A
  I
  Graves
  I
  I
  _l_
  - Oval
  Terrace
  Palace A
  Ziggurat
  Akkadian
  Palace
  Buildings
  Houses
  Single
  Shrine
  Temple
  White
  Temple
  Late Uruk
  Early Uruk
  'Ubaid0'
  4000
  Temples
  i-ii
  Temenos
  Raised
  III-V
  Walled
  Temenos
  VI-VII
  Cemeterv
  Settlement
  'Ubaid(3)
  Temples
  VIII-XI
  4500
  •Ubaid
  i
  (Hajji
  Muhamma
  'UbaidT
  (Eriduy
  Levels
  XII-XIV
  Hajyi
  Muhammad
  No Building
  Temples
  XV-XVIII
  Eridu Ware
  Houses
  Houses
  '-n
  Square
  Temple
  Archaic
  Temple
  Chapel
  —i-
  Chapel
  1
  Painted
  Temple
  I
  I-
  m.
  Settlement
  Shara
  Temple
  Table III Chronology for sites in
  southern Mesopotamia
  36
  
  Chapter Three
  The Threshold of Written History
  We must now return to the alluvial plain of SQUthern Mesopotamia
  and the marshland which separates it from the head of the Arabian
  Gulf in
  order
  to
  follow
  successive
  stages
  in
  the
  evolution of
  Sumerian civilization. In that area, we shall fmd ourselves dealing
  with a period of time whose beginning
  at least
  is easy to defme
  because
  it corresponds to the earliest pre-Sumerian settlement of
  which traces have yet been found, dating from a little before 5000
  BC.
  It ends in about 2900 bc with the foundation of the Sumerian
  dynasties and the first written references to the names of kings who
  are now shown to have been historical characters. In the strictest
  sense, the period could therefore be called prehistoric
  ; but since its
  fmal
  phases cover
  the
  earliest
  use of writing and
  other major
  inventions of the Sumerians, the word has seemed inappropriate
  and other labels have had to be found for the chronological stages in
  its development.
  The Sequence of Discoveries
  As early as 1929, among excavators in Mesopotamia, the practice
  was adopted of naming sub-periods after the
  sites at which they
  were first recognized. Later some attempt was made to subdivide
  or re-group them under names more culturally meaningful. But
  since by this time the sequence had become a subject for debate
  among archaeologists of several nationalities, each with his own
  conception of the
  stratigraphic
  implications,
  a
  point had been
  reached where no
  single system of terminology seemed
  to be
  universally accepted. With this difficulty in view,
  it may be well
  here first to summarize the original discoveries in their chronologi-
  cal order.
  Al 'Ubaid
  When excavations were resumed in Iraq after the First World War,
  little was known about the Sumerians and even
  less about their
  antecedents. The first indication of prehistoric occupation in the
  south was found by Leonard WooUey
  at
  a small
  site called Al
  'Ubaid, 4 miles to the west of Ur, where H. R. Hall had previously
  located the brick platform on which a Sumerian temple had once
  stood. Woolley noticed, as Hall had done, that another part of the
  mound was covered with sherds of painted pottery and, during a
  brief excavation
  there, he was
  able
  to
  associate them with
  the
  remains of reed-built houses, which for him created a picture of
  primitive
  settlers 'on an island in the marshes'.
  Later in
  a deep
  sounding which he made in the great city-mound of Ur itself, he
  37
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  found the same painted pottery, underlying the Sumerian remains,
  in a sequence of occupation-levels which suggested that it had been
  in use over a long period of time. Styhstically he was able to divide
  this series into three phases, though the terms by which he described
  them have since been superseded by more recent discoveries.
  Warka
  While
  in
  the
  1920s WooUey
  was
  making
  these
  discoveries,
  excavators of other nationalities were experimenting with similar
  soundings beneath Sumerian cities, of which the most significant
  was that undertaken by the German Oriental Society under N.
  Noldeke and J. Jordan in the great temple-precinct of Eanna
  at
  Uruk (modern Warka).-'
  Here, eighteen
  'archaic'
  occupation-
  levels were
  identified,
  of which
  the
  five
  earliest
  (XVIII-XIII)
  produced
  pottery
  corresponding
  to
  Woolley's
  'Ur
  'Ubaid'
  assemblage.
  After
  a
  short
  transitional period
  (XIV-XII),
  these
  painted wares disappeared and were replaced by a totally different
  pottery, often wheel-made and without ornament, except for an
  occasional red or grey 'slip' with a burnished surface. Apart from
  the complete repertory of new shapes that now appeared, another
  notable change could be seen
  in the complete absence of small
  objects (such
  as terracotta figurines, baked-clay sickles and nail-
  shaped
  wall-plugs), which had accompanied the painted wares
  both here and at Ur. Phenomena such as these could be taken to
  reflect some ethnic change in the city's population.
  From level V upwards in the Eanna stratification at Warka, the
  Germans soon had less reason to rely on the findings in their shaft.
  Nearby
  a new excavation had begun which,
  in the years
  that
  followed, was extended over a large part of the precinct. ^^ This led
  by
  degrees
  to
  the
  astonishing
  exposure
  in
  levels V
  to
  III
  of
  architectural remains,
  sculpture,
  cylinder-seals and
  inscriptions,
  through which
  the marvellous attainments of this pre-dynastic
  people were
  first revealed. Meanwhile,
  a further discovery had
  been made
  at
  a
  site called Jemdet Nasr,
  a few miles from Kish,
  where another Anglo-American expedition under S. Langdon had
  been excavating on similar lines. ^^ Here, the architectural remains
  were neither well clarified nor well published, but their interest was
  greatly increased by an entirely new type of painted pottery which
  accompanied them. This was a polychrome ware, with geometric
  designs and
  a
  distinctively
  glossy
  surface.
  It now appeared
  to
  represent the final phase of the pre-dynastic period with which we
  are dealing.
  It
  was
  at
  this
  stage
  that
  a
  conference
  of Mesopotamian
  archaeologists, meeting at Leiden in 1929, agreed upon site-names
  to designate the three main chronological phases so far recognized
  in the pre-dynastic sequence. The 'Al 'Ubaid' phase was to cover
  the whole period associated with painted pottery in the deepest
  levels at Ur and Warka; the name 'Uruk' could provisionally be
  applied to the post-'Ubaid, 'archaic' levels in the Warka sounding;
  and 'Jemdet Nasr' to a final phase, probably recognizable at Warka
  as well as at the name-site itself. The primary need at that time was
  for a further exposure and analysis of the lengthy 'Ubaid period. As
  it proved, it was almost twenty years before this hope was fulfilled.
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  Eridu
  In 1948,
  F. Safar and S. Lloyd, on behalf of the Iraq Antiquities
  Directorate, opened a
  first season of excavations
  at Eridu (now
  called Tell Abu Shahrain), which the Sumerians considered to be
  the oldest city in the world. ^"^ Here were the remains of a late-
  Sumerian ziggurat and, beneath one corner of its ruins, the walls of
  a small temple, dated by pottery to the very end of the 'Ubaid
  period. This proved to be the latest in a long series of rebuildings,
  whose plans could be traced in turn through eighteen occupation-
  levels, down to a primitive chapel founded on a dune of clean sand.
  The evidence provided by the contents of these buildings was of
  course invaluable
  for
  dating
  purposes.
  In
  particular,
  successive
  stages
  in
  the development of 'Ubaid pottery could be
  noted,
  the earliest of these, the technique and form of the painted vessels so
  little resembled the standard product of later times that they came
  provisionally to be known as 'Eridu Ware'. Later we shall see how
  this and other sub-phases of the Eridu sequence have been assessed
  and numbered.
  The succession of temples at Eridu did not of course end with the
  'Ubaid
  period. A
  further
  five rebuildings corresponded
  to
  the
  Uruk period, but of these little remained, save for the brickwork of
  their repeatedly extended emplacements and fallen fragments of
  their fa9ade ornament. But here there was a supplementary form of
  dating evidence. At Eridu, early in the Uruk period, a spreading
  cluster of subsidiary religious buildings had grown up around the
  temple. At some point in time this whole complex was abandoned
  and its rooms filled almost to roof-level with drifting sand. Then
  (perhaps at the time of Uruk's own great period of architectural
  invention, in levels V and IV) the whole of these ruins at Eridu had
  been enclosed in a stone retaining-wall and paved over, to create a
  raised temenos on which the temple could finally be reconstructed
  8 The prehistoric temple at
  Eridu. An impression of the final
  rebuilding in ProtoUterate times
  ('Temple I'). Above the stone
  retaining-wall of the temenos,
  the platform had survived up to
  the base of the columned
  portico. Above this, the
  reconstruction is based on fallen
  facade ornament and the
  appearance of temples
  elsewhere. (M. E. Weaver after
  Lloyd)
  39
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  XIV-IX
  VIII
  VII
  VI
  V
  IVc
  IVb
  IVa
  IIIc
  Illb
  Ilia
  URUK
  (
  ARCHAIC
  LEVELS
  EARLY URUK
  PROTOLITERATE
  Delougaz
  WARKAN
  PROTOLITERATE
  Perkins
  EARLY URUK
  MIDDLE URUK
  PROTOLITERATE A
  LATE URUK
  PROTOLITERATE B
  PROTOLITERATE C, D
  JEMDET NASR
  Ehrich
  K
  URUK
  (jEMDET NASR)
  Mallowan
  XII
  <
  LRl
  PROTOHISTORIC
  Moortgat
  .
  '
  ,
  EARLY URUK
  LATE URUK
  JEMDET NASR
  Lloyd
  Table IV
  Pre-dynastic
  terminologies according to
  different authorities
  Table IV
  in
  a
  really magnificent form. The contents of the old buildings
  beneath the temenos, when compared with the remains of those
  afterwards
  superimposed upon
  it, now
  established
  a
  primary
  division of the Uruk period into 'Early' and 'Late' phases.
  Khafaje
  Long before this, during the 1930s, new hght of another sort had
  already been thrown on pre-dynastic chronology by excavations
  undertaken by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
  in cities of the ancient state called Eshnunna, in the Diyala region
  east of modern Baghdad. These had been mainly concerned with
  the Sumerian dynastic and later periods
  ; but the predecessors ofone
  Sumerian temple at Khafaje had been explored in depth, down to
  an
  original
  foundation
  at
  the
  end
  of the Uruk
  period. ^=
  In
  publishing the contents of this building, its excavator was the first
  to reaUze that this late phase of the Uruk period (levels V and IV at
  Uruk
  itself),
  with
  its
  great
  cultural accomplishments, must be
  separated,
  as
  it
  afterwards
  was
  at
  Eridu,
  from
  the
  rather
  undistinguished phase which preceded it (levels XIV-VI at Uruk).
  He therefore proposed to combine the former with the equally
  productive Jemdet Nasr phase, making a single period to which he
  gave the name
  'Protoliterate'. This term has in
  fact never been
  easily accepted and several alternative systems of dating have since
  been suggested. For the moment however
  it may best serve our
  purpose.-^
  In these few paragraphs, then, a preliminary account has been given
  of the earliest attempts to create a chronological framework for the
  pre-dynastic period, by rationalizing the stratigraphical evidence
  40
  
  from a number of sources. In doing so, priority has been given to
  discoveries in southern Mesopotamia, mainly because the cultural
  sequence established there long provided a system of criteria by
  which
  parallel
  findings
  in
  northern
  Iraq
  and
  neighbouring
  countries could be judged. Before extending our review to such
  regions, less directly connected as they are with Sumerian origins, it
  may be well to study in greater detail the character of the southern
  Mesopotamian cultures already enumerated.
  9 The guesthouse (mudhij) of a
  modern Marsh Arab village
  : a
  traditional form of reed
  architecture already to be seen
  illustrated in carvings of the
  Protoliterate period. (From
  Leacroft, 1974)
  The'Ubaid Period
  Architecture
  The text of a Sumerian inscription tells us that Shulgi, a king of the
  Third Dynasty of Ur, 'cared greatly for the city of Eridu, which
  was on the shore of the sea'. This description need not be taken too
  literally. It might, as we have already shown, be concluded that the
  city was merely connected to the sea by a system of tidal lagoons,
  and that these formed part of a marshy area, similar to that which
  today separates the alluvial plain from the head of the Arabian Gulf.
  In any case,
  it seems certain that the first inhabitants of Eridu and
  some other Sumerian sites were themselves marsh-dwellers, living
  in an environment comparable to that of the modern Marsh Arabs
  of Iraq.
  It
  is not therefore surprising that the earliest (symbolical)
  representations of architecture on
  Sumerian
  cylinder-seals and
  reliefs depict reed-built structures, resembling in their details the
  ingeniously designed mudhifs or guest-houses
  to be seen
  in the
  marshland villages today. ^^ This being so, it is a little disconcerting
  to find that the earliest identifiable religious buildings, found in
  level XVI of the temple sounding at Eridu and elsewhere, were
  already constructed of sun-dried bricks. Admittedly,
  in another
  sounding
  at
  Eridu,
  unmistakeable
  remnants
  were found
  of
  a
  modest reed structure; but this later proved to have been no more
  than an outbuilding of a normal mud-brick house. ^^
  The prototype 'temple' in level XVI at Eridu was in fact a single
  compartment, no more
  than
  3 m
  square;
  yet
  its
  plan
  already
  showed features, such
  as
  a cult-niche and central offering-table,
  10
  41
  
  10 Temple plans characteristic of
  the three main phases recognized
  in the sounding at Eridu
  : "Ubaid
  4' (temple VII) (top) "Ubaid 3'
  (temple IX) (above) and "Ubaid
  i'
  (temple XVI)
  (n;^/if), dated
  respectively to
  c. 3800, 4100 and
  4900 BC. Temple XVI is no more
  than a chapel, but already has a
  niche for the altar and
  offering-table
  42
  
  which are characteristic of temples from that time onwards. In the
  levels immediately above this (XV-XII), the siting of the building
  seemed to be beyond the reach of the sounding ; but it reappeared in
  level XI and was twice rebuilt (XI-IX) to a more ambitious plan,
  having a central sanctuary and projecting lateral wings. In this case
  its extremely narrow brick walls were strengthened
  at intervals
  with thicker piers or buttresses, in a manner perhaps reminiscent of
  earlier reed structures. Next came a sequence of more substantially
  built
  and
  sophisticated
  temples
  (VIII-VI),
  accounting
  for
  the
  remainder of the 'Ubaid period. The long central sanctuary was
  still entered through a lateral chamber, but
  it also tended to have
  more ceremonial doorways
  at one end and a raised altar
  at the
  other. Once more there was a free-standing pedestal for votive
  offerings, apparently including fish, whose bones were deposited in
  an adjoining chamber. ^^ Facades were now formally decorated
  with alternating buttresses and recesses, a feature rarely absent from
  religious buildings from that time onwards.
  1 1 Temple VII at Eridu after
  excavation. Overlying it behind
  can be seen the great bulk of the
  Third Dynasty ziggurat, built
  by Shulgi (2095-2048 Bc) and in
  the foreground the extended
  platforms of Protoliterate temples
  I-V. The walls are of rectangular
  mud-bricks
  Religion
  Having thus already encountered the prototype of Mesopotamian
  religious buildings, about which so much will presently have to be
  said, some impression should at once be given of the purpose for
  which
  they
  were
  built:
  of the
  forms
  of worship
  and
  ritual
  performance
  for which
  they
  provided
  a
  setting,
  and
  of their
  significance
  as
  a
  primary
  expression
  of
  abstract
  thought
  and
  spiritual consciousness. At the early stage in their evolution which
  43
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  12 Some painted designs used by
  the makers of 'Eridu ware', the
  earhest pottery yet found in
  southern Mesopotamia. These
  are flat dishes, but tall cups and
  bowl-shapes were similarly
  decorated. (Now known as
  "Ubaid
  i'). (After Lloyd and
  Safar)
  we have so far reached, there is understandably Httle to be learnt on
  this subject from their physical or architectural remains as revealed
  by
  excavation. A
  few
  elementary
  features
  can
  already
  be
  recognized by analogy with subsequent developments - we have
  spoken of an
  'altar', 'cult-niche' and 'offering-table'. But a fuller
  picture
  of the
  cults
  themselves
  to which
  the
  buildings
  were
  dedicated, and of the actions by which they were expressed, can
  only be reconstructed in the light of information provided by the
  written texts of later times. Here then, in the briefest possible form,
  are some
  elements
  of Sumerian
  religious
  worship
  and
  ritual
  performance.
  Duties and observances practised in the temple can be grouped
  under
  two
  principal
  headings:
  offerings
  and
  sacrifices.
  High
  amongst the services which the gods required of their worshippers
  was the provision of food, drink and oil for anointing. According
  to H. W. F. Saggs (1962), 'The gods enjoyed regular meals
  .
  .
  .,
  which were placed on tables before the divine images'. Their food
  included bread in large quantities, the meat of sheep or cattle and
  drink
  in the form of beer, which was greatly favoured by the
  Sumerians. Among provisions
  listed in
  later times were honey,
  ghee,
  fme
  oil,
  milk,
  dates,
  figs,
  salt,
  cakes,
  poultry,
  fish and
  vegetables.
  The meal of the gods was technically a banquet to which other deities
  were invited and
  at which
  the human worshippers and even the dead
  might be
  present. The gods themselves received
  specified
  parts of the
  animals, the remainder going to the king, the priests and the temple staff.
  Sacrifices were in a different category. These were actually made
  on special altars or on the roof of the temple, by a qualified priest
  who
  cut
  the animal's
  throat while
  reciting an
  incantation,
  the
  welling blood itself being a libation. Other forms of libation are
  frequently represented in Sumerian
  art, the wine or other liquid
  being poured over an altar, on to the ground or over an animal or
  plant. Saggs writes:
  The incense-burner was a very common feature of the temple ritual, and
  the burning of aromatic woods could be applied either as a purification rite
  or as a service to the deity, for the gods delighted in sweet odours.
  Something more
  is to be learnt from the names of priests who
  performed special parts of the ceremonies. Some were concerned
  especially with incantations, and there were exorcists whose task
  involved the playing of music. Others
  dealt with washing and
  anointing rituals. Finally, in a more important category, were the
  Baru
  priests,
  specialists
  in omen
  interpretation, who
  greatly
  influenced pohtical decisions.
  It can well be understood that the
  requirements of these varied religious performances are reflected in
  the planning and installations of the buildings where they took
  place.
  Pottery and Small Objects
  At each of the levels at Eridu so far mentioned (XVI-VI) pottery
  was
  plentiful. The gradual transformation of the
  early
  'Eridu'
  designs into those associated elsewhere with Al 'Ubaid proved to be
  separable
  into
  four
  distinct
  phases,
  which
  also
  conveniently
  44
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  m m
  corresponded
  to
  the major
  changes
  in
  architectural
  planning,
  recognized throughout the series of rebuildings. From 'virgin soil'
  to
  level XV
  the
  early
  'Eridu'
  pottery
  could
  be
  seen
  to
  be
  predominant,
  'a
  fine monochrome,
  usually
  chocolate-coloured
  painted ware, decorated with small-scale rectilinear patterns'. This
  coincides
  in
  time
  with
  the
  modest
  building
  activities
  which
  culminated in the level XVI chapel, and has been designated 'phase
  i'. A second phase accounted for levels XIV-XII above, where no
  architecture was found, and it was distinguished by the intrusion of
  an
  alien
  pottery,
  whose
  peculiar
  'wickerwork'
  patterns
  had
  previously been found at a riverside site called Hajji Muhammad,
  near Warka.^" 'Phases
  3 and 4' corresponded to earlier and later
  stages
  in
  the development of the conventional 'Ubaid
  culture,
  which reached its peak at the time of Temples VII and VI, and it is
  in this stage at Eridu that a new and rich source ofevidence becomes
  available.
  The Cemetery
  Fifty metres outside the stone retaining wall, on the southwest side
  of the raised temple-precinct,
  a cemetery was found containing
  perhaps 1000 graves of the late 'Ubaid period; some 200 of these
  were excavated. The burials were made in rectangular shafts, lined
  13
  Shapes and patterns
  characteristic of 'Ubaid painted
  pottery in its latest phase
  C'Ubaid 4'). At this period the
  'Ubaidian culture seems to have
  spread northwestwards as far as
  Syria and Cilicia. (After Lloyd
  and Safar, JN£S, 1923)
  12
  13
  45
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  14 Typical small objects and
  sherds with figured designs from
  an "Ubaid 4' settlement (Tell
  'Uqair). The former include
  sickles, wall-nails, net-weights
  and socketed axes (all of baked
  clay), polished celts, a hammer
  and digging stones
  Opposite
  15, 16 Baked-clay figurines from
  'Ubaidian graves at Ur (female)
  and Eridu (male). The 'coffee-
  bean eyes', conical headdress and
  shoulder ornament (tattoo ?) are
  widespread conventions at this
  and earher periods (cf
  ill. 45)
  with mud-brick, and their position must have been marked on the
  surface, since a secondary interment was often made in the same
  shaft as the first. The body of a dog was occasionally laid across the
  grave of its master.
  The Eridu cemetery, which may be dated to the first half of the
  4th
  millennium
  bc,
  represents
  a
  fairly advanced
  stage
  in
  the
  development of funerary practices. As we shall presently see, earlier
  sites have been found where burials are concentrated in particular
  areas, often in the vicinity ofholy places. But here, for the first time,
  the number and uniformity of the graves create the impression of a
  genuine necropolis. The location chosen at Eridu seems to have
  been just outside the 'Ubaidian settlement and its temple precinct.
  No corresponding graveyard ofany later period has yet been found
  there, though early excavators at this site, having come upon small
  deposits of votive pottery within the raised precinct of the Uruk
  period,
  did
  mistake them
  for human
  burials
  (with
  the bones
  missing). At Ur, WooUey found a dozen or so 'Ubaid burials in the
  area which later became the 'Royal Cemetery' - once more, likely
  to have been just outside the contemporary temple precinct. He
  observed that, as at Eridu, 'the body was placed on its back, fully
  extended with its arms by its side or slightly bent so that the hands
  could be folded across the pelvis', and he comments that 'this was an
  attitude peculiar to the 'Ubaid people, never to be adopted by any
  of the subsequent inhabitants of Sumer'. Woolley also recorded the
  fact that,
  In two graves, the upper part of the body was covered with a fine red
  powder, and in one case there lay by the head a lump of red haematite
  paint. Whether the bodies had been painted it was impossible to say; but
  46
  
  there was no doubt that the powder was the same
  as the paint in the
  lump.
  .
  .
  .
  It is interesting that a similar phenomenon was observed in our own
  cemetery at Eridu. Almost
  all the bones were pigmented with a
  dark orange colour. But as this applied equally to the bodies of dogs
  - and even in one case to a meat-bone laid beside the mouth of the
  dog - we are inclined to discount the possibility of a deliberate or
  ritual pigmentation with ochre, and to attribute the colour to some
  chemical action of the soil.
  The
  contents of these
  burials
  included
  a
  rare
  collection
  of
  complete painted pots, matching very closely the contemporary
  sherds collected from the temple sounding (levels VI and VII). The
  shapes, painted designs and technical peculiarities of'Ubaid pottery
  at this time are of considerable archaeological importance, because
  the 'Ubaid culture extended
  itself, now or later, far beyond the
  frontiers of Mesopotamia to the east and northwest.
  It
  is a hand-
  made ware and
  its curvilinear or other designs are freely painted
  with a soft brush, usually in black or dark brown. Foliate patterns
  often occur and occasionally there are stylized figures of animals or
  birds. At Eridu, the paint is generally applied over a buff or cream-
  coloured
  slip. Elsewhere the
  slip
  is more often omitted and the
  vessel fired at so high a temperature that the clay acquires a dark
  green colour with the black paint biting deeply into it. The fact that
  such vessels frequently suffer from over-baking, almost to the point
  of vitrification, and are often deformed in the process, suggests that
  these 'Ubaid potters had very little control over their kilns.
  The fragmentary vessels found in Woolley's 'reed huts'
  at Al
  'Ubaid itself were in other ways poorly made and seem now to
  have represented a decadent phase immediately preceding the end
  of the 'Ubaid period. They, like some examples from level VI at
  Eridu, show signs of being made on a 'tournette', or hand-turned
  wheel,
  thus
  anticipating
  the wheel-made pottery of the Uruk
  period. ^
  '
  Surface finds suggest that a deeper penetration would
  have encountered earlier 'Ubaid occupations.
  Objects other than pottery, found to be
  characteristic of the
  'Ubaid period, also have an interest of their own. First and foremost
  are the painted terracotta figurines, described as 'mother-goddesses'
  until a male counterpart was found in a woman's tomb at Eridu.
  Their
  'lizard-shaped'
  heads
  and
  bitumen
  headdresses,
  which
  created
  so much
  interest when examples were
  first found by
  Woolley, can today be recognized as a convention widely accepted
  in the cult-imagery of the prehistoric Near East. Some earlier stages
  in the evolution of their design are discussed below in connection
  with finds made at sites in northern Iraq. In another category are the
  implements made of baked clay, such as sickles and shaft-hole axes,
  whose manufacture must have been made practicable by the high
  temperatures
  attained
  in
  kilns
  of that
  time
  (the
  sickles
  were
  evidently baked in bundles for they are often found adhering to
  each other in a vitrified mass). In this class also are the large clay nails
  with bent-back points, used as we think for fixing reed matting to
  the face of a mud-brick wall. For the rest there are simple artifacts,
  such
  as
  flint knives and hoes or bone implements with bitumen
  handles, which could belong to any other pre-dynastic phase.
  47
  
  UrGate
  The Uruk Period
  17
  Site-plan of the city of
  Uruk/Warka, showing the Anu
  and Eanna precincts in which
  ProtoHterate temples were
  found. The huge buildings, Bit
  Resh and Irigal, are temples built
  at the time when the site was
  reoccupied during the Seleucid
  Dynasty (331-329 bc). The
  outUne of the city may have
  been much the same at the time
  of Gilgamesh. (From Hawkes,
  1974)
  Warka
  The most copious source of information about this period has been
  the work of German
  archaeologists, whose excavations
  at
  the
  name-site have been carried on intermittently for almost half a
  century, more recently under the direction of H.J. Lenzen. Uruk,
  whose modern name
  is Warka,
  is
  also
  the
  'Erech' of the Old
  Testament. In Sumerian literature it is associated with the name of
  Gilgamesh, one of the earliest dynastic rulers credited today with
  having been an
  actual
  historical
  character. But already
  in pre-
  dynastic times the city is thought to have had an area of some 200
  acres, about one third of which was covered with temples and other
  48
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  public buildings. Soundings in widely separated parts of the
  site
  have suggested that even in the 'Ubaid period the settlement had
  attained an impressive size. In the famous epic of which Gilgamesh
  was the hero, it is said of him that: 'In Uruk he built walls, a great
  rampart and
  the temple of blessed
  Eanna
  for
  the god of the
  firmament Anu, and for Ishtar the goddess of love'. Sure enough,
  when the Germans came to excavate the temple area in the centre of
  the
  city, they found
  their work concentrated on two primary
  building
  complexes, which
  they named
  respectively
  the 'Anu
  Ziggurat'
  and
  the
  'Eanna
  Precinct'.
  It
  was
  greatly
  t6
  their
  advantage
  that,
  in both
  cases,
  ruins of the pre-dynastic period
  proved to be accessible at no great depth beneath the surface of the
  mound.
  17
  The Anu Area
  The earliest discoveries in the Anu area are easier to understand
  today than they were when first made. The building called by its
  excavators
  the
  'White
  Temple',
  whose
  walls,
  painted
  white
  outside,
  appeared
  standing
  upon
  an
  irregular-shaped
  brick
  platform, was in fact no more than a late reconstruction of a shrine
  very much like that at Eridu, in that its origins could, as we now
  know, be traced back far into the 'Ubaid period.^- Nevertheless,
  the planning and arrangement of this final rebuilding, dating from
  thejemdet Nasr period (3200-2900 bc), are of special interest, in
  that
  all the main
  characteristics of the 'Ubaid temples
  are
  still
  preserved. Only the area of its platform
  is greatly increased.
  Its
  panelled facades slope inwards at a slight angle and it is approached
  by an impressive triple stairway. Since no 'platform temple' of a
  later period than this has survived, we shall presently see that
  it
  gains significance as a prototype of the Sumerian ziggurat.
  Fifty metres or so to the east of the White Temple were the outer
  walls of the Eanna Precinct, a broad area of courtyards and terraces
  surrounding a true ziggurat, dedicated to the goddess Inanna and
  repeatedly rebuilt in historical times.
  It was early discovered that
  this monumental layout had replaced a more ancient complex of
  religious buildings, dating from the final phases of the pre-dynastic
  period. We have already seen how the Germans, by means of a
  'pilot' sounding in the middle of this area, were able tentatively to
  construct a chronological sequence for these 'archaic' buildings and
  to relate them stratigraphically with occupation-levels of an earlier
  period
  beneath.
  During
  the
  years
  that
  followed,
  the
  Eanna
  excavation was widely extended and
  the
  full
  attention of the
  excavators was devoted to the task of disentangling their plans.
  The problem which this presented can well be imagined if it
  is
  realized that such buildings were constructed almost exclusively of
  perishable mud brick. In the end the excavators were faced with
  half-a-dozen
  temples, complete with
  their various appendages,
  founded, extended, destroyed, rebuilt and generally overlapping
  each other, the stumps of their walls often standing no more than a
  few inches high. If one remembers that the shape and direction of
  these walls could only be determined by patiently articulating each
  individual brick, one cannot but regard the clearance of Eanna as a
  major accomplishment of archaeological technology.
  18 A 'cut-open' reconstruction
  of the 'White Temple' at Warka,
  standing on its high platform
  known to the excavators as the
  'Anu Ziggurat'. Beneath it they
  found traces of earher temples
  going back in date to the 'Ubaid
  period. (From Leacroft, 1974)
  49
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  ;'Mv.^MAV,\
  AOVhU tAn
  i'jY
  *^
  .-r^aili
  19 A German architect's
  reconstruction of the 'Pillar Hall'
  at Warka ('Uruk IVc',
  c. 3200
  Bc).
  Its brick columns, half-
  columns and walls are entirely
  covered with coloured cone-
  mosaic in geometrical patterns.
  Between the central stairways, a
  miniature temple is represented.
  (I. Mackenzie-Kerr after
  Heinrich, 1932)
  20
  The Eanna Precinct
  It would be impossible here to describe each individual building in
  this
  section
  of
  the Warka
  excavations,
  or
  to
  appraise
  the
  reconstructions of their plans, some ofv^hich have been ingeniously
  made from exiguous surviving fragments.
  Buildings of special
  interest are not however difficult to select. One of these - better
  preserved than most- is the so-called 'Pillar Hall' (level IVc), which
  provided
  the
  first
  in
  situ example of the
  'cone-mosaic'
  facade
  ornament, so characteristic of the period.
  It takes the form of a
  gigantic portico, 30 m wide, comprising a double row of circular,
  free-standing columns, 2 m in diameter, with corresponding half-
  columns at either end. This is approached at a lower level through a
  long rectangular courtyard. The lateral walls of the courtyard too
  are faced with contiguous half-columns, and from it the colonnade
  is approached by three separate stairways. The entire surface of
  columns
  and
  side-walls
  alike
  is
  decorated
  with
  a
  mosaic
  of
  terracotta cones,
  thrust into
  a bed of clay,
  their coloured ends
  forming
  a
  variety
  of
  geometrical
  patterns.
  This
  remarkable
  architectural composition appears to have created a monumental
  approach to some building beyond, either uncompleted or totally
  destroyed. The face ofthe double stairway in the centre is decorated
  to resemble in miniature the facade of a building, also ornamented
  with mosaics.
  Cone-mosaic ornament is again more sparingly used on the walls
  of actual temples built at this period. Their plans seem to adhere to
  two quite different conventions. One of these is represented by the
  standard 'tripartite' form, with which we have become familiar at
  Eridu and again in the White Temple. The second type of plan is a
  complete innovation, having transepts opening off the sanctuary at
  one end, with a doorway between them leading to a separate cella
  on the main axis. The finest individual example of this type is to be
  seen
  in
  the
  restored plan of Temple D
  in
  level
  IVa.
  Its very
  dimensions (80 x 55 m) make
  this building remarkable, while its
  planning
  (if the excavator's restoration may be accepted)
  is an
  astonishing tour deforce. The great T-shaped sanctuary
  is entered
  through its transepts and surrounded by lateral chambers on all four
  sides. The outer facades are decorated with elaborate chasing and,
  on the two longer faces, ornamental niches deeply recessed in the
  50
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  facades
  alternate with stairway chambers, some
  accessible from
  outside. In another example (Temple C) in the same level, a simpler
  plan of the same sort is extended at the cella end to include a second,
  'tripartite' element, corresponding exactly in shape and dimensions
  to the White Temple, as though the building in some way fulfilled
  a double function.
  We shall presently learn that the T-shaped or 'cruciform' sanctu-
  ary, as a feature of temple planning,
  is not restricted to southern
  Mesopotamia. Many interesting examples of the same arrangement
  have more recently been found at sites in north or east Iraq as well
  as in north
  Syria. Some appear to be contemporary with those
  just
  described,
  others
  to
  belong
  to
  an
  even
  earlier
  date
  (see
  Postscript).
  One other building of interest - though of doubtful purpose -
  was the awkwardly named 'Stone Cone Mosaic' temple, built on
  an isolated site to the west of the main Eanna grouping and assigned
  in date also to level IV. Enigmatically planned,
  it was surrounded
  by a curious, doubly-buttressed protective wall, whose inner face,
  like the facades of the building
  itself, had been decorated with a
  mosaic of cones, in this case shaped out of coloured stone. Stone
  cones of this sort have been the subject of much speculation, since
  they appear in considerable quantities, displaced from their original
  setting, at Eridu, Al 'Ubaid and elsewhere. They have at times been
  thought of as
  a more primitive form of ornament,
  for which
  terracotta cones were
  later
  substituted,
  in
  the
  cause of greater
  economy. This seems probable,
  if one considers the variety and
  20
  Plans, reliably reconstructed,
  of Temples C and D in the
  Eanna Precinct at Warka (level
  IVa,
  c. 3100 BC). In these two
  buildings the T-shaped sanctuary
  is an innovation, elsewhere
  found only in northern
  Mesopotamia. Annexed to
  Temple C is a smaller unit,
  resembling the White Temple.
  These buildings, the largest of
  which measures 80 x 55 m,
  emphasize the precocious
  ingenuity of Protoliterate
  architects. (After Lenzen, 1949)
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  21
  Architectural components of
  a Late Uruk period temple
  ('Uqair)
  : prismatic bricks
  (riemchen) of clay or gypsum,
  elements of cone-mosaic fa(;:ade
  ornament, rain-water spout and
  round pedestals of unknown
  purpose
  elaboration of such ornament towards the end of the Uruk period.
  In some cases, for instance, hollow-ended terracotta cones, up to
  30.5 cm in length, formed an ornamental band around the parapet
  of a temple platform, while in a late building at Eridu similar cones
  of gypsum were used, their heads sheathed in copper. Sometimes
  also,
  figured ornament
  carved on
  small
  plaques
  of stone was
  incorporated in the pattern of the mosaic and other devices were
  used to enliven
  it.
  Tell 'Uqair
  At many sites in lower Mesopotamia, a scatter of these small mosaic
  components appears on the surface, and can be recognized
  as
  a
  reliable testimony to the occupation of such sites during the Uruk
  period. One site discovered in this way was Tell 'Uqair, about 50
  miles due south of modern Baghdad, excavated by archaeologists
  from the Iraq Museum, led by F. Safar and S. Lloyd, in 1940-1.^^
  On the outer edge of a characteristic 'Ubaid settlement, a slightly
  higher mound covered the remains of an Uruk-period temple,
  with a well-preserved platform and some parts of the walls
  still
  22
  standing
  several
  metres
  high. The
  plan
  in
  this
  case
  • precisely
  matched
  that of the White Temple
  at Uruk,
  except
  that
  the
  ceremonial doorways at one end of the sanctuary were replaced by
  a high altar on the main axis, approached by a miniature flight of
  steps.
  It was, however, through one of the lateral doors that the
  excavators were (for once) able to enter the building, and
  it was
  then immediately discovered that the whole of the internal wall-
  faces were covered with mural paintings
  in
  several
  colours. A
  'dado'
  of wine-coloured
  paint was surmounted by
  a band of
  geometrical ornament, and above this there was a frieze of human
  and animal figures, of which only the lower parts had survived.
  Better preserved was the decoration on the faces of the main altar,
  which, like the central stairway in the 'Pillar Hall'
  at Uruk, was
  painted
  to
  represent
  the facade of a miniature temple with
  its
  vertical panels of mosaic. On the sides facing the steps, guardian
  2j
  figures of two spotted leopards were represented in red and black
  52
  
  22
  Surviving walls and platform
  of the Late Uruk period temple
  at Tell 'Uqair. Wall-paintings
  in the sanctuary are being
  recorded. In the foreground are
  remnants of the ground-level
  chapel of thejemdet Nasr
  period, where archaic tablets
  were found
  23
  Painted leopard, forming part
  of the altar decoration in the
  sanctuary of the Late Uruk
  period temple at Tell 'Uqair
  53
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  paint. Apart from the lime-washed facade which had given the
  White Temple at Uruk its name, and a 'Red Temple' in the Eanna
  Precinct, ofwhich only a few courses remained standing, this mural
  painting at 'Uqair was the only example known in a building of the
  pre-dynastic period, and
  it continues to be remarkable for that
  reason.
  The Painted Temple at 'Uqair has been provisionally dated to
  the fmal phase of the Uruk period (c. 3250 bc). Again like the White
  Temple, its chambers had been packed solid with rather large mud
  bricks to create a higher platform, on which the shrine could once
  more be rebuilt on a more ambitious scale. The date at which this
  took place could not of course be ascertained, but a discovery at the
  foot of the platform afforded some indication. Here was a small
  subsidiary chapel, packed with the remains of ex-voto
  vessels:
  a
  collection ofJemdet Nasr pottery, fmer in quality than any found at
  the name-site itself. Here, furthermore, chronological evidence of
  the most reliable sort was provided by the discovery of four clay
  tablets, which seemed
  to
  be items from
  the temple
  accounts,
  inscribed with the pictographic signs typical of the Jemdet Nasr
  period.
  Apart from the ground-plans and wall-ornament of the temples
  hitherto described, something more can be gathered about their
  general
  appearance
  from
  the
  representations
  of
  architecture
  sometimes
  to be found on Sumerian
  cylinder-seals and carved
  reliefs. 3^ High up
  in the space between
  their
  lateral
  buttresses,
  triangular windows - either real or ornamental - are often shown.
  But, where internal lighting
  is concerned, they leave little doubt
  that the walls of the central sanctuary rose higher than those of the
  subsidiary
  chambers,
  and
  that
  accordingly
  space was
  left
  for
  clerestory windows. In the case of the great temples of the Eanna
  Precinct,
  it has sometimes been doubted whether their sanctuaries
  could ever have been roofed at all. Today, however, most authorities
  are agreed that suitable timber could probably have been obtained
  by river transport.
  Buildings of the Jemdet Nasr Period
  Warka
  We should now remind ourselves of the proposal made in 1942,
  that the 'Late Uruk period', to which the most impressive buildings
  in the Eanna Precinct belong, should be combined chronologically
  with the Jemdet Nasr period to create a new major phase called
  'Protohterate'.
  Clearly,
  if
  this
  is
  accepted,
  no
  discussion
  of
  Protoliterate architecture would be complete without some further
  reference to buildings of Jemdet Nasr times. So
  far, only one of
  these has been mentioned at Uruk itself, namely the fmal rebuilding
  of the White Temple; and we should next perhaps
  glance
  at
  contemporary developments in the Eanna Precinct during
  that
  period. Here, the great temples of Uruk IV were now in ruins and
  their
  sites covered with the confused remains of courtyards and
  terraces, whose walls were occasionally enriched with panels of
  mosaic ornament. One
  curious
  feature of this layout was
  the
  frequent
  appearance
  of
  installations
  called
  by
  the
  Germans
  54
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  opferstdtten. These were long plastered troughs, evidently used for
  incinerating the remnants of sacrificial offerings in the form of
  animals, birds or fish. Sometimes they were laid out in orderly rows
  and showed signs of having been re-used many times. They have
  occasionally been recognized at sites other than Uruk at about this
  same period. ^^
  One actual building, dedicated to some ritual purpose of the
  same sort, was the so-called Riemchengebdude,^^ whose foundations
  were dug down into the ruins of the earlier 'Stone-Cone-Mosaic'
  temple on
  the
  west
  periphery
  of the
  Precinct.
  Its
  innermost
  chamber,
  to which
  there was no apparent
  access, was
  entirely
  surrounded
  by
  a
  corridor,
  showing
  signs
  of some
  violent
  conflagration. Within the building, disposed in great confusion as
  though discarded intentionally, was
  a rich collection of objects,
  including 'hundreds of pottery and stone vases, alabaster bowls,
  copper vessels, clay cones, gold leaf and nails with heads covered in
  gold
  leaf,
  weapons,
  animal bones and broken components of
  furniture'. All this was taken by the excavators to imply the ritual
  destruction of fittings and sanctified objects belonging to some
  earlier building which had to be demolished.
  Khafaje
  A great deal more, well-published information about the Jemdet
  Nasr period was obtained from the earliest remains of the so-called
  'Sin Temple', dedicated to the moon-god of that name, excavated
  by Americans in the 1930s at Khafaje in the Diyala region, east of
  modern Baghdad. ^ ^ This little shrine was a ground-level building,
  yet
  its plan closely approximated to that of the White Temple.
  Only the ceremonial doorways at the ends of its sanctuary were
  missing.
  Its five earliest building-levels
  all
  fall within the period
  with which we are concerned, and something will be said about
  their contents if we now discuss aspects of the Protoliterate period,
  other than architecture.
  The Protoliterate Period
  The First Writing
  Having now watched the crescendo of architectural activity and
  invention which marked the course of the Protoliterate period, we
  are able to infer the strength of religious belief by which
  it was
  inspired. From buildings alone, however, little can be learnt about
  the detailed anatomy of Sumerian religion, or about the
  social
  background
  against
  which
  it
  had
  been
  conceived.
  Further
  information on this subject was of course to be revealed in due
  course by the written records oflater times
  ; but for the moment the
  elementary forms
  in which
  writing was
  available
  limited
  the
  contribution which could be expected from this source. ^^
  The earliest tablets as yet discovered come from level IV at Uruk
  and use a pictographic script, recognizable as the ancestor of the
  24
  later cuneiform. ^ 9 The degree of competence which it had already
  attained
  suggests
  that
  earlier
  stages
  in
  its
  development may
  eventually be recognized elsewhere, perhaps in levels correspond-
  55
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  24 Reverse side of a pictographic
  tablet from Jemdet Nasr
  [c. 3000
  BC), giving a list of commodities.
  Such tablets v^^ere at first written
  in vertical columns, starting top
  right; later they were turned
  ninety degrees, anticlockwise, to
  read horizontally, left to right
  ing
  to
  Uruk V
  and
  VI
  (which
  have
  for
  that
  reason
  been
  provisionally included in the Protoliteratc period). ^^'' Regarding
  the language for which this script provided a vehicle, the first texts
  demonstrably written
  in Sumerian are found in
  a Jemdet Nasr
  setting.
  Since, however, some authorities have been tempted to
  conclude that an 'ethnic substructure', in part Semitic, may have
  existed in Sumer previous to an (hypothetical) immigration of true
  Sumerians, they would claim
  that
  a
  different language may be
  expressed in the texts dated to Uruk IV. Speculations of this sort
  form
  a
  part
  of the
  long-standing
  debate on
  the problem
  of
  Sumerian origins (see below).
  Some signs used in the Protoliteratc script have a recognizable
  equivalent in the developed cuneiform of later times, and their
  meaning
  is accordingly known. Animals such as sheep and goats,
  cattle and donkeys could all have been expected. Words connected
  with fishing and hunting also occur, while commerce is implied by
  the names of merchants. Pottery techniques themselves confirm
  that the wheel was known, and a 'sledge' mounted on wheels could
  become
  a
  'chariot'.
  Other
  signs
  suggest metal
  objects, one of
  which,
  the shaft-hole axe,
  is made in
  a closed mould. Like the
  copper sheathing of mosaic cones already mentioned, this would
  suggest an improved understanding of metallurgy. In a different
  sphere,
  it
  is significant that, although such words occur as 'elder'
  and 'council', the concept of a 'king' seems
  still unfamiliar. Such
  rudimentary scraps of information are fortunately supplemented
  by the subjects depicted in sculpture and designs in relief carving.
  Sculpture
  In sculpture surviving from the Protoliteratc period,
  the scenes
  depicted are predominantly religious. At
  this point,
  therefore,
  a
  56
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  digression may not be out of place regarding the character and
  composition of the Sumerian pantheon.
  From the earhest written formulations of rehgious
  belief, the
  names
  of
  three
  male
  gods,
  Anu,
  Enlil
  and
  Enki
  emerge
  as
  dominating
  figures. Anu,
  the sky-god, whose temple we have
  noticed at Uruk, was originally recognized as the highest power in
  the universe and sovereign of all
  the
  gods.
  Later
  in Sumerian
  history, he seems to have been replaced in this capacity,
  first by
  Enlil, patron god of Nippur and secondly by Marduk,
  tutelary
  deity of Babylon. Enki.of Eridu was in a class by himself as god of
  wisdom
  and
  learning.
  Generally
  speaking,
  though
  the whole
  country worshipped
  a common pantheon, each individual
  city
  retained its own patron god and its own set of legends. For the rest,
  in the words of George Roux,
  The heavens were populated with hundreds of supremely powerful, man-
  like beings, and each of these gods was assigned to a particular task or a
  particular sphere of activity. One god for instance might have charge of the
  sky, another of the air, a third of the sweet waters, and so forth, down to
  humbler
  deities responsible
  for the plough,
  the
  brick,
  the
  flint or
  the
  pickaxe.
  These gods had the physical appearance as well as all the qualities
  and defects of human beings.
  'In brief, as Roux concludes, 'they
  represented
  the
  best
  and
  the
  worst
  of human
  nature
  on
  a
  superhuman scale'. "^^
  Examples of those associated with particular cities, who became
  also the object of a general cult, include the moon-god, Nanna (Sin)
  ofUr and his son, the sun-god Utu (Shamash) of Sippar and Larsa;
  Ninurta, the warrior-god; Nin-khursag (Nintu), mother and wife
  of Enlil; Inanna (Ishtar), goddess of love and her husband Dumuzi
  (Tammuz). Inanna
  is of course
  the Great Mother, worshipped
  throughout the land, to whom the Eanna precinct
  at Uruk was
  dedicated:
  a female principle of creativity,
  expressing godhead
  through fecundity. As for Dumuzi, Roux points out that, though
  undoubtedly associated in the Sumerian mind with productivity in
  the vegetable and animal world, so that his union with Inanna must
  symbolize fertility, the theory which long associated him with the
  'dying and resurrected' god of Frazer's The Golden Bough has more
  recently been rejected. Other minor gods and goddesses are too
  numerous to mention.
  A well-known stone vase from Warka, 90 cm high, has three
  23
  registers of figures very finely carved in relief. Above, the goddess
  Inanna appears in front of two reed bundles terminating in loops
  26
  and streamers, which are her perpetual symbol, and a ritually naked
  priest offers her a basket of fruit. Behind this the relief is damaged,
  but a small fragment remains of a figure which may well be that of a
  'king'
  or
  leader, and an attendant supports
  the
  tasselled
  girdle
  which he is perhaps about to present. Inanna is supported by minor
  deities, mounted on model temples and appropriate beasts, with
  other symbols including a pair of vases like that on which they are
  carved. In the second register, naked priests bring further offerings
  and in the third, beasts and plants represent her two 'kingdoms'.
  Another sacred symbol present here,
  is the stylized rosette with
  57
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  25, 26 {Above left)
  Sculptured
  vase of alabaster, found in a
  Jemdet Nasr setting at Warka
  (c.
  3000 BC). In the upper register,
  the 'king' figure is missing, but a
  servant is seen supporting his
  heavy girdle (perhaps an
  offering? Cf.
  ill. 28, third row
  down). The reverse side {above
  right), repaired in antiquity,
  shows the goddess Inanna, to
  whom offerings are being
  brought by a procession of
  priests, extended over the second
  register. Ht of vase, 90 cm
  eight petals. Again, on the sculptured sides of a stone trough in the
  British Museum, sheep and rams from the 'sacred herd' return to
  her temple, here represented as
  a marsh-dweller's reed building,
  and from
  it their lambs emerge to meet them. This also
  is a scene
  perpetually repeated, for example on the faces of a stone bowl from
  Khafaje,
  where
  cattle
  replace
  sheep,
  and much
  later
  in
  an
  architectural relief from the Early Dynastic temple at Al 'Ubaid.
  Secular subjects are less common. There is the fragmentary stela
  of black granite from Warka, carved with difficulty, to show two
  scenes in which the same 'king' figure hunts lions; and there is the
  extraordinary life-size head in limestone, found in a Jemdet Nasr
  setting, but dated stylistically to Uruk IV.
  It is only a component
  part of a composite figure, the remainder of which could have been
  made from other materials such as wood and bitumen. The eye and
  eyebrow inlays are missing, as is the metal-foil covering of the hair.
  With these restored, the head looks a little outlandish
  ; but the bare
  stone mask, as found,
  is strikingly beautiful. Animals carved in the
  round - a couchant ram from Warka and a wild boar from Ur -
  seem
  to
  have
  been
  ornaments
  attached
  by
  metal
  to
  larger
  contrivances, while stone vases also are sometimes decorated with
  animals - lions or bulls - carved partly in the round and partly in
  58
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  relief. Dating from the Jemdet Nasr period
  at Warka, there are
  crudely carved 'king' figures, foreshadowing the ex-voto 'personal'
  statues of Early Dynastic times. Nearer
  still to
  these
  is
  a
  single
  votive statue of a woman from Khafaje. Of the same period are jars
  of animal form with an opening on top, usually of dark-coloured
  stone. These are often decorated with coloured inlays in geometrical
  patterns.
  Cylinder-seals
  Another innovation which runs parallel to the pictographiC'Writing
  of Protoliterate
  times
  is
  the
  cyhnder-seal,
  a
  device
  used
  for
  establishing ownership or recording an agreement. These small
  objects of stone or shell, pierced through the centre for suspension,
  were
  delicately carved on
  their curved
  sides with
  a variety of
  devices or designs, to create a tiny frieze of ornament when rolled
  over soft clay.
  "^
  ' They have been found in great numbers and their
  impressions on tablets or clay jar-stoppers are even more plentiful.
  The cylinder-seal is a device which makes its first appearance in
  levels V and IV at Uruk.
  "^ ^ In the examples dating from this period,
  therefore, we should expect to see the Sumerian craftsman's first,
  and perhaps awkward, experiments in an extremely difficult form
  of carving. On the contrary, though it is clear that he had not yet
  completely mastered the intricacies of repetitive design, the variety
  of his
  subjects and
  the ingenuity of their decorative treatment
  testify to an achievement seldom rivalled during the centuries that
  followed. Already his work has the quality of relief carving, rather
  than mere linear drawing, as is shown by the vigorous modelling
  and articulation of the individual figures. "^^^
  The pictorial themes and mythical symbols contributing to the
  composition of these designs have been the subject of much study
  and are today partly understood. Most evident in the religious
  scenes
  is the invocation of two deities never personally depicted,
  but symbolized by ideograms implying their attributes. There is a
  god who, like the biblical Tammuz, personifies the generative force
  in nature, graphically represented by certain animals and plants.
  Other symbols of the god include an eagle, sometimes lion-headed,
  and a snake. Equally prominent is Inanna, whose curiously shaped
  emblem
  (identified by some
  as
  the
  'gatepost'
  of
  a
  reed-built
  temple), afterwards became her name-sign in pictographic writing.
  A decorative combination of these symbols alone can provide the
  subject of a seal design. Alternatively, when the performance of
  some religious ritual - sacrifice or oblation - is portrayed, human
  figures
  appear. A
  bearded man
  with
  diadem
  and
  'chignon',
  wearing a long folded skirt and attended by a naked or kilted priest,
  can be identified as a 'king'. He brings ritual objects to a reed-built
  28
  27 Carved alabaster trough in
  the British Museum, of the
  Protohterate period. Animals of
  Inanna's 'sacred herd' beside a
  reed-built byre, surmounted by
  her 'doorpost' symbols. Ht
  20 cm
  59
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  _\ N
  ^'r -
  28
  Cylinder-seals of the Uruk
  period. The 'king' figure
  appears, feeding Inanna's beasts
  or facing her portable shrine on a
  reed boat. Priests bring
  ceremonial gifts (one of them by
  boat) to a reed-built temple with
  unidentified 'ring-pillar'
  symbols. Ibexes and other beasts
  provide alternative motifs
  29
  temple or presides over the ceremonial feeding of sacred
  cattle.
  Flocks and herds make frequent appearances and
  are defended
  against lions by such figures
  as the 'bull-man' and 'lion-headed
  eagle', familiar features of Sumerian imagery in later times. Game
  animals also appear
  : boars, stags, ibex and moufflon, and from their
  shapes
  heraldic
  patterns
  are composed
  to supplement
  the
  seal-
  cutters repertory of designs. Occasionally there are secular subjects,
  including the 'king' figure, either hunting or at war.
  Types of stone favoured by the seal-cutters are often of a sort
  unobtainable in Mesopotamia and suggest trade connections with
  neighbouring countries.
  During the Jemdet Nasr period, there was a slight deterioration
  in the care and precision with which seals were carved. The drill, for
  instance, which had previously been used sparingly and
  its effects
  when
  possible
  concealed, now
  became
  conspicuous
  and
  the
  modelling of animal figures declined in accomplishment. A new
  60
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  form of seal also appeared, longer in proportion to its diameter and
  entirely covered with sharply defmed geometric ornament.
  Pottery
  While tracing successive phases in the evolution of pre-dynastic
  culture, mention has frequently been made of pottery, stressing its
  significance
  as
  stratigraphical
  evidence.
  The
  pottery
  of
  the
  Protoliterate period is for the most part undecorated. Its technical
  peculiarities have been the subject ofmuch specialized study, which
  would not here be possible to summarize. One exception to this
  generalization however
  is the fme painted ware which appeared
  towards the end of the Jemdet Nasr period."*^ The commonest
  form of vessel decorated in this way
  is a stoutly proportioned jar,
  with a broad shoulder and rimmed neck. Geometric ornament in
  red and yellow
  is
  usually confmed
  to
  the shoulder, sometimes
  forming panels in which animals, foliage or even human figures
  appear. The remaining
  surface
  is covered "with plum-coloured
  paint, forming a glossy surface. This distinctive ware has provided a
  useful criterion for dating, when found in alien settings.
  30
  '//
  ;
  s
  29
  Cylinder-seals of the Jemdet
  Nasr period. In those with
  animal motifs (above), the quahty
  of the carving is impaired by the
  use of a bov^^-drill. The
  geometrical designs below are
  peculiar to this phase of seal-
  cutting
  61
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  30
  Painted pottery of the Jemdet
  Nasi period. Designs are in
  plum-red, yellow and black,
  mostly on the shoulders ofjars,
  and the vessels are given an
  attractive 'glossy' finish. (After
  Lloyd and Safar, 1943)
  Sumerian Antecedents
  Parallels
  between
  pottery
  of
  the
  pre-dynastic
  period
  in
  Mesopotamia
  and
  that
  of contemporary
  cultures
  in
  Iran
  and
  elsewhere will be discussed later under a separate heading; but the
  subject of early relations between Mesopotamia and Egypt may be
  mentioned here. In doing so, we are concerned less with pottery
  than with certain cultural developments, apparently shared at this
  time between the two great centres of incipient civilization. Several
  aspects of this subject have been ably examined by scholars in recent
  times. '^'^ One aspect
  is the influence of the earliest Mesopotamian
  brick temples on the design of pre-dynastic 'mastaba' architecture
  in Egypt. Another
  is the contention that hieroglyphic writing in
  Egypt was
  stimulated by
  a knowledge
  of Sumerian
  or
  pre-
  Sumerian experiments in the same field. This has today been made
  to seem less improbable by the discovery of pictographic writing,
  similar to that of Mesopotamia, in settings as remotely placed as
  Romania on the one hand, "^^ ^nd the frontiers of Baluchistan on the
  other. "^^
  But
  the
  most
  tangible
  evidence
  of communication
  between the two countries at such an early period is the discovery
  of Jemdet Nasr
  cylinder-seals
  in
  graves
  at Naqada
  in
  Egypt,
  indicating some form of trade connection, whose existence at that
  time still requires further investigation.
  Finally, we must return to the problem of Sumerian origins, which
  has in the past been the subject of so much deliberation among
  scholars. Here there has been a conspicuous conflict between the
  62
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  reasoning of philologists on the one hand and the conclusions of
  archaeologists on
  the
  other.
  Broadly,
  the problem
  arises from
  uncertainty regarding
  the
  exact point m
  the sequence of pre-
  dynastic 'periods' at which the inhabitants of lower Mesopotamia
  can
  rightly
  be
  called
  'Sumerians'.
  It
  has
  been
  said
  that
  'the
  innovations of the
  Protoliterate period
  established
  the
  identity
  which Mesopotamian
  civilization
  retained throughout
  its long
  history', and this was at one time accepted as a strong argument for
  the 'arrival' of the Sumerians at the beginning of that period. The
  epigraphists' contention to
  this effect
  is largely based on a single
  premise - namely
  that some of the older Mesopotamian
  cities
  mentioned in historical texts and founded before the Protoliterate
  period could be thought to have non-Sumerian names. This has
  been
  used
  to justify
  a whole
  tissue
  of speculation
  about
  the
  hypothetical
  migration
  of
  earlier,
  perhaps
  Semitic
  peoples
  throughout the Near
  East."^^ Archaeologists, on the other hand,
  point to the uncertainty of the original premise and to the absence
  of proof that these names were actually in use before the invention
  of writing.
  Finally,
  they
  are impressed by
  the overwhelming
  evidence for cultural continuity between the 'Ubaid and the Uruk
  periods. -^^
  The
  evidence
  alone
  for
  continuity
  of religious
  beliefs
  and
  practices to an archaeologist seem particularly convincing. Three
  sites
  already mentioned make
  impressive
  contributions
  to
  the
  argument. The sequences at Al 'Ubaid itself, Tell 'Uqair and Eridu
  start chronologically with a conventional 'Ubaid settlement and.
  I50m/
  300km
  SAUDI ARABIA
  . RIYADH
  3 1 Map showing the known
  distribution of Ubaidian sites in
  the Arabian Gulf.
  (S. Ebrahim
  after J. Oates, 1976)
  63
  
  The Threshold of Written History
  by analogy with Eridu, the two former may also be assumed to
  have had an 'Ubaid-period temple, frequently rebuilt. At these two
  sites, the settlements themselves were abandoned at a point in time
  corresponding to the end of the so-called 'Ubaid period. Not so,
  however,
  the temple which,
  like
  that
  at
  Eridu, was repeatedly
  rebuilt
  and
  enlarged
  throughout
  the
  Protoliterate
  period.
  At
  'Ubaid itself it was again rebuilt in Early Dynastic times and
  at
  Eridu its ruins were chosen as the site for a ziggurat by the Third
  Dynasty kings of Ur. One also observes that, both at 'Ubaid and at
  'Uqair, the old 'Ubaidian settlement mound was used as a cemetery
  by the Sumerians of Dynastic times.
  "^"^
  With this situation in mind, the substitution at any time of alien
  immigrants for the indigenous population becomes an improbable
  hypothesis.
  A fmal question remains, regarding the origmal provenance of
  the first settlers in southern Mesopotamia. Much interest has now
  been aroused by the discovery of a thriving enclave of 'Ubaidian
  3 1
  settlements along the southern shore of the Arabian Gulfand inland
  west of Bahrein. 5° Their earliest appearance in this quarter
  is
  at
  present dated
  to the middle phase of the 'Ubaid period. More
  recently,
  however,
  neutron
  activation
  evidence
  has
  become
  available, showing that the pottery in use by these settlers was in
  fact
  imported from
  Sumer,
  to
  which
  their
  relationship
  must
  accordingly have been
  that o{ colonists or
  traders.
  Speculation
  regarding an
  'earlier home' o{ the
  Ubaidian culture would thus
  appear to become increasingly pointless.
  64
  
  Chapter Four
  Pre-literate Peoples of Northern
  Mesopotamia
  During the previous chapter our attention has been concentrated
  on the results of excavations in the southern Mesopotamian plain,
  and on the evidence v^hich they produced of cultural developments
  during the pre-dynastic period. We must next turn to consider
  parallel researches v^hich had been taking place among the uplands
  ofnorthern Iraq, and examine the rather different sequence ofevents
  v^hich they revealed. In doing so, we shall find that our thread of
  association with the evolving civilization of the Sumerians may
  become
  increasingly
  tenuous,
  while
  cultural
  influences
  from
  beyond
  the
  frontiers of Mesopotamia correspondingly
  gain
  in
  importance. For this reason, the term 'pre-dynastic' will clearly no
  longer be appropriate and, for the period intervening between the
  Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, when the smelting of metal
  began to be understood, the name 'Chalcolithic' should perhaps be
  substituted, as has been usual in other countries of western Asia. ^
  ^
  Once more then in this case, it may be well to sketch the sequence
  of discoveries, before discussing in detail the succession of cultural
  phases which they have made it possible to establish.
  Table V
  Excavations in the North
  Arpachiyah
  In Assyria the initial investigation of prehistoric settlements was
  undertaken simultaneously by British and American archaeologists
  during the early 1930s. As a point-of-departure one would select
  the
  small
  site
  called
  Arpachiyah,
  4
  miles
  to
  the
  northeast
  of
  Nineveh, excavated by M. E. L. Mallowan in 1933.^^ Here on the
  surface Mallowan found a little village composed of rather poor
  huts built o£ pise clay. But he noticed that the pottery which they
  contained could be recognized as a northern variant of the 'Ubaid
  painted wares previously found in Babylonia. There was a wider
  variety in the colours used - brown, red and even purple paint
  being more common than black; but the designs and the shapes
  remained substantially the same. This was confirmed when, outside
  the
  village,
  a cemetery was found containing more than
  forty
  graves, containing many complete vessels, some ofthem unbroken.
  Also, in the houses themselves were found incised terracotta beads
  and bent clay nails, both generally characteristic of 'Ubaid sites in
  the
  south.
  Finally, Mallowan found one open-cast copper axe
  suggesting that, though still rare, copper was already in use side-by-
  side with the usual
  flint implements,
  as one would expect in
  a
  Chalcohthic setting.
  65
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  Table V Chronology for sites
  northern Mesopotamia
  BC
  2500
  l-Q
  3000
  3500
  4000
  4500
  5000
  6000
  SOUTHERN
  SEQUENCE
  Akkadian
  iiib
  ma
  Jemdet Nasr
  Late Uruk
  Early Uruk
  Late
  'Ubaid
  ®
  Late
  'Ubaid
  ®
  Hajyi
  Muhammad
  ®
  Endu
  GAWRA
  Gawra
  Period
  VIII-X
  XI-XII
  XIII
  Acropohs
  :2 xiv-xvi
  r}
  .D
  XVII-XIX
  Transition
  Halaf
  o
  NINEVEH
  Ninevite
  Five
  IV
  III
  GRAI RESH
  ii-iii
  IV
  VI-IX
  I
  HASSUNA
  'Ubaid
  Halaf
  . SamarraT
  t
  i
  Hassuna
  Camp-sites
  Umm
  Dabaghiyah
  BRAK
  Palace
  'Eye'
  Temple
  I
  ARPA-
  CHIYAH
  'Ubaid
  Houses
  and
  Graves
  I-IV
  VI-X
  Halaf
  Round
  Houses
  Jarmo
  Similar houses v^ere found in four successive building levels (1-4
  dov^n)
  ; but Mallow^an did not think that these represented more
  than five or six generations, because the graves in the cemetery did
  not overlap, suggesting that the positions of the oldest graves w^ere
  still remembered w^hen the latest ones v^ere dug.
  In level
  5
  the
  character of the pottery began
  to change, and throughout the
  remainder of his excavation (6-10), he found himself dealing w^ith
  an entirely different culture, characterized by a finely finished and
  brilliant w^are, painted for the most part in several colours. This
  pottery was already knov^n by the name 'Tell Halaf.
  It had first
  been found by the German excavator, Baron Max von Oppen-
  66
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  heim, before the First World War,
  at a site of that name on the
  Turko-Syrian frontier. But von Oppenheim had encountered
  it
  while excavating the great Iron Age palace of an Aramaean prince,
  in the city called Guzana - piles of painted potsherds, thrown out
  when the foundations of the palace were being dug - and he could
  find no indication of its age. At Arpachiyah it was for the first time
  found both accurately stratified and associated with contemporary
  architecture.
  More will need to be said later about this beautiful Halaf pottery,
  43-4
  on which the elaborate designs are executed in glossy paint with an
  overall
  burnish.
  Its
  character
  is
  sufficiently
  distinctive
  to have
  provided an invaluable dating criterion when found at the further
  extremities
  of
  its
  distribution
  in northern
  Syria and
  southern
  Anatolia. In the same sense,
  it is important to notice that it has no
  exact
  equivalent anywhere
  in
  southern Mesopotamia.
  At Ar-
  pachiyah also, the
  first examples were found of small objects in
  other categories - stylized cult-figurines of terracotta, stamp-seals
  with figured designs of men or animals and a variety of beads and
  amulets - all of which came soon to be considered representative of
  the 'Halaf period'. Yet the feature by which
  this
  site has been
  primarily remembered are the circular buildings, found in its deeper
  levels and known at the time by the Greek word 'tholoi'. Built of
  j6
  pise on
  stone
  foundations
  and
  apparently domed,
  they
  were
  sometimes
  approached
  through
  a
  rectangular
  ante-room
  or
  'dromos', thus increasing their resemblance to the 'bee-hive' tombs
  of a much later age at Mycenae.
  Tepe Gawra
  While
  Mallowan
  was
  excavating
  Arpachiyah,
  an
  American
  expedition had begun work on a much larger mound called Tepe
  Gawra, some miles to the northeast. ^ 3 As was usual in those days,
  the Americans were more liberally financed than the British, and
  their
  leader,
  E. A.
  Speiser,
  was
  consequently
  able
  to
  plan
  an
  excavation covering
  the whole summit of the Gawra mound.
  During
  the
  years
  that
  followed,
  therefore,
  its
  silhouette
  was
  dramatically changed, from an initial height of over 18 m to rather
  less
  than
  9 m. The shortcomings
  till
  then
  associated with
  the
  restricted area of stratigraphical soundings were thus eliminated
  and the exposure of the entire settlement made possible. During
  their
  earlier
  years,
  Speiser and
  his
  successors were engaged
  in
  clearing levels ofhabitation contemporary with the Sumerian cities
  in the south, or corresponding with the Protoliterate phase of the
  pre-dynastic period. The latter proved to represent a culture so
  distinctive in character that, for the time being it was referred to as
  the 'Gawra period' of northern Iraq. There were rich graves with
  gold
  jewellery;
  temples
  with
  curious,
  unfamiliar
  planning;
  strikingly carved amulets and everywhere evidence of the large-
  scale use of copper. These were some of the
  characteristics of
  Gawra, levels VIII to XI (down), which will presently be referred
  to
  at
  greater
  length,
  since Gawra
  serves
  as
  a
  key-site
  to
  the
  stratigraphy of northern Mesopotamia.
  It was not until the Arpachiyah excavations were over that the
  workers
  at Gawra began themselves
  to encounter Mallowan's
  67
  
  Pre-literate Peoples of Northern Mesopotamia
  32 Tepe Gawra, plan of the
  'acropolis' at level XIII
  (c. 3600
  BC), with its 'Ubaidian temples
  facing an open courtyard. The
  fragile wall construction
  is
  reminiscent of the ''Ubaid 3'
  temples at Eridu, levels XI-IX
  (cf.
  ill.
  10). There are no ritual
  installations in this case,
  a,
  northern temple; b, central
  temple;
  c, eastern shrine; dotted
  line indicates edge of mound.
  (S. Ebrahim after Tobler, 1950)
  'northern 'Ubaid' painted pottery. Here they were able to study its
  development over
  a
  period
  represented by no
  less
  than
  eight
  building-levels (XII to XIX), and to learn a great deal more about
  32
  it.
  It W2is in level XIII that the culture seemed to have reached its
  state of maximum sophistication. At this time, the greater part of
  the mound's summit
  was
  occupied by
  what amounted
  to
  a
  religious acropolis; an open space surrounded by a trio of large and
  elaborately built mud-brick temples, satisfactorily corresponding
  in many respects to those in the 'Ubaid levels at Eridu, with which
  they were later shown to be contemporary.
  All through
  the deeper 'Ubaid
  levels
  at Gawra,
  traces were
  found of pottery shapes and forms of ornament surviving from the
  previous
  Tell Halaf period. When
  level XX was
  reached,
  the
  transition between the two cultures was found to have been passed.
  Polychrome pottery predominated and all other fmds could be seen
  to be characteristic of the Tell Halaf period. There was even an
  interesting circular building which could, not quite conclusively,
  be identified
  as a temple. But at this point the Gawra sounding
  ended and no further clue was found to an earlier occupation.
  It remains to be added that, already known at this time, was one
  other form
  of painted
  pottery,
  which
  seemed
  to
  have
  been
  contemporary with or to have preceded the manufacture of Tell
  Halaf ware.
  This had
  first been found
  before
  1914 by
  Ernst
  Herzfeld, when he was excavating the huge, 9th-century ad city of
  Samarra, on the Tigris, halfway between Mosul and Baghdad, ^^
  41-2
  and came to be known as 'Samarra ware'. Among the foundation
  68
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  of Islamic buildings, Herzfeld came upon traces of a prehistoric
  settlement or cemetery, where this beautiful and unusual pottery
  had been in general use. Herzfeld being at that time unable to detect
  any architectural remains or stratigraphical indications, the age of
  the settlement temporarily remained a mystery, and
  it
  is only in
  much more recent times that the date of its first appearance - a little
  before that of the earliest Halaf pottery - has been ascertained. This
  too will later be explained.
  KiJYUNJIK
  The combined results of excavations so far mentioned constituted
  our total knowledge ofnorthern Mesopotamian stratigraphy up to
  the outbreak of the Second World War.
  It remains only to discuss
  an immensely deep sounding made by Mallowan beneath
  the
  Assyrian Ishtar Temple in the Kiiyiinjik mound at Nineveh. ^ s This
  operation had a number ofextremely important results. First, in an
  upper level, Mallowan had the good fortune to discover the hfe-
  size bronze head of an Akkadian king, now considered one of the
  great masterpieces of Mesopotamian art (see chapter 7)
  ; secondly,
  he found textual proof that in Sumerian times Nineveh had been a
  city with temples. Thirdly, he was able to confirm the sequence of
  prehistoric phases so far known and, more significantly, to prove
  the existence of an earlier, pre-Halaf culture. Directly above virgin
  soil, at a depth of 27 m beneath the summit ofthe mound, he found
  an unknown type of pottery with finely scratched incisions which
  he provisionally labelled 'Ninevite I'. For ten years after Mallowan
  had
  left Iraq to excavate in
  Syria,
  a small bag of these curious
  potsherds remained in the Iraq Museum, to represent the earUest
  form of pottery as yet found in Mesopotamia.
  Hassuna
  The next development came in 1943, when inspectors of the Iraq
  Antiquities Directorate located a small mound called Hassuna, on
  the fringe of the cultivated upland 20 miles due south of Mosul,
  whose surface was littered with Ninevite I pottery. The excavation
  of Hassuna involved a renewal of the 'Uqair partnership between
  the
  present
  writer and Fuad
  Safar:
  its
  result
  far exceeded our
  expectations. ^ ^ A new and earliest chapter was added to the history
  of Chalcolithic settlements in northern Iraq, beginning with the
  arrival of a still-nomadic people, whose camp-sites were almost
  immediately overlaid by the primitive houses of a small farming
  community. An excavation covering an area about 20 m square
  enabled us to follow the development of this village through six
  successive building-levels, and to associate its final occupation with
  the arrival ofnew inhabitants at the site, using an early form of Tell
  Halaf painted pottery.
  Counting from the bottom upwards, levels III to V represented
  what we considered
  to be the 'Standard' Hassuna
  culture. The
  pottery was
  all unburnished; some
  incised with
  pin-scratched
  40
  designs,
  some
  painted
  and
  some
  combining
  both
  forms
  of
  ornament.
  In the three levels below
  (II,
  Ic and
  lb),
  a
  so-called
  'Archaic ware' appeared, burnished or decorated with glossy paint.
  69
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  Throughout these six sub-phases, the general features of the village
  remained fairly consistent; small houses of pise clay were grouped
  around courtyards resembling farmyards. There were reasons to
  think that they had pitched roofs ofwood and thatch, exactly as are
  found
  in neighbouring
  villages
  today. There were
  also ample
  indications of primitive agriculture, sickles with flint teeth set in
  bitumen on a wooden haft, showing that at least these people were
  reaping the -wild grain which still grows in the vicinity. But there
  were
  also
  elaborate
  grain-stores,
  protected
  with gypsum
  and
  bitumen, which proved that seed-grain was kept for re-sowing.
  Curious
  oval
  'husking-trays' of baked
  clay were used
  for
  the
  process of winnowing. Bones of domestic animals were plentiful,
  while obsidian arrowheads and javelins indicated that hunting was
  still practised. Some sort of religious belief was already suggested
  by a damaged 'goddess' figurine of a now well-known type.
  In levels lb and Ic, plain burnished pottery was mostly of a sort
  associated elsewhere with the late stages of the Neolithic; and then
  finally, directly above virgin soil in level la, there was a complete
  change. Shelters, ifany, must have been of a perishable material, for
  all we found were several widely separated domestic hearths, each
  with an identical assemblage of primitive artifacts around it. There
  was crudely made pottery, always including a peculiar, tall-sided
  storage-jar, apparently for milk, and implements such
  as heavy
  chert hoes or handaxes. In one case a skeleton
  still lay crouched
  beside the ashes of a
  fire. Here then, as
  it seemed to us, were the
  symbols of a transition from the nomadic
  life of herdsmen and
  hunters to the economy of a settled farming community.
  Other Hassuna Sites
  During more recent years, two major attempts have been made to
  amplify our knowledge of the Hassuna culture and if possible to
  trace
  its immediate antecedents. One was the work of a Soviet
  expedition at a
  site called Yarim Tepe, to the southwest of Tell
  'Afar in the Sinjar
  district, northwest of Mosul. ^^ Here, one of
  several mounds was excavated from 1969, with exemplary attention
  to method, and
  the
  results recorded with almost exaggerated
  precision. They served both to amplify and to supplement those of
  our own excavations at Hassuna. Many small houses - over 100
  rooms in
  all - were examined, at thirteen successive occupation-
  levels, covering the whole sequence of developments originally
  recognized by
  ourselves
  at
  the
  name-site,
  and some
  features
  previously lacking made welcome additions to our knowledge.
  These included bracelets of lead, a new and interesting category of
  human figurines and also prototypes of the stamp-seals familiar in
  later periods. Soundings at other sites in the same area
  (e.g. Tell
  es-Soto and Maghzaliyah) produced proto-Hassuna or aceramic
  material.
  Meanwhile,
  in the early
  1970s,
  a second investigation with
  a
  similar purpose was undertaken by British excavators led by Diana
  Kirkbride in the Jazirah steppe country to the west of Hatra. In this
  area, now totally desiccated, 87 sites were found, of which no less
  than 40 showed signs of occupation in the Hassuna/Samarra period.
  One
  of them,
  named Umm
  Dabaghiyah,
  was
  selected
  for
  70
  
  excavation down to virgin soil, and for the excavators the deeper
  levels had a surprise in store. ^ ^ Here they were faced with abundant
  parallels to the
  earliest occupation
  (level
  la)
  at Hassuna, but, in
  contrast to the nomadic camp-sites of the first arrivals at that site,
  substantial buildings appeared of a sort already observed at Yarim
  Tepe
  (level
  I) and clearly designed for some purpose other than
  domestic habitation. Rows of rectangular compartments, too small
  for habitation, were grouped in a grid-shaped plan, as though for
  storing some commodity suitable for trade. The evidence of animal
  bones found in profusion nearby, of which onager and gazelle
  accounted for 68% and i6% respectively, led the excavators to
  consider some sort of commerce in skins - possibly those of the
  onager, which survived in that region until late in the 19th century
  AD. This theory was rather dramatically confirmed in the final
  season of excavation when, on the walls of dwelling-houses in the
  deeper
  levels, rudimentary mural paintings were found,
  clearly
  representing onagers in flight, apparently towards a Hne of netting
  staked to the ground. ^^
  Diana Kirkbride proposed
  a date for the Umm Dabaghiyah
  settlement in the early 6th millennium bc, contemporary with the
  deepest level at Hassuna, thus attributing it to the phase which we
  have elsewhere labelled 'Pottery Neolithic'. She could recognize no
  relationship between these skin-trading hunters and the hill-people
  ofJarmo in the northeast, though the two cannot have been widely
  separated chronologically.
  33
  Onagers (wild asses) depicted
  in a primitive wall-painting from
  the pre-Hassuna settlement at
  Umm Dabaghiyah in the Jazirah
  (c. 5700 Bc). These animals were
  hunted for their skins. (After
  Kirkbride, 1975)
  34
  33
  Samarra and Sawwan
  During
  the
  years following
  the
  finds
  at Hassuna,
  a secondary
  problem which occupied Mesopotamian prehistorians concerned
  the status of the distinctive and finely painted Samarra pottery,
  which appeared side-by-side with the fully developed 'standard'
  Hassuna wares, appearing to be an extraneous product, perhaps
  iiTiported from elsewhere. At Matarrah, south of Kirkuk, where
  Braidwood excavated soon after the publication of Hassuna, this
  pottery seemed to be preponderant
  ; he therefore concluded that he
  was dealing with a basically 'Samarran' culture. ^° Few distinctive
  criteria of such a culture were, however, there apparent and its final
  71
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  Architecture
  revelation in an authentic setting had to await the discovery in
  1964, by an Iraqi scholar, B. Abu-al-Soof, of a new and extremely
  productive site in the immediate vicinity of Samarra itself. ^
  ' This
  was the settlement now known
  as Tell-es-Sawwan, where
  five
  occupation-levels were subsequently excavated, all but the earliest
  exclusively associated with the intriguing painted wares, originally
  found unstratified in this area by Herzfeld. Like Kirkbride's site in
  the Jazirah, Tell-es-Sawwan held many surprises. In addition to
  dwelling-houses of sun-dried brick, there were strange, T-shaped
  buildings
  with many
  rooms,
  identified by
  the
  excavators
  as
  55
  granaries. For a contemporary example of a fortification, at Choga
  Mami, see Curtis (1983), figs. 12-13.
  During the third occupation, the whole area of habitation had
  been enclosed by an outer wall, irregularly buttressed and protected
  by a formidable ditch. Other discoveries at Tell-es-Sawwan included
  more than 100 burials, mostly beneath the floors ofthe houses. Grave-
  goods from this source were indeed remarkable: quantities of fine
  alabaster vessels, and, of the same material, a striking collection of
  45
  human figurines, almost totally dissimilar from those ofbaked clay,
  found elsewhere
  in
  a Chalcolithic
  setting. ^^
  In another sphere,
  food-grains and other vegetable remains together with a plentiful
  variety offish and animal bones, have made it possible to envisage
  the life of the settlement
  : a mixed economy based on agriculture,
  aided by rudimentary irrigation, hunting and herdsmanship.
  Here
  then was
  an indigenous
  manifestation of the
  hitherto
  elusive Samarran culture, centred apparently upon the Tigris at the
  northern extremity of the alluvial plain. Excavations at related sites
  have indicated its geographical extension, in the east to the frontiers
  of
  Iran
  (Choga
  Mami,
  near
  Mandali)
  and
  westward
  to
  the
  Euphrates (Baghouz, near Abu Kemal).^^ The fact that at Tell-es-
  Sawwan
  hardly
  a
  single
  sherd
  of Hassuna
  ware
  was
  found
  emphasizes the disparity between the two cultures.
  The Pre-Halaf Period
  At the earhest village sites in northern Iraq, house walls are most
  commonly built ofpise, and rendered in mud plaster. In rarer cases
  (e.g. Umm Dabaghiyah), gypsum plaster was preferred for wall-
  faces and pavements alike. Sun-dried bricks, shaped in a wooden
  mould, do not appear until the end of the Hassuna period. Stone
  foundations occur only at Jarmo and Maghzaliyah, where stream-
  beds could have provided the material. At Jarmo also, pavements
  were of 'clean mud packed over beds of reeds'. From the begin-
  ning, multi-roomed dwelling-houses seem to have been planned
  on a rectilinear principle. At Umm Dabaghiyah each consisted of
  one main room, often measuring no more than 2 x 1.5 m, and
  others even smaller, reached through archways less than
  i m high.
  Here, unexpected features were fireplaces with hooded chimney-
  flues, connected through the base of the walls with external bread
  ovens. A single example of a similar contrivance was found
  at
  Jarmo. A built-up step and toe-holes in the walls apparently made
  access to these rooms possible through an opening in the roof At
  72
  
  «P*.W
  Yarim Tepe, the size and number of the rooms was considerably
  greater, one single house measuring 14 x6 m. Houses were built
  in contiguous groups (Umm Dabaghiyah), lining narrow alleys
  (Yarim Tepe) or facing their own open courtyards (Hassuna). In
  addition to the usual domed bread ovens, many houses were pro-
  vided with large circular grain-bins, partly buried in the ground
  and lined with gypsum or protected by a coat of bitumen.
  In the village
  at Umm Dabaghiyah, domestic quarters were
  subordinated to the two great cellular blocks of storage chambers,
  whose hypothetical association with a trade in hides has already
  been mentioned. Their
  vs^alls were of 'strongly tempered
  clay',
  50 cm thick and unplastered. The individual cells, of which over
  seventy
  were
  excavated,
  had
  an
  average
  dimension
  of
  1.50 X 1.75 m and no communicating doorways.
  34 Plan of the Umm
  Dabaghiyah settlement at level
  IV, with storage buildings,
  perhaps for drying onager skins.
  (After Kirkbride, 1975)
  34
  The Samarran Period
  Architecture of
  this
  period
  is
  represented
  at two
  sites on
  the
  periphery
  of
  the
  southern
  Mesopotamian
  alluvium:
  Choga
  Mami^3
  q^
  the
  Iranian
  frontier
  and
  Tell-es-Sawwan on
  the
  Tigris.^'
  The
  former
  was
  a
  large,
  agricultural
  village
  (350 X 150 m), apparently profiting from some primitive system of
  artificial irrigation. Houses had up to twelve rooms, with walls
  built of 'cigar-shaped mud-bricks' and plastered with clay. In the
  more
  sophisticated
  settlement
  at
  Tell-es-Sawwan,
  building
  methods had improved and prismatic bricks (Arabic,
  lihn) were
  used, with average dimensions of 80 x 30 x 8 cm. The large T-
  shaped buildings at this
  site, built to a standard plan with up to
  fourteen rooms, are not yet fully explained. Doorways between
  rooms showed that they were for habitation and some of their
  contents suggested normal domestic occupation
  ; yet they were first
  identified as granaries.
  35
  73
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  35
  Tell-es-Sawwan, layout of
  the Samarra period settlement at
  level III
  {c. 5350 Bc), with
  distinctively planned buildings in
  a walled enclosure. (After Abu
  al-Soof, 1968)
  1
  The Halaf Period
  In the Halaf levels at Arpachiyah, an architectural innovation takes
  J6
  the form of circular buildings, called by the excavators 'tholoi'. At
  various levels in the mound itself or in outlying parts of the site as
  many as ten of these were found, though no more than two seem to
  have
  existed
  simultaneously. The
  earliest
  are
  isolated
  circular
  structures, 4 m or so across; but later their diameter increases to
  over 6 m, and the thickness of their walls to 1.65 m. They are now
  approached through
  a rectangular 'drOmos',
  like
  the
  'bee-hive
  tombs'
  at
  Mycenae,
  and
  in
  one
  case
  there
  is
  a
  transverse
  antechamber. As a rule only their stone foundations had survived;
  but one provided evidence of api5e superstructure- probably a low
  dome. Owing to the number of graves and cult-figurines found in
  their immediate
  vicinity, Mallowan was inclined
  to
  attribute
  a
  religious purpose
  to
  these buildings. But recent excavations
  in
  Sinjar, Syria and Iran have demonstrated that at most Tell Halaf
  sites, unlike Arpachiyah, the circular structures are predominantly
  dwelling houses. ^"^ Within the frontiers of Iraq, a contemporary
  parallel to the Arpachiyah 'tholoi' occurs at Tepe Gawra (level XX)
  and there are earlier examples at Yarim Tepe.
  74
  
  Pre-literate Peoples of Northern Mesopotamia
  The 'Ubaid Period
  The earliest building in northern Iraq to be confidently identified as
  a temple occurs
  in
  level XIX numbering downwards
  at Tepe
  Gawra, and coincides with the beginning of the 'Ubaid period at
  that
  site.
  It has
  a rectilinear plan, with flimsily built mud-brick
  walls, but
  is reconstructed on
  a more impressive
  scale
  in
  level
  XVIII, with no less than twenty rooms arranged around a central
  sanctuary (?). This has a podium in the middle but no recognizable
  altar. Circular buildings reappear in level XVII, but they show no
  evidence of cult-practices and temples are not again found until
  level XIII, when, as has already been mentioned, the summit of the
  mound was cleared to create an emplacement for a group of three
  obviously
  religious
  buildings,
  with
  distinctive
  plans and
  wall-
  treatment. They were built around an open courtyard, almost 20 m
  wide, overlooked on
  three
  sides by
  their
  facades, which were
  ornamented with a complicated system of multiple recessing and
  painted in different colours. Of the so-called 'Northern Temple'
  the entire plan was recovered
  : a rectangular sanctuary running the
  whole length of the building, with two lateral chambers on either
  side, separated by deeply recessed niches whose purpose
  is not
  apparent. As is usual in a pre-literate setting, there is no evidence to
  associate the building with a particular cult. The mud-brick walls
  are
  surprisingly
  thin,
  but strengthened
  at
  regular
  intervals by
  stouter piers, upon which the ceiling beams must be presumed to
  have rested. This system of building is one which we have already
  seen in temples XI-IX at Eridu in the south, though the sub-period
  which they represent would appear to antedate the 'acropolis' at
  Gawra.
  In
  the
  north,
  Gawra
  XIII
  seems
  to
  represent
  the
  culmination of the 'Ubaidian period. In level XII there were signs
  of a great conflagration which had destroyed the entire settlement.
  (But see references to more recent discoveries of 'Ubaidian archi-
  tecture in Postscript on p. 231.)
  The 'Gawra' Period
  It
  is from a sequence of four later occupations
  at Gawra
  (levels
  XI-VIII), that most is to be learnt about developments in northern
  Iraq during the phase which in the south has been called the Uruk
  period. Here, the cultural transformation following the end of the
  'Ubaidian epoch can be seen as clearly in the architectural remains
  as in the character of the pottery and the increasing profusion of
  metal objects. Rather surprisingly, the most conspicuous building
  in level XI was
  a circular affair known to the excavators
  as the
  'Round House'.
  Its metre-thick outer wall has a diameter of over
  1 8 m and internally the plan can be seen to comprise no less than
  seventeen rooms. Their arrangement has no ritual significance and
  there is no justification for attributing to the building any religious
  purpose. In this connection we are reminded by D. and J. Oates
  (1976) that
  round houses are found in some of the earliest settlements in the Levant
  from the Natufian period onwards and represent, with rectangular houses,
  one of the two simple forms of permanent structure that might have
  evolved
  from
  different
  traditions
  of construction
  in
  the
  temporary
  dwellings of a mobile population.
  36
  Alternative reconstructions of
  the 'tholoi' at Arpachiyah:
  circular buildings, entered
  through a rectangular 'dromos'
  (Tell Halaf period,
  c. 4800 bc).
  They may, or may not be
  religious shrines. (After
  Mallowan and Rose, 1935)
  37
  75
  
  /
  37 The heavily buih 'Round
  House, in level XI at Tepe
  Gawra
  : a building of unknown
  purpose, corresponding in date
  to the Protohterate period in
  southern Mesopotamia. (M. E.
  Weaver after Tobler, 1950)
  y
  38
  Projected reconstruction of a
  'Gawra period' temple in level
  VIII. Several examples were
  found of temples built to this
  plan, which is peculiar to the site
  and period. A comparison with
  the pre-Greek 'megaron' plan
  has been tentatively suggested.
  (P. P. Pratt after Speiser, 1935)
  39 An artist's reconstruction of
  the main shrine-room in the 'Eye
  Temple' at TeU Brak (Jemdet
  Nasr period). The altar and wall-
  faces were ornamented with rich
  mosaic and inlay, partly of gold.
  The floor was Httered with hiany
  thousands of beads and small
  amulets. (Cf.
  ill. 46). (P. P. Pratt)
  There accordingly seems to be little reason for attributing to the
  'Round House' in level XI any non-secular function. Indeed,
  it
  is
  during
  this same
  occupation
  that
  elsewhere
  the
  first example
  appears of an actual temple, planned in a manner which was to
  persist
  throughout
  the
  remainder
  of the Uruk
  period.
  These
  peculiar buildings, of a type found until now only at Gawra, have
  aroused
  a good deal of interest. ^^ They consist of a rectangular
  sanctuary, approached through an open portico, with two lateral
  chambers on either
  side. One example in level VIII has
  a free-
  standing
  altar
  or
  offering-table
  at one end of the
  cella,
  while
  another has facades ornamented
  all round with doubly recessed
  vertical panels.
  It is notable that more than one such building was
  often found
  in
  the same
  level and
  that
  burials seemed
  to
  be
  concentrated around them.
  Tell Brak
  The only other temple building of the Uruk period in this northern
  area of Mesopotamia was found by M. E. L. Mallowan in 1938 at
  Tell Brak, a site near the River Khabur beyond the present Syrian
  frontier. ^^
  This
  large
  building
  (30 x25 m)
  differed completely
  from those at Tepe Gawra described above, having many features
  in common with
  the Uruk temples
  in
  the
  south. The
  central
  sanctuary extended from one side of the building to the other and
  had small transepts at one end, similar to those mentioned earlier in
  level IV at Uruk itself A row of lateral chambers on one side was
  balanced by a more complicated arrangement of chambers on the
  other, and the whole enclosed in a stout mud-brick wall on stone
  foundations.
  Its decoration, with coloured clay cones and inlaid-
  stone rosettes, provided another parallel with the southern temples.
  But most surprismg of
  all was
  the
  elaborate ornament
  in
  the
  >^X
  76
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  sanctuary
  itself.
  Its
  whitewashed
  walls
  were
  'decorated
  with
  coloured stone rosettes,
  strips of red limestone inlay and copper
  panelling'. There was an
  altar
  at one dnd, bordered
  at top and
  bottom with sheet-gold between bands of coloured stone, attached
  by gold-headed silver nails. The temple was raised upon the ruins of
  two other similar buildings and it was named by the excavators the
  'Eye Temple', on account ofthe 'eye' or 'spectacle' motif appearing
  39
  everywhere in the ornament and in the form ofinnumerable votive
  46
  images of alabaster, built into the structure of the temple platform
  in
  a medley of beads, amulets and stamp-seals.
  Since these had
  clearly survived from the lifetime of earlier temples Mallowan
  attributed the Eye Temple itself to a late stage in the Uruk-Jemdet
  Nasr period. Regarding the significance of the 'eye' symbol, the
  excavators could reach no definite conclusion.
  Pre-Halaf
  In northern Iraq, the task of correlating the finds from a dozen
  important excavations and of analysing the interplay of successive
  cultural changes which they imply has now been prolonged for
  almost half a century.
  It has involved a long process of meticulous
  recording, while the patient consideration of logical inferences has
  moved from one stage to another.
  In
  this milieu, the study of
  pottery and small finds has assumed an even greater importance
  than was the case in the south, where other forms of evidence were
  available and the influence of intrusive cultures from beyond the
  frontiers of Mesopotamia less evident. As a result, and particularly
  in the realm of pottery, the field of study has assumed a high degree
  of complexity and may well appear intimidating to the student or
  layman who must approach
  it through a labyrinth of technical
  description and diagrammatic illustration. In the present context,
  therefore, a simplified commentary on variants in ceramic practices
  and some other artifactual peculiarities may be sufficient to convey
  an impression of the varied evidence which has contributed to an
  orderly interpretation of prehistoric developments.
  At the earliest
  sites hitherto discussed in this chapter, we have
  been largely concerned with the transition from what has been
  called
  Pre-Pottery
  Neolithic
  to
  Chalcolithic
  cultures.
  Con-
  veniently,
  this has been found to coincide with the
  first use of
  painted ornament on pottery. The initiative in this respect must be
  attributed to the first settlers in the Jazirah and Sinjar districts. At
  Umm Dabaghiyah
  the painted
  patterns
  are
  primitive -
  spots,
  stripes and chevrons - but there are also crude figures of men and
  animals in plastic relief. At Hassuna burnished and coarse, straw-
  tempered pottery in level la gives way to 'archaic' painted wares
  (levels
  Ib-III), with parallel lines of glossy paint or a burnished
  finish. The remainder of the pre-Halaf occupations produced the
  so-called 'Hassuna standard' wares, with pin-scratched or painted
  40
  ornament, used together or separately on an unburnished slip to
  decorate a very limited range of characteristically shaped bowls and
  jars.
  Side-by-side with
  these from
  level
  III upwards,
  Samarra
  pottery
  appears,
  distinctive
  in
  itself and
  clearly
  a
  luxury
  41
  commodity imported from elsewhere, or copied locally.
  Pottery
  77
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  40
  Painted and/or incised
  'standard wares' and a 'husking-
  tray': all characteristic of levels
  III-VI at Hassuna. A few sherds
  of this pottery were collected
  from the deepest level in
  Mallowan's sounding in the
  Kiiyiinjik mound at Nineveh
  (over 30 m beneath the surface).
  (After Lloyd)
  41, 42 (Below right)
  Typical
  Samarra painted wares from
  Hassuna, including (bottom left)
  crude local imitation and (above)
  a so-called 'face-urn' similar to
  those found in the deepest levels
  at Troy. (After Lloyd and Safar,
  1945). (Below
  left) A photograph
  of one of the bowls, with a
  design showing stylized ibexes
  78
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  The repertory of Samarran designs has been exhaustively studied
  at Baghouz and elsewhere. ^^ Perhaps the most characteristic form
  is an open dish with internal border ornament and a centripetal
  design, often incorporating human or animal figures. Samarran
  designs are painted in black or reddish brown on a thick cream or
  pinkish slip, with multiple chevrons and other geometric devices,
  in which the painted lines are wider than the spaces between them.
  At Hassuna and the main Samarran sites there are also 'face-urns',
  like those found at Troy, with the principal features modelled in
  relief.
  The
  skill
  and
  good
  taste
  of
  the
  Samarran
  potters
  is
  emphasized by
  the
  ineptitude of crude
  imitations
  occasionally
  "made locally at sites like Hassuna.
  41-2
  Tell Halaf
  The elaboration ofpainted designs on pottery reaches its peak in the
  polychrome wares of the Tell Halaf period. ^^ The colours used are
  in fact mainly restricted to red, reddish or purplish brown and
  black; but when applied for instance to an apricot-coloured slip.
  43-4
  43
  Polychrome and other
  painted wares of the Tell Halaf
  period
  (c. 4800 bc). Patterns in
  this 'fully developed' style
  include (bottom left) the stylized
  'bucranium' motif. The Halafian
  culture extended northward into
  Anatolia and westward through
  Syria to the Mediterranean.
  (After Mallowan)
  79
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  (h
  44 A polychrome dish from
  Arpachiyah, of the Tell Halaf
  period
  the tones vary greatly and their contrasts are emphasized by the
  sparing use of white paint. Where the Samarra patterns contrived
  to give an impression of movement, those of the Halaf pottery have
  been described
  as
  'static' or 'architectonic'. They cover
  a larger
  proportion of the vessel's surface than is the case v^ith most other
  styles, and there
  is
  a good deal of rectilinear panelling, checker
  patterns with alternating detail like tile-work, dotted areas and fish-
  scale ornament. The development of these designs can be traced
  through
  successive
  stages,
  of which
  only
  the
  last
  is
  truly
  characteristic. One individual motif may be taken to illustrate this
  process, namely
  the
  bull's head or
  'bucranium'.
  In
  its
  earliest,
  naturalistic form,
  it appears isolated and empanelled. Later
  it
  is
  simplified,
  turned
  sideways
  and
  repeated
  to make
  a
  running
  pattern, which
  is finally stylized to
  a point
  at which
  its original
  significance is forgotten. Among the various forms ofHalafpottery
  there are also characteristic shapes, of which the most popular
  is
  perhaps
  the
  shallow open
  dish,
  decorated
  inside
  with
  border
  ornament and a central panel. But there are also flat-bottomed
  bowls, carinated bowls with flaring rims and distinctive squat jars.
  The distribution of Halaf-type pottery is again interesting. It has
  been found as far north as Diyarbakir in Anatolia, and westward
  from the Euphrates crossings to the 'Amuq and the Mediterranean
  coast
  at
  Ras
  Shamra.
  Its
  southern
  limits seem
  to
  correspond
  approximately to the latitude of Baghdad.
  It has no relationship
  with contemporary ceramic developments in Iran, except with the
  Kermanshah area, and must be considered indigenous in northern
  Mesopotamia.
  Northern 'Ubaid
  The formative stages of the 'Ubaid culture are still something of a
  80
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  mystery;
  but
  its attainment of a mature form seems
  to have
  coincided
  with
  the
  earhest
  unification
  of upper
  and
  lower
  Mesopotamia. Whether it evolved in the two areas simultaneously
  or (which appears more probable), spread northward from the
  direction of southern Mesopotamia, the characteristics by which it
  can be recognized archaeologically are as easily distinguishable at
  Gawra or Arpachiyah as they were at Ur and Eridu. The earliest
  'Ubaid levels at Gawra suggest that the transition from one culture
  to another was a gradual one. The pottery
  at
  first retains some
  characteristics of the Halaf period or combines them with- new
  conventions.
  Yet, when
  the new
  culture
  has
  reached
  its
  full
  maturity,
  in -Gawra XIII, the differences between northern and
  southern 'Ubaid pottery are no more than could be occasioned by
  local
  disparities
  in the raw
  materials
  available or an improved
  understanding of technical processes, such as the firing of clay and
  the handling of paint. One particular type of vessel, found in both
  settings,
  is of so
  eccentric
  a shape
  that
  it must be assumed
  to
  symbolize some short-lived but universal convention. Variously
  described as a 'lenticular' or 'tortoise' jar,
  it is a flat hole-mouthed
  affair with a single trumpet-shaped spout rising almost vertically
  from its shoulder. Its stratigraphical contexts in the north and south
  respectively are of some significance, since they link the first two
  'Ubaid
  levels
  at
  Gawra
  (XIX-XVIII)
  with
  the
  post-Hajji
  Muhammad phases (3 and 4) at Eridu. This could perhaps be taken to
  equate Samarra in the north with the 'Eridu' phases in the south.
  Post-'Ubaid
  Less need perhaps be said about the pottery of the post-' Ubaid
  phase, which has logically been taken to correspond with the Uruk
  period in the south.
  Its outstanding
  characteristics are,
  first, the
  absence of painted ornament, and secondly the fact that, unlike the
  'hand-made' pottery of earlier periods, most vessels now showed
  traces of having been turned on a fast-moving wheel. At levels
  XI-VIII
  at Gawra,
  pottery of brown or
  buff clay with straw
  tempering
  replaces the
  fine, greenish-grey
  fabric of the 'Ubaid
  period.
  The
  burnished
  or
  polished monochrome
  wares,
  so
  common in the south at this time, are also to be found here and
  lightly burnished grey pottery predominates at the contemporary
  site called Grai Resh, in the Sinjar district west of the Tigris. ^^ As in
  the south, however, one of the most distinctive forms of pottery at
  these and other northern sites during this period is the 'bevelled-rim
  bowl' or glockentopf, a small, very coarsely made vessel, produced in
  great numbers and easily broken. In the present writer's opinion, it
  was given away free with the food which it contained or was used
  for votive offerings.
  As a symptom of the great cultural change which can be detected
  in these levels at Tepe Gawra, ceramic innovations are hardly less
  conspicuous than the evidence of a sudden interest in metallurgy. A
  principal
  source from which
  the metal was
  derived seems
  to
  have been the frequent groupings of richly furnished graves,
  to
  which we must now refer.
  81
  
  Burials
  The 'Gawra' Period
  Where burials are concerned, we have till now mentioned only in
  passing those for instance
  at Tell-es-Sawwan, with
  their votive
  treasure of alabaster vessels or figurines and the 'Ubaid cemetery at
  Arpachiyah which was the source of so much painted pottery. At
  other northern
  sites, the few simple shaft-graves and urn burials
  dating from the early periods were of less
  interest. At Gawra,
  however, the sudden multiplication of interments during the final
  'Ubaidian occupation
  (level XII) seemed to anticipate the more
  sophisticated
  funerary
  practices
  of the Uruk
  period.
  In
  levels
  XI-VIII, burials were of two sorts.
  There were no less than 200 simple interments, of which about
  80% were infants, buried indiscriminately beneath the floors of
  houses or in the vicinity of religious buildings. Some adults were
  perhaps buried in a cemetery beyond the limits of the village; but
  the more distinguished members of the community were provided
  with carefully built tombs, among the buildings on the mound
  itself. There were as many
  as 80 of these structures
  : rectangular
  chambers of stone or mud-brick, roofed with timber or stone slabs.
  Each
  as a rule contained a single body in a contracted position,
  apparently
  fully
  dressed,
  though
  sometimes
  also
  covered
  or
  wrapped in reed matting.
  Apart from the structure of these tombs, their interest centred on
  the wide
  variety of personal ornaments which they contained.
  Beads, in particular, had been used to decorate every part of the
  body, so that over 25,000 could be recovered from a single burial.
  Listed among the materials of which they were made are turquoise,
  jadite,
  cornelian,
  hematite, marble,
  limestone,
  quartz,
  obsidian,
  lapis lazuli and diorite, as well as shell and ivory, implying trade
  with countries as remote as Afghanistan. Perhaps most surprising of
  all was the profusion of ornaments in gold. Most of these were
  rings, rosettes, small
  'studs' and crescentic decorations, cut from
  sheet metal and applied to the cloth of garments or diadems
  ; but
  there was one small object,
  a finial ornament of electrum in the
  form of a wolfs head, composed of separate elements
  skilfully
  welded together.
  The main significance of these tombs in levels XI to VIII lies first
  in the implication they suggest that the mound at Gawra was now
  occupied by a people with new skills and increasing sophistication.
  Above
  all,
  the advance
  in
  the
  practice of metallurgy
  is most
  remarkable. In the 'Ubaid levels beneath, a mere half-dozen metal
  objects were found, hammered or cast from pure copper without
  the addition of tin. In the post-'Ubaidian levels, metals generally,
  including bronze, seem suddenly
  to be
  in general
  use. For the
  excavators were able at one point to record that 'the whole ground
  seemed to be tinged green with decaying copper or glinting with
  gold'. If the Gawra settlement at this period may be thought of as an
  unpretentious rural community, the discovery of a site at which the
  metropolitan aspect of the same culture could be examined and
  compared with the contemporary achievement of Protoliterate
  peoples in the south would teach us much about the chronological
  and other relationships between them.
  82
  
  45
  Below: a male figurine in
  terracotta from level
  I at Tell-es-
  Sawwan. In this level, upright
  alabaster figurines of a quite
  different type were also found in
  large quantities, with many
  bowls of the same material. Ht
  6.7 cm. Above: a Samarra-period
  terracotta head from Choga
  Mami. Ht 4.8 cm
  Small Objects
  Figurines
  Cult
  objects
  are comparatively
  rare among
  the
  small fmds
  at
  Chalcolithic sites in northern Iraq. An interesting exception is the
  class of female figurines, loosely associated with the term 'mother-
  goddess'."^^ Unlike
  the
  'lizard-headed',
  standing
  figures of the
  'Ubaid period in the south, these are usually steatopygous creatures,
  seated or squatting, with exaggerated breasts and thighs.
  In the
  earliest examples,
  for instance from Yarim Tepe, the surviving
  heads have pinched faces on thin necks and are prolonged in a form
  which
  suggests
  a
  conical
  headdress.^'
  But here
  also
  there
  are
  already traces of the painted ornament characteristic of later times,
  when features such
  as
  'trousers' with crossed braces or belts are
  represented, and some body ornament which may be tattooing. In
  several
  beautiful examples from Choga Mami of the Samarra
  Overleaf
  46
  'Eye' or 'spectacle' idols, a
  great variety of which were
  found in the Jemdet-Nasr-period
  temple at Tell Brak. One
  particularly large one was
  thought by Mallowan 10 have
  stood upon the altar in the main
  sanctuary (cf
  ill. 39). Examples
  were also found from the late
  'Ubaid period onwards at
  Gawra. Their significance is
  unknown. Ht of tallest, 11 cm
  83
  
  84
  !
  
  period, heads are modelled and painted in much greater
  detail,
  showing,
  in addition to the conical hairdress,
  'coffee-bean' eyes
  with painted eyelashes, and facial ornaments such as nose- or lip-
  plugs. "^^ Figurines of this sort of the Halaf period are common to
  sites in Syria, such as Chagar Bazar and Tell Halaf itself, ^^ but they
  are also found for instance at sites as far apart as Qatal Hiiyiik in
  Anatolia and Tepe Sarab in western Iran (Singh 1974, figs. 43 and
  63), emphasizing the closer cultural contacts between northern Iraq
  and
  the
  neighbouring
  countries
  from
  the
  Neolithic
  period
  onwards.
  Their
  precise
  significance
  as
  cult
  objects
  has' been
  variously interpreted. At Ur and Eridu they were found in graves,
  while at Arpachiyah and Tell-es-Sawwan a religious purpose was
  tentatively
  attributed
  to
  the
  buildings
  in
  which
  they
  were
  discovered.
  Another class of figurine, important for dating purposes,
  is the
  'spectacle' idol or 'eye' symbol, most notably associated with Tell
  Brak. Two dozen examples of these, in clay or stone, were found at
  Gawra,
  mostly
  in
  levels
  XI-IX,
  which
  should
  make
  them
  contemporary with the earlier building-levels of Mallowan's Eye
  Temple.
  Seals
  Other significant objects, which make an early appearance in the
  painted-pottery levels, for instance
  at Gawra, are personal
  seals.
  Primitive 'seal-pendants' with geometric designs in the Halaf levels
  give way
  to hemispherical stamp-seals, whose
  pictorial designs
  attain an interesting degree of sophistication in the terminal phase
  of the 'Ubaidian occupation. A
  particular group of steatite or
  serpentine
  seals, attributed to the
  first post-'Ubaid period
  (level
  XI), show figured designs of great interest. Spidery engravings of
  horned animals and hunting-dogs alternate with ritual scenes in
  which masked men appear. Two figures are sometimes combined
  in an attitude of copulation. ^^^
  ^^?^
  ^^^^^i^-^
  47
  Stamp-seals and impressions
  from the 'Protoliterate' levels at
  Tepe Gawra. Other motifs
  include hunting dogs, masked
  men and human figures in an
  attitude of copulation. (From
  Speiser, 1935)
  Foreign Relations
  SUSIANA
  It would be out of place, and even impracticable here, to follow or
  even summarize
  the
  parallel developments
  and
  interaction
  of
  Chalcolithic cultures in the neighbouring countries most closely
  associated with Mesopotamia. "^^ jn northern Syria, Anatolia and
  particularly
  in
  Iran - not
  to mention
  their remoter extension
  towards the Caucasus and Afghanistan - so much has been added to
  our knowledge of the period by recent excavations that they have
  in a sense usurped the priority of interest earUer accorded to the
  great river
  valleys.
  Nevertheless,
  there
  is one
  area, beyond the
  modern frontier of Iraq though adjacent to the ancient home of the
  Sumerians, which cannot escape our attention. This
  is the Iranian
  province known
  as
  Khuzistan,
  and named by
  archaeologists
  'Susiana' after the great city which was its capital in Elamite times.
  Long before the beginnings of written history,
  this country was
  closely linked to southern Mesopotamia, ofwhich it can be seen as a
  physiological extension. Here, due north of modern Basrah, the
  85
  
  Pre-literate Peoples ofNorthern Mesopotamia
  48 Two examples of the finely
  painted pottery, called by de
  Morgan 'Susa
  I' (now known as
  'Susa A').
  It is dated to the
  transition between the 'Ubaid
  and Protoliterate periods,
  c. 4000
  BC. Ht of pot above, 26.8 cm
  48
  line of the Zagros Mountains recedes eastward, leaving a wide area
  ofseasonally fertile uplands, watered by the tangled courses ofthree
  rivers - Karkheh, Sha'ur, Ab-i-Diz - and connected by a fourth, the
  Karun, to the Shatt-al-Arab.
  The
  first evidence of habitation here in prehistoric times was
  provided in 1 897 by French excavations in the great city-mound at
  Susa
  itself. A huge
  cemetery,
  adjoining
  the
  later
  town-wall,
  produced much of the marvellous painted pottery now in the
  Louvre, which thus anticipated by almost twenty years Woolley's
  discovery of the 'Ubaidian culture in Mesopotamia. Most striking
  of all was a class of beakers and tall goblets, painted with stylized
  patterns of birds and animals, which the excavator, Jacques de
  Morgan,
  designated by
  the term
  'Susa
  I'
  and which
  are
  still
  considered by some to be the highest accomplishment of ceramic
  86
  
  Pre-literate Peoples of Northern Mesopotamia
  craftsmanship in the Near East.^^ With no comparative material
  yet
  available,
  the age of this pottery was
  at
  first
  considerably
  overestimated. In fact, a further fifty years v^ere to elapse before its
  correct placing
  in the sequence of prehistoric periods could be
  properly understood. During that time, many new discoveries in
  Iraq and a dozen excavations
  at smaller
  sites
  in Khuzistan
  itself
  (which have been more recently multiplied) furnished the material
  for a comparative study. This was undertaken by the late L. Le
  Breton and
  published
  in
  1957."^^
  It was now proved
  that
  de
  Morgan's 'Susa
  I' (in future to be called 'Susa A') belonged to the
  last of five phases into which the Iranian painted pottery cultures
  were divided ('Susiana a, b,
  c, d and e'), and that
  it corresponded
  chronologically with the transition from the 'Ubaid to the Uruk
  period in Mesopotamia. For the previous four periods ('Susiana
  a-d'), convincing parallels could be found with the whole sequence
  of developments in Iraq, from Hassuna and Eridu onwards. Le
  Breton was able to recognize three further phases ('Susa B, C and
  D') corresponding to the Mesopotamian Protoliterate. To 'Susa C
  he was able to attribute the so-called 'Proto-Elamite' pictographic
  writing, found at Susa itself, where its use would have been a logical
  result of the close ties between Susiana and Iraq in the Uruk and
  Jemdet Nasr periods. Since it has now been found at such remote
  sites
  as Tepe Yahya,
  in the Soghum valley 140 miles south of
  Kirman, and at Sialk, Godin, Malyan and Choga Mish,
  it must
  have been widely employed in Iran at that time."^^
  87
  
  Chapter Five
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  II
  The Protoliterate period must be regarded, not
  as
  a prelude to
  Sumerian
  civilization,
  but
  as
  a
  first
  formative
  phase
  in
  its
  development, during which major contributions were made to the
  establishment of its identity. All that we know about
  it has been
  learnt from the results of excavations; but once it is ended, we fmd
  ourselves on
  the
  threshold of written
  history, and from now
  onwards must check our archaeological conclusions against the
  testimony of contemporary documents. The phase with which we
  shall next be dealing is generally referred to as the 'Early Dynastic'
  period:
  a
  title which
  is explained by
  the
  contents of a
  single,
  primarily important written document. This is the so-called 'king-
  4g
  list',
  in
  which
  the
  political
  anatomy
  of
  the
  Sumerian com-
  monwealth and
  the succession of
  its
  rulers were
  at some time
  committed
  in
  writing
  to
  the memory of Mesopotamian
  pos-
  terity.
  "^"^ Several slightly varying versions of this text have survived,
  and among them
  is one which can be dated (partly by the point
  which it stops), to the beginning of the 1 8th century b c. The earlier
  part of the same list even reappears in Greek, among the writings of
  Berossus, an obscure historian of the Hellenistic age.
  Before speaking
  further about
  this document,
  in which
  the
  concept of 'kingship' is at least implicit, it may be well to enlarge a
  little upon the titles variously attributed to the rulers of Sumerian
  city-states during successive phases of their political evolution. In
  the early inscriptions, a number of different terms are used to imply
  forms of state leadership which are not precisely defined. Among
  these
  are
  en
  ('lord')
  and
  ensi
  (steward?),
  lugal
  ('great man'
  or
  'king'), and the distmction between them has been the subject ot
  much thought and some controversy. The fluctuating conclusions
  of authorities on the subject are usefully summarized by Saggs and
  Gadd,
  both
  writing
  in
  1962.
  Saggs
  recollects
  the
  interesting
  proposal presented byjacobsen in 1943. He reached the conclusion
  that 'Sumerian kingship was not primitive but evolutionary and
  that its action was, at least sometimes, controlled by an assembly of
  elders and community heads or even by the mass of free men'. This
  theory was based on
  a study of early
  literary sources:
  '.
  .
  .
  the
  myths, the tales ofthe behaviour and exploits of the gods, which are
  generally thought to
  reflect the sociology of the times
  at which
  Sumerian society crystallized in the city-state
  .
  .
  .', probably very
  early in the 3rd millennium bc. According to Jacobsen writing in
  1943, one function of the
  'general assembly' was
  to choose an
  official called En, who was 'primarily a cult-functionary, being the
  consort of the city's patron deity, and playing a vital role in the
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  Sacred
  Marriage
  upon
  which
  the
  fertiHty
  of
  the
  city
  state
  depended'. His secondary administrative functions, in connection
  with the temple lands, gave him great political importance, and at
  one stage he became virtually the ruler. Very early, there came
  about some division between the priestly and secular functions of
  the En, who no longer lived in the temple but in a pretentious
  palace of his own. Later, during the historical period, the actual
  ruler
  was
  no
  longer
  the
  En,
  but
  an
  official
  originally
  concerned
  in
  the
  agricultural
  operations, who
  bore
  the
  title
  Ensi.
  Cultic
  duties
  were
  delegated to a special priest or priestess. ... In the event of an attack from
  the outside, the assembly had to choose a war-leader or king {Lugal).
  .
  .
  .
  The office of neither En nor Lugal was originally hereditary or permanent,
  that of the
  Lugal
  at
  least being granted only
  for the duration of the
  emergency.
  The En
  or
  Lugal might attempt
  to
  perpetuate
  his
  position of
  authority and the two functions might then be vested in the same
  man. He could not be an absolute
  ruler, and could
  act only
  as
  authorized by the assembly.
  Jacobsen's view of Sumerian society and
  its political structure,
  which aroused much interest when originally presented, is today less
  generally accepted, owing to a lack of further confirmation by new
  historical
  texts.
  The
  bare
  facts
  of what we
  are
  justified
  in
  concluding about
  the
  status
  of Sumerian
  rulers
  are
  that
  lugal
  remained
  the general designation of a
  'king' and
  that an
  ensi,
  49
  Part of the 'king-list'
  document, found at Khorsabad
  by Loud.
  It is a late Assyrian
  copy of an earlier text
  89
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  The King-list
  though a governor in his own right, might be subordinate to a lugal
  in another city.
  Here are some features of the king-hst
  as we know
  it today.
  It
  presents
  us
  first with the names of eight semi-legendary
  rulers
  'before the Flood', and of the cities with which they are believed to
  have been associated. 'After the Flood', we are told, 'Kingship was
  sent down from on high'. A more factual chronicle then follows,
  introducing us to a federation of city-states, only one of which at
  any given time held supremacy over all the others. A succession of
  dynasties is accordingly Hsted, each based upon an individual city,
  whose hereditary rulers on such occasions became 'Kings' of 'the
  Land' and accepted
  responsibility
  for
  its
  welfare.
  Occasionally
  genealogical information
  is given, or mention
  is made of some
  happening which explains the transfer ofhegemony from one state
  to another. This secondary list, as has often been pointed out, 'was
  not composed for the benefit of modern scholars', and from their
  point of view has manifest defects. The stated lengths of individual
  reigns are, for instance, fanciful and
  it has long been realized that
  certain dynasties in fact ruled concurrently in their own cities. Yet it
  does serve to emphasize the Sumerians' overall conception of the
  Land as an entity. Also it embodies for the first time a catalogue of
  the principal Sumerian cities - Sippar, Shuruppak, Kish, Ur, Adab,
  Mari, Akshak, Lagash,
  Isin, Larsa and others about which less
  is
  known.
  The king-list does not of course come under the heading of what
  we
  have
  called
  'contemporary
  documents'.
  It
  is
  rather
  a
  re-
  trospective
  record,
  assembled
  at
  a
  later
  date from
  traditional
  information. The same is true, for instance, of the great Sumerian
  epics, like the story of Gilgamesh, which have survived through
  repeated recopyings in the Akkadian and other languages of later
  ages.^° We should now therefore glance
  at the actual historical
  information gleaned from the increasingly articulate writings of
  early
  Sumerian
  scribes,
  and
  note
  the
  extent
  to
  which
  their
  prolonged study in more recent times has served to authenticate
  some parts of these Mesopotamian classics. ^
  1
  The Earliest Written Texts
  The
  earliest pictographic writing found in the archaic levels
  at
  Uruk has been mentioned in a previous chapter, where it was noted
  that,
  even
  if the
  language
  of the
  'Uruk
  4'
  tablets
  could
  be
  considered as inconclusively identified, that of the 'Uruk 3' (Jemdet
  Nasr)
  texts was demonstrably Sumerian. Following these chro-
  nologically in the
  'archaic'
  series were,
  first,
  a group of tablets
  found by Woolley during the
  1920s, in
  a stratum preceding his
  'Royal Tombs' at Ur, and secondly, inscriptions discovered by the
  German
  excavators, W.
  Andrae
  and
  R.
  Koldewey,
  at
  Farah
  (ancient Shuruppak), at the beginning of the present century. ^^ At
  this
  point,
  however, we must
  recall
  that,
  practically
  without
  exception, the subject of all the writings so far mentioned are no
  90
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  more than lists and quantities of commodities or persons. The first
  instances of individuals (usually kings) adopting the use of writing
  for the purpose of recording such things as religious dedications or
  personal accomplishments are contemporary with or slightly later
  than the Farah group mentioned above, though they were found
  more recently, by Woolley at Ur.
  It
  is therefore true to say that,
  until late in the second decade of the present century, the royal
  names in the king-list, including even that of Gilgamesh himself,
  could have been considered creations of the Sumerian imagination.
  It is accordingly understandable that something of a sensation was
  caused by Woolley 's discovery in 191 9, among the ruins ofan Early
  Dynastic temple at Al 'Ubaid, of a foundation tablet bearing the
  names ofMesannipadda, first king ofthe first Dynasty of Ur, and of
  his son, A'annipadda.^3
  By that time, methodical excavations by German, French and
  American archaeologists were
  in progress
  at
  the
  sites of other
  Sumerian cities mentioned in the king-list, including some from
  which
  large
  quantities
  of
  tablets
  had
  been
  unsystematically
  extracted by
  earlier excavators.
  In the decades which followed,
  therefore, many new Sumerian texts were discovered, not only by
  the diggers themselves but by philological scholars who were now
  at work studying museum collections. ^"^ In this way, further royal
  names were added to the list ofkings who now proved to have been
  genuine historical characters. Before discussing these further, it will
  be necessary
  to
  anticipate
  the
  archaeological
  record, by
  citing
  briefly the broad conclusions which have come to be accepted
  regarding the chronology of the Early Dynastic period.
  Archaeological Phases
  This
  so-called
  Pre-Sargonid
  era
  (preceding
  the
  unification
  of
  Mesopotamia under Sargon ofAkkad), has come conventionally to
  be divided into three phases. 'Early Dynastic
  I' (ED
  I), following
  directly upon the end of the Protoliterate,
  is approximately dated
  to the years between 2900 and 2750 bc; 'Early Dynastic 11' (ED II)
  lasted until 2650 bc; while 'Early Dynastic
  III' (ED
  III), divided
  into two sub-phases,
  'a' and 'b', is taken to account for the greater
  part of three further
  centuries. This system of chronology was
  constructed largely from evidence obtained in the 1930s during
  excavations by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
  at sites in the Diyala region, east of Baghdad. ^^ j^ -^vas based, as we
  shall presently
  see, on progressive variations in the architecture,
  sculpture, pottery, seal-cylinders and other small objects associated
  with
  several temples, founded
  in most
  cases
  at the end of the
  Protoliterate period and repeatedly rebuilt in Early Dynastic times.
  Its validity has been confirmed, with only minor reservations, by
  subsequent soundings of the same sort at Nippur and elsewhere (see
  below).
  The
  task
  of adapting
  this
  archaeological
  hypothesis
  to
  the
  chronological implications of the Sumerian texts has on the whole
  proved less
  difficult than one would have imagined. One initial
  The
  Flood
  91
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  problem concerned the date and significance of 'the Flood', which
  figures so prominently in Sumerian tradition and whose memory
  has indeed been bequeathed to ourselves through the medium of
  Hebrew scriptures. The archaeological evidence in this connection
  was
  unfortunately
  extremely
  equivocal.
  Great
  floods
  were
  a
  commonplace of Mesopotamian history until quite recent times;
  and
  it was
  therefore
  less than
  surprising
  to
  find
  that,
  in deep
  soundings
  ajt relevant Sumerian
  sites, clean strata of water-borne
  sand or clay appeared in stratigraphical contexts which varied in
  time from the 'Ubaid period at Ur to the end of the Early Dynastic
  phase at Kish.^^ At Farah (Shuruppak), however, a stratum of this
  sort occurs at the end of Early Dynastic
  I, and in this single case
  it
  could, as we shall now see, be cited (without much conviction) as
  supporting evidence for an inference from the Sumerian textual
  evidence.
  Where the king-list
  is concerned, there can no longer be any
  doubt that the semi-historical epoch, represented by a succession of
  'rulers before the Flood', must be equated with the archaeological
  series defined as 'Early Dynastic
  I'. The individual names of these
  'rulers' are of little interest, since only the last to be listed has any
  historical
  significance. And here there
  is
  a connection of some
  importance with an episode in the Epic of Gilgamesh, when its hero
  made
  a journey to consult Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah,
  about the secret of eternal life.
  It had always been a matter of some
  surprise that this individual should receive no mention in the king-
  list, where the last name before 'the Flood' appeared as Ubartutu, a
  ruler of Shuruppak.
  In
  another
  version
  of the Deluge
  story,
  however,
  its hero
  is given the alternative name, Ziusudra, and a
  surviving fragment of the text makes it clear that he was the son of
  Ubartutu. ^7 The implication here that Ziusudra and Gilgamesh
  were contemporaries
  is unfortunately refuted by the fact that the
  former was deified after the Flood, and was accordingly already a
  god when Gilgamesh met him.
  On the subject of Gilgamesh himself, other sources of textual
  evidence were to prove more rewarding. One of these was an
  important text of which versions were found both
  at Ur and at
  Nippur, giving the names of kings who had piously repaired the
  structure of a shrine called 'Tummal', not yet located, at the latter
  city. These included the names of three kings, Agga, Gilgamesh
  and Mesannipadda, belonging respectively to the first dynasties of
  Kish, Erech (Uruk) and Ur. ^^ The king-list, as we have said, would
  have us believe that these three dynasties followed one another in
  chronological succession.
  In
  this
  case, however, such
  a claim
  is
  clearly refuted by other evidence, which proves the three kings
  mentioned to have been much more nearly contemporary. We
  know for instance from a Sumerian epic that Gilgamesh of Erech
  fought against Agga of Kish, but also that it was Mesannipadda of
  Ur who put an end to the Kish dynasty. As for the latter king, his
  name appears not only on the foundation tablet from Al 'Ubaid,
  but on seal-impressions found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. Armed
  with this and other evidence of the same sort, we are safe in dating
  all three kings to the third phase of the Early Dynastic period,
  perhaps between 2650 and 2550 bc.
  92
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  Between the Flood and Gilgamesh, we are now left with a period
  of time (computed by Mallowan at about lOO years), correspond-
  ing archaeologically with Early Dynastic
  II. Many of the kings'
  names
  allotted
  to
  this
  period
  are
  either
  Semitic
  intrusions
  or
  recognizable divinities; but two of them have proved historical.
  The first of these is Enmebaragisi, father to Agga of Kish, whose
  name has been significantly found in an Early Dynastic II setting at
  one of the Diyala sites. ^ ^ The other is Enmerkar of Erech, ^ ° subject
  of a very early Sumerian epic, who appears in the Greek version of
  the king-list as grandfather of Gilgamesh. With these two figures
  now authenticated, our line of enquiry
  is rapidly approaching its
  terminus post quern in the person of Ziusudra, the -Babylonian Noah.
  Early Dynastic Sites
  Khafaje
  We must now return to the archaeological record and enumerate
  some of the Sumerian
  sites which have contributed to our now
  very extensive knowledge of the Early Dynastic period. For this
  purpose,
  it may be well to start with the so-called 'Diyala' sites, if
  only
  because
  the
  finds
  there
  played
  so
  large
  a
  part
  in
  the
  establishment of a chronological structure on which subsequent
  calculations could be
  based. And
  in
  this
  area,
  priority
  should
  perhaps be accorded to the site called Khafaje (ancient Tutub), to
  which attention was drawn in the years preceding 1929 by the great
  quantity of fragmentary Sumerian sculpture which illicit digging
  was bringing into the hands of Baghdad dealers. ^^ The source of
  these
  antiquities was
  a mound near the
  east bank of the River
  Diyala, some 15 miles north of its confluence with the Tigris, and a
  single season's excavation by a team from the Oriental Institute of
  the University of Chicago revealed the presence, directly beneath
  its summit,
  of at
  least two Sumerian
  temples,
  one of which,
  occupying a central position, was dedicated to the moon-god. Sin.
  During the years that followed, numerous rebuildings of the shrine
  were carefully traced, through levels representing every phase of
  the
  Early Dynastic period, down
  to an
  original foundation
  in
  Jemdet Nasr times.
  The Sin Temple at Khafaje, like those of the Protoliterate levels
  in
  the
  Eanna
  Precinct
  at Warka,
  belongs
  to
  the
  category
  of
  'ground-level' temples. That is to say, it was not at any time raised
  upon an artificial platform, but occupied a site whose shape, if not
  its size, was dictated by the layout of residential buildings around it.
  Following the already age-old tradition oftemple building, its basic
  element took the form of a long rectangular sanctuary, with
  a
  podium altar at one end and an entrance on the cross-axis at the
  other. To
  this,
  in
  the
  case of the
  earliest
  Sin Temple,
  lateral
  chambers were added on
  either
  side,
  creating
  a
  conventional
  tripartite plan. Little was added to this simple structure until its fifth
  rebuilding at the beginning of the Early Dynastic period (Temple
  VI), when the shapeless forecourt through which
  its worshippers
  approached was extended and converted into a walled enclosure,
  with a formal gatehouse and various outbuildings. Four further
  50
  Projected plan of Sin Temple
  VIII at Khafaje dating from the
  Early Dynastic II period
  {c.
  2750-2650 Bc). Its plan
  IS adapted
  to the irregular shape of the site
  originally available when
  Temple
  I was built in the Jemdet
  Nasr period. (After Delougaz)
  93
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  51-3
  53
  5
  Reconstruction of the Oval
  Temple at Khafaje, as rebuilt in
  the Early Dynastic III period
  {c.
  2650-2350 BC). Only the
  foundations of the temple
  platform and its oval enclosure
  walls had survived
  ; the
  appearance of the raised shrine
  itself is conjectural. (After
  Darby)
  52
  Air photograph of the Oval
  Temple, from the south,
  show^ing a later tow^n v^all and
  buildings in the background
  rebuildings during later periods left the asymmetrical shape of the
  complex unaltered. Only in level IX was the outer entry given
  greater dignity and the courtyard provided with an open-air shrine.
  P. Delougaz, who was in charge of the Khafaje excavations,
  found the whole summit of the mound honeycombed with the pits
  and tunnels of illicit diggers. One whole season had to be spent in
  removing the loose earth from them and in tracing the walls of
  which fragments had survived in undisturbed areas. In this way, his
  skill as an excavator enabled him to reconstruct the plans of the two
  latest Sin temples (IX and X) and to recover such objects as the
  looters had missed. The additional collection of votive statuary
  from this source, though impressive in itself, was overshadowed by
  the
  temple
  fittings,
  ritual
  vessels
  and
  small
  objects
  found
  undisturbed in the deeper levels. This valuable assemblage of finds
  was also supplemented by the contents of three smaller temples,
  found among the dwelling-houses to the west and south of the site,
  which had escaped the attention of the looters. One was a large
  shapeless enclosure containing two separate shrines, dedicated, as
  Delougaz understood from an inscription, to the mother-goddess,
  Nintu. There were also two smaller, single-shrine temples.
  Since all these buildings appeared to be 'ground-level' temples, it
  was perhaps less surprising that, in the course of the first season's
  work, a wide area on the lower slope of the mound to the west was
  found to be covered by the scanty remains of a vast oval-shaped
  temenos which had once provided
  a setting for
  a typical 'high
  temple' raised on its artificial platform. The excavation of the 'Oval
  Temple' at Khafaje presented Delougaz with a technical problem
  which would have daunted many excavators. The area enclosed by
  its double line of outer walls had a maximum dimension of almost
  exactly 100 m; but neither the outer walls themselves nor those of
  the buildings which they enclosed remained standing more than a
  few
  brick-courses
  high.
  Delougaz was
  compelled
  to
  adopt
  a
  method of excavation earlier perfected by the Germans at Warka,
  which
  involved
  articulating
  every
  individual mud
  brick
  and
  thereby recreating the pattern of walls which they composed. After
  much labour in training Arab workmen to do
  this,
  the whole
  ground-plan of the complex was eventually recovered.
  The plans and reconstructions show three stages of building in
  the second and third phases of the Early Dynastic period.
  First,
  there
  is
  an
  almost
  symmetrical
  oval
  enceinte,
  around
  which
  outbuildings are arranged to form a rectangular inner courtyard.
  Half filling this space, the outline only could be traced of the temple
  platform, with a single stairway leading to it. To the first enclosure
  wall a second is added, distorted somewhat in shape to allow room
  for an outer courtyard and a roomy dwelling-house, perhaps for a
  priest.
  In
  the second building phase (ED
  Ilia),
  the outer wall
  increased
  in
  thickness
  and
  was
  strengthened
  with
  external
  buttresses, while in ED
  lllb
  a new and pretentious
  portal was
  added, occupying most of the outer courtyard: A section cut by
  Delougaz through the two enclosure walls showed
  their
  offset
  foundations
  beneath
  pavement
  level;
  but
  it
  also
  revealed
  a
  phenomenon which has rare parallels in other periods of temple
  building. Before the foundations were laid the entire area of the
  94
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  -^R
  ' ^
  95
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  IM'
  53
  Excavating the foundations
  of the Oval Temple enclosure at
  Khafaje (looking northwest).
  The individual mud-bricks (of
  the 'plano-convex' type) had
  laboriously to be articulated. The
  excavators in the foreground
  have discovered the deposit of
  sand on which the foundations
  rested
  temenos had been excavated to
  a depth of 4.6 m and then filled
  with
  clean
  sand,
  brought from some
  source
  outside
  the
  city.
  Delougaz estimated
  that 64,000 cubic metres of sand had been
  moved for the purpose, and assumed that ritual conventions could
  alone account for so great a labour.
  Complementary to the fmds from these temples at Khafaje v^ere
  the contents of graves, almost 200 of which were found in the town
  area, mostly beneath the floors of dwelling-houses.^^ They varied
  from simple shaft burials to walled tombs, at least two of which
  were built ofkiln-baked brick and covered with corbelled vaulting.
  The grave furniture consisted mainly of pottery
  vessels, whose
  great number and variety contributed effectively, as we shall later
  see, to the final analysis of Early Dynastic stratigraphy.
  Tell Asmar
  In post-Sumerian times,
  the
  city whose remains were found
  at
  Khafaje
  became
  part
  of
  a
  politically
  important
  state
  called
  Eshnunna,
  the
  capital
  of which was
  at
  Tell Asmar,
  50
  miles
  northeast of modern Baghdad. Here too there had been a city in
  Early Dynastic times, and a small temple was excavated by the
  Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago concurrently with
  96
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  those at Khafaje. ^ ^ The 'Abu Temple' (as it came to be known after
  the discovery in it of a statue bearing the 'plant' insignia of that god,
  elsewhere described as 'Lord of Vegetation') was founded, like the
  Sin Temple, in theJemdet Nasr period, and its architectural history
  could again be traced up to a final rebuilding early in Akkadian
  times. From a small and shapeless 'chapel', its plan developed first
  on conventional lines, into a building with a rectangular sanctuary
  and
  one
  row
  of
  lateral
  chambers.
  This
  'Archaic
  Temple'
  corresponded in time to the first phase ofthe Early Dynastic period.
  In
  the
  second,
  it
  was
  replaced by
  a
  'Square
  Temple',' with
  rectangular chambers, three of which were miniature sanctuaries,
  arranged around
  a
  central
  court.
  In
  the
  third
  phase,
  the
  plan
  reverted to a 'Single Shrine Temple', similar to the smallest of the
  series at Khafaje.
  The finds in these buildings at Tell Asmar were plentiful, and of a
  sort with which the Diyala excavators soon became familiar
  : beads,
  carved amulets, seals and even a bronze mirror, in addition to stone
  vessels and
  a
  wide
  variety
  of pottery. Where
  sculpture
  was
  concerned, a striking find was made in a sanctuary of the Square
  Temple. Carefully buried beneath the pavement beside the altar
  was a cache of twenty-one stone votive statues, remarkably well
  preserved. Furthermore, these were distinguished by a formalized
  style of carving, perhaps
  characteristic of the Early Dynastic
  II
  54
  54 Projected plan of the Square
  Temple at Tell Asmar (Early
  Dynastic II period). A cache of
  21 votive statues were found
  buried beside the altar in shrine
  II. The building differs httle
  from plans of contemporary
  dwelling-houses. (After
  Delougaz and Lloyd, 1942). a,
  priests' room
  ;
  b. Shrine
  I
  ;
  c,
  hearth
  ;
  d, Shrine II
  ;
  e, entrance
  /, ablution room
  ; g. Shrine III
  h, courtyard
  10m
  97
  
  55 A view of the Shara Temple
  (Early Dynastic
  II period) after
  excavation. The main sanctuary,
  with its altar and offering-tables,
  can be seen in the centre. Secular
  buildings of later times
  accumulated around the once
  consecrated site, when the
  temple itself had fallen into ruins
  at the end of the Early Dynastic
  period
  55
  phase, which contrasted interestingly with the more naturahstic
  Early Dynastic
  III sculpture from Khafaje.
  Tell Agrab
  The third of the Diyala sites, and almost the last to be excavated,
  once
  more
  dramatically
  illustrated
  the
  capabilities
  of
  these
  Sumerian
  temple-builders.
  This was
  Tell Agrab,
  a
  large
  city-
  mound far out in the now-empty alluvial desert (chol),
  1 5 miles east
  of Tell Asmar.^* The temple here, whose walls appeared directly
  beneath the surface, was again square in plan but measured no less
  than 60 m from side to side. Part of the building nearest to the city-
  wall had
  been denuded by
  rainwater,
  but
  the
  surviving
  half
  contained
  not
  only
  the
  impressive
  main
  sanctuary,
  but two
  subsidiary shrine-chambers and living accommodation for priests;
  their walls survived in some cases up to 2 m high. The most prolific
  source of removable objects was the sanctuary itself and
  a small
  'sacristy' chamber adjoining its high altar. As had been the case in
  the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar, discarded or damaged cult-objects
  and votive offerings had been buried beneath pavement level, or
  even built into the structure of the altar itself. In the sacristy alone,
  many
  weeks
  were
  spent
  in
  recovering
  delicate
  products
  of
  Sumerian craftsmanship, deposited in layers and covered with hard
  earth. Among
  many
  thousands
  of beads
  and
  small
  objects,
  including carved amulets and
  seals, were unique art-works
  in
  sculptured stone or bronze and some hundreds of stone maceheads,
  perhaps used for processional purposes. More
  will be
  said
  later
  about these
  finds in dealing with the
  categories
  to which they
  belong. As for the stratigraphy of this temple, apparently dedicated
  to Shara, the patron god ofUmma, the bulk of the surviving ruins
  could be dated
  to
  the second
  Early Dynastic phase;
  but small
  98
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  sections of an earlier building (Early Dynastic
  I) were excavated
  beneath it, while finds on the surface suggested a later occupation in
  Early Dynastic III.
  Ur-of-the-Chaldees
  In
  1930,
  when
  work
  on
  the
  Diyala
  sites
  began,
  Woolley's
  excavation at Ur-of-the-Chaldees had already been in progress for
  more than ten years and his spectacular finds there had provided a
  great volume of comparative material
  for the benefit of other
  workers in the same field. ^^ From prehistoric times onwards, Ur
  had been
  a great cultural and religious centre of the Sumerian
  people, and it continued to be so, long after its political importance
  had diminished.
  At the site, whose modern name
  is Muqayyar, Woolley found
  himself dealing with
  a walled
  city, roughly oval
  in shape and
  having a maximum dimension of over ^ mile.^^ It was surrounded
  35
  on its north and west sides by an ancient bed ofthe Euphrates and had
  been served by two harbours for shipping. Near to the surface in the
  northwestern quarter were the walls of a very extensive religious
  precinct, built by Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century b c to enclose its
  temples, temple-palaces and subsidiary buildings, most ofwhich had
  been piously maintained and frequently rebuilt by a long succession
  of Mesopotamian kings.
  It is understandable, therefore, that little
  37
  remained on the surface oftheir original foundations, which were by
  now for the most part deeply buried beneath the structural accretions
  oflater times. This applied equally to the city's great ziggurat, built in
  part by kings of the Third Dynasty, lated in the 3rd millennium bc.
  Woolley satisfied himself that, somewhere enclosed within its later
  fabric, were the remains ofa much earlier tower - a modest ziggurat
  rather than a mere temple platform - and, deeply buried beneath the
  later pavements on either side of it, he found the denuded walls of
  other Early Dynastic buildings, clearly associated with
  it.
  But
  it was in another part of the
  site that Woolley made the
  sequence of discoveries for which this Sumerian city became most
  famous. In the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the sacred temenos had
  been
  considerably
  extended
  at
  its
  southeastern
  end
  and
  the
  foundations of
  its new
  enclosure
  wall had
  penetrated
  into
  an
  important burial-ground of earlier times. It was here that Woolley
  made a deep sounding and was rewarded by the discovery of a
  cemetery, dating from the Early Dynastic period. Among many
  hundreds ofmore modest burials he encountered a group of 'Royal
  Tombs', whose accompanying
  display of contemporary
  riches
  astonished the world.
  Woolley
  found
  altogether
  sixteen
  of
  these
  tombs,
  each
  distinguished by
  the
  construction
  in
  their
  shafts of stone-built
  chambers, sometimes with more than one compartment. They
  were roofed with corbelled vaulting ofstone or brick and, in at least
  one case, the construction of a dome had been attempted. A more
  significant characteristic was the evidence which they provided of
  an elaborate funeral ritual, involving some sort ofhuman sacrifice.
  The major tombs were approached from the surface by a sloping
  ramp, and it was at the foot of this, beside the tomb-chamber, that
  the bodies were found of soldiers and female attendants, as well as
  99
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  \V~'
  56 The city of Ur at the time of
  its Third Dynasty and later. Ur-
  nammu's city-wall was
  destroyed by the Elamites in
  2006 BC. Woolley found
  it to
  have been over 27 m in thickness
  and traced the remains of two
  harbours accessible from the
  Euphrates. The inner Temenos
  Wall was rebuilt by
  Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
  fifteen hundred years later.
  (From Hawkes, 1974)
  Schematic plan
  of Ur
  emple
  a>Fortress
  Ziggur
  D\A/elling quarter
  (Urlllandlate||^
  \\ Western
  V (Harbour
  Houses
  *
  (Urilland w
  later)
  V
  S»iA>>
  Dwelling quartefj
  (Ur III and
  later
  Late B
  arter^
  abylonianquarter\<
  U'''
  Temple"
  of
  /
  ;
  Enki
  y
  i»ii\
  ' !''
  "^•-^
  Outer
  //''/
  ^V^""--
  City wallv''?.'
  wheeled vehicles with their draft-animals, which had formed part
  ofthe funeral cortege. All these were disposed in an orderly manner
  in the shaft, while some privileged individuals shared the burial
  chamber itself with its principal occupant. The personnages whose
  deaths had been the occasion for so much ritual lay as a rule on a
  wooden bier, surrounded by a great wealth of personal possessions.
  The number and variety of these - ornaments, weapons, musical
  instruments and other treasures - create an inventory of beautiful
  objects, whose archaeological interest even exceeds their intrinsic
  value. Many of them have been made familiar to a wide public
  through the medium ofbook illustration and museum display; but
  the aptitude of their design and high standard of craftsmanship
  remain one of the great marvels of antiquity.
  There is space here only to recollect some examples of the more
  characteristic
  burials,
  and
  for
  this
  purpose
  one must
  use
  the
  catalogue numbers by which Woolley distinguished them.
  The burial whose contents are perhaps best known of all is that of
  'Queen Shubad' (no. 800B), whose name, inscribed on her lapis-
  lazuH cylinder-seal, is now read as Pu-abi. Unlike some others, this
  grave had escaped the attention of tomb-robbers, so that both its
  stone chamber and shaft, with the retinue of attendants, remained
  intact. In the dromos (an extension of the shaft) were 5 soldiers, a
  wagon drawn by 2 oxen and 10 court ladies, one of whom was a
  harpist.
  "^"^ In the tomb-chamber, the queen was accompanied by
  two
  companions.
  She wore
  splendid jewellery,
  including
  the
  100
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  elaborate headdress of gold and semi-precious stones of which
  reconstructions are to be seen in the British Museum and elsewhere.
  Around her were vessels of gold and silver, a harp decorated with
  a
  cow's
  head,
  an
  inlaid
  gaming-table,
  an
  electrum
  rein-ring
  surmounted by the figure of a wild ass, and 267 other objects of
  great value. A chest containing the queen's clothes concealed a hole
  in the floor, through which the workmen preparing her tomb had
  penetrated into and partially looted another chamber beneath. This
  Woolley assumed to have been the 'King's Tomb', since again its
  own shaft and dromos were occupied by appropriate
  sacrifices,
  formally disposed. There were in all 59 bodies, including 6 soldiers
  who had led the cortege, 2 chariots drawn by 6 oxen, 19 court ladies
  57 The great Temenos or sacred
  enclosure at Ur dating from the
  time of the Third Dynasty
  (2 1 1 3-2006 Bc), showing some
  later features. (From Hawkes,
  1974)
  58
  lOI
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  Mag.
  N
  58 The so-called 'King's Tomb',
  no. 789, in the Early Dynastic
  cemetery at Ur, found by
  Woolley beneath tomb 800
  (ill.
  59). Against the tomb wall is a
  row of court ladies and near them
  guards with spears. (S. Ebrahim
  after Woolley, 1935). a, door; b,
  dromos
  ; c, wagons
  59 The tomb of 'Queen Shubad'
  (or 'Pu-abi' as she is now known),
  no. 800, built over the 'King's
  Tomb', no. 789
  (ill. 58).
  (S. Ebrahim after Woolley,
  1935), ^, tomb 800B; b, chest; c,
  chariot; d, dromos; e, pit;/, lyre
  in gold headdresses and, elsewhere in the shaft, a lyre with an inlaid
  sounding-box and the head of a bull in gold and lapis. Despite the
  hurried looting of the chamber itself, a silver model of a boat and a
  shell-inlaid gaming-table remained in place.
  Another grave whose occupant was identified by his name on a
  cylinder-seal
  was
  that
  of Akalamdug
  (no.
  1050). He
  was
  accompanied by the bodies of 40 attendants and from the shaft
  came two of the fmest ceremonial daggers, one with a lapis-lazuli
  haft and granulated gold ornament. Another tomb was that of
  Meskalamdug
  (no.
  755),
  owner
  of the
  famous
  golden
  'wig-
  helmet', now in the Iraq Museum, whose name was also inscribed
  on a gold lamp. But the expenditure of human lives seemed to
  reach
  its climax in the great, anonymous shaft-grave (no.
  1237),
  which contained 74 bodies - 68 ofthem women in full regalia, some
  with
  lyres. Mallowan, who was
  present when
  this
  burial was
  exposed, has described the impression which
  it created:
  '.
  .
  . the
  ghastly
  scene
  of human
  sacrifice,
  a
  crowd
  of
  skeletons
  so
  gorgeously bedecked that they seemed to be lying on
  a golden
  carpet'. Major treasures from this source included the two gold and
  lapis he-goats, rampant against bronze foliage, which reminded
  02
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  Woolley of the biblical phrase, 'a ram caught by its horns'. Like the
  magnificent
  'royal
  standard' with
  its
  inlaid scenes of 'war and
  peace', found in a plundered tomb elsewhere (no. 779), the purpose
  of these too was uncertain.
  In the years since these discoveries were made, some authorities
  have
  questioned
  Woolley's
  use
  of
  the
  term
  'Royal
  Tombs',
  suggesting
  an
  alternative
  identification
  of
  their
  occupants
  as
  participants in some fertility cult-practice.^^ Today, however, the
  evidence in favour ofthe excavator's own conclusion has come to be
  generally accepted. On the seal-cyhnder of Akalamdug he is given
  the specific title, 'King of Ur', while that ofMeskalamdug similarly
  designates him as lugal (king). As for the practice ofhuman sacrifice,
  in a passage from the Epic of Gilgamesh a hero is 'accompanied in
  death by some of his retainers'. But Mallowan and others have also
  pointed out that at least half-a-dozen of these 'royalties' appear to
  be members of a single 'Kalam' family, and that they may well
  represent a 'dynasty', preceding that associated by the king-list with
  Mesannipadda and his successors. In the disturbed strata overlying
  Woolley's cemetery, inscriptions have been found, naming these
  kings of the canonical 'First Dynasty of Ur', and the circumstances
  suggest
  that
  their own tombs may have been more
  effectively
  plundered
  than
  those
  beneath.
  This
  being
  the
  case,
  the two
  dynasties have been respectively associated with the archaeological
  phases Early Dynastic Ilia and Illb.
  Al 'Ubaid
  At
  this point something should be said about Woolley's
  earlier
  (1922) excavation
  at the small neighbouring
  site of Al 'Ubaid,
  where H. R. Hall had already discovered a rich deposit of Sumerian
  antiquities.^^ Here, the prehistoric settlement to which we have
  alluded in a previous chapter seems to have been abandoned at the
  beginning of the Protoliterate period.
  In Early Dynastic times,
  however, a temple had been built nearby, probably on the site of a
  much earlier religious shrine, and dedicated by King A'annipadda
  to the goddess Nin-khursag, mother and wife of Enlil. Its platform,
  whose facades were faced with kiln-baked brick, had survived
  almost intact, and it was in the angle between this and the stairway
  approaching its summit that Hall had made his most striking find.
  At some time the temple itself had been dismantled and destroyed,
  but much of its architectural ornament had been removed and was
  found
  still lying where
  it had fallen or been deposited. A great
  bronze
  lintel, with the projecting figure of a lion-headed eagle
  between two stags, may have decorated the main doorway and a
  pair of columns, encrusted with coloured inlay, perhaps helped to
  support
  it. The wall-faces nearby had also been ornamented with
  friezes of animals, modelled in high relief and sheathed in copper,
  while others, inlaid with limestone, depicted formal scenes similar
  to those on cylinder-seals. The actual form of the building to which
  these and other decorations had been applied unfortunately remains
  obscure.
  In the mid-i930s, when the remnants of a contemporary temple
  platform were found at Khafaje, Delougaz suspected a close parallel
  with its counterpart at Al 'Ubaid. Further soundings which he was
  103
  
  104
  
  then
  able
  to make
  in
  the
  vicinity of the Nin-khursag temple
  confirmed the fact that it too had once been surrounded by an oval-
  shaped enclosure wall.
  ' °°
  KiSH
  The
  only
  examples
  of temple
  platforms
  (described
  by
  their
  excavators as 'ziggurats'), dating from the Early Dynastic period,
  are those at the site of Kish. It will be remembered that this city, first
  in the series of dynastic capitals mentioned in the king-list, was held
  in great respect by the Sumerians; and indeed, the eponymous title
  'King of Kish' was afterwards sometimes assumed by rulers of
  other
  cities which attained the hegemony of the Land (Sumer).
  Today, its site is represented by a wide grouping of mounds, once
  more bordering an ancient bed of the Euphrates, 9 miles east of
  Babylon. In the course of the city's history,
  its principal buildings
  were alternately concentrated in areas over 2 miles apart which
  are today known as Uhaimir and Ingharra (ancient Harsagkalama).
  Both were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by English or French
  archaeologists.
  ' °
  ^
  The
  earliest
  finds were made by
  E. Mackay
  in an outlying
  mound of the Ingharra group, afterwards known as Area 'A'. Here
  there was a cemetery, with graves mostly dating from the final
  phase of the Early Dynastic period; but, in clearing them, Mackay
  found
  that
  the
  earlier
  burials
  penetrated
  into
  the
  ruins of an
  extensive and important building belonging to
  a slightly earlier
  period. This was the so-called 'Palace A', the first example to be
  found of a monumental building devoted to other than religious
  purposes in the early days of the Sumerian
  dynasties. With
  its
  towered portico, buttressed outer walls and columned chambers, it
  once more emphasizes the dignity of contemporary architecture.
  The excavation which was next undertaken in the main mound
  at Ingharra was in the end extremely productive, though it suffered
  from some deficiency in archaeological method, which served to
  detract from the clarity of its subsequent publication. Many years
  later, however,
  its stratigraphy was more
  effectively elucidated
  by
  a modern
  scholar,
  P.
  R.
  S. Moorey,
  after
  a painstaking
  re-
  60 ThesiteofTell-ArUbaid.
  Plan showing surviving platform
  of an Early Dynastic temple in
  an oval enclosure.
  It is built on
  the outskirts of a prehistoric
  settlement, dating from a
  thousand years earlier, which the
  Sumerians used as a graveyard.
  (From Delougaz, 1938)
  61 The great hntel, now in the
  British Museum, from the
  Temple of Nin-khursag at Al
  'Ubaid. Found with other
  architectural ornament, displaced
  and lying at the base of the
  platform,
  it is composed of
  copper sheeting over a wooden
  core and represents Imdugud, the
  Uon-headed eagle with two stags
  (c. 2500 Bc). Ht 107 cm
  105
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  examination of the
  actual
  finds
  in
  relation
  to
  the
  contents
  of
  surviving
  field notebooks. 'o-
  His
  conclusions were broadly
  as
  follow^s.
  At the summit of the mound v^ere two Early Dynastic ziggurats
  of different sizes. The smaller of these had been partly demolished
  to provide an emplacement for a Neo-Babylonian temple; but the
  excavators were able to trace the brick fac^ade of an artificial terrace
  upon which
  it had stood.
  In doing
  so, they located
  its original
  foundation, at a level demonstrably contemporary with that of the
  palace in Area A (ED Ilia)
  ; but they could also distinguish a later
  building-level,
  separated from
  the
  first by
  a
  deep
  deposit
  of
  discarded brick debris, into which graves had been dug - some in
  the subsequent phase (ED Illb) and others in Akkadian times. These
  burials could therefore be equated with the cemetery in Area A.
  The original ziggurat terrace was founded directly upon an easily
  recognizable 'flood stratum' which covered the whole
  site, and
  beneath this an important sounding was made. It revealed part of a
  residential area (Settlement Y), with dwelling-houses on either side
  of a narrow street.
  Before reaching ground-water, the Y-sounding passed through
  three distinct occupation-levels, dated by pottery to Early Dynastic
  I and II, and at each of them there were further traces offlooding. In
  these levels also, there were many simple graves, dug beneath the
  floors of the houses; but there were also
  a number of so-called
  'chariot burials', containing up to three wheeled vehicles, though
  the grave-goods which accompanied them - weapons, vases and
  even a rein-ring - were mostly of copper. It has been rightly argued
  that such burials would require deeper shafts than ordinary graves
  and that accordingly these must belong to an occupation above the
  main 'flood' level. This could make them contemporary with the
  Royal Graves at Ur, with which their contents are comparable.
  Lagash
  The
  site
  called
  Telloh
  lies
  halfway
  between
  the
  Tigris
  and
  Euphrates,
  near
  the modern town
  of
  Shatra.
  Ever
  since
  the
  beginning of the present century, when E. de Sarzec brought from
  101-2
  it to the Louvre diorite statues of the governors (here called ishakku)
  of Lagash,
  it has been comfortably identified
  as the
  site of that
  city. '°^
  It was not until 1953
  that a study by Thorkild Jacobsen
  drew attention to a neighbouring site called Tell Al-Hiba, 15 miles
  to the southeast, where excavators from the Metropohtan Museum
  and New York University have now located
  the
  true Lagash,
  capital of a state, one of whose religious centres was ancient Girsu,
  loj
  now Telloh. ^^'^ We have therefore to accept that 'Tell Al-Hiba
  (ancient Uruku)
  is Lagash city, of the state of Lagash, comparable
  to New York city of the State of New York'."^5
  Nevertheless,
  it is the finds made early in the present century by
  the French
  at
  Telloh which have provided
  us not only with
  important collections of tablets, but with treasures dating from the
  time of the great rulers of Lagash, mentioned in the king-list, and in
  some
  cases
  bearing
  their
  names. '^^
  Sculptured
  stone
  plaques,
  ^S
  weapons and seals are associated with Ur-Nanshe, who may have
  been approximately contemporary with Mesannipadda. There are
  I
  106
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  fragments of the famous 'Stela of the Vultures' which celebrated
  6g
  the victory of Eannatum, ruler of Lagash, over the neighbouring
  city o{ Umma, and on which he
  is depicted wearing
  a helmet
  similar to that buried with Meskalamdug at Ur, and there
  is the
  finely engraved
  silver vase of Entemena, Eannatum's successor.
  Some of these
  objects
  are known
  to have
  contributed
  to
  the
  endowment of a famous temple dedicated to Enlil at Girsu, but the
  early excavations at Telloh were such that its ruins are unlikely to
  have been recognized. More will now be learnt about the state
  capital from the American excavations in progress there.
  Nippur
  This is another great city of the Sumerian epoch, first excavated by
  Americans led by H. V. Hilprecht at the end of the last century.
  The mounds, today known as Niffer, extend for almost half-a-mile
  on
  either
  side of the
  old
  Shatt-al-Nil
  river-bed,
  northeast of
  Diwaniyah. Beneath them on the northeast side are the remains of a
  fortified religious quarter, with a ziggurat and temple dedicated to
  Enlil
  at
  the highest
  point. "^^ Renewed excavations during
  the
  1960s under R. C. Haines partly centred on an area between the
  ziggurat and the old water-course, where an Early Dynastic temple
  was found, in this case associated with the name of Inanna, 'Queen
  of Heaven'. '^^ Like similar temples at the Diyala sites,
  it had been
  maintained or
  rebuilt throughout
  all
  three phases of the
  Early
  Dynastic
  period,
  and
  most
  effectively
  amplified
  the
  evidence
  already
  available,
  regarding
  contemporary
  developments
  in
  architecture,
  sculpture and
  the
  design of pottery. '°^ Of great
  interest in this respect are the exposures in two levels, VIII and VII
  (numbered downwards), respectively representing Early Dynastic
  II and the transition from that phase to Early Dynastic Ilia, the era
  of the Royal Tombs at Ur.
  The temple in level VII showed several remarkable features.
  Its
  75
  twin sanctuaries were sited at one end of the long, straggling plan
  and
  were
  approached
  through
  a
  succession
  of
  courts
  and
  antechambers, two of which had circular brick columns to support
  the roof Furthermore, contrary to the general practice at this time,
  one of the sanctuaries was entered through a doorway at one end,
  on
  the
  main
  axis
  of
  the
  building,
  thereby
  anticipating
  the
  convention of later times. In these levels the Inanna temple also
  produced a rich harvest of sculpture, partly in the form of votive
  statues,
  whose
  clearly
  indicated
  stratigraphy
  provided new
  evidence for the study of stylistic development. But relief carving
  too was represented by an important series of square 'wall-plaques'
  of the sort whose purpose
  is
  still disputed, though their figured
  designs are common to almost all sites in these and later periods.
  '
  ' °
  Of pottery types a preliminary study has already been made, and
  confirms to a large extent the chronological conclusions reached in
  the publication of the Diyala sequence.
  ASHUR AND MaRI
  Mention must now be made of two other
  sites, situated beyond
  the limits of the alluvial plain, yet both clearly to be considered
  107
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  M'li
  as outposts of the
  cultural and
  political enclave which we
  call
  Sumerian. These are,
  first, Ashur (Qal'at Sharqat) on the Tigris,
  1 88
  miles
  north
  of Baghdad
  and
  Mari
  (Tell
  Hariri)
  on
  the
  Euphrates, 7.5 miles north of the present Syrian frontier.
  Ashur was later to become the
  first capital of the state called
  Assyria. The
  city was founded on
  a high rocky promontory,
  overlooking the river at a point where its main stream was joined
  126-7
  by a subsidiary waterway.
  '
  '
  ^ During the 2nd millennium b c it was
  surrounded by a powerful fortress wall, to which a second outer
  wall was later added, and extended to enclose a residential suburb,
  increasing the river frontage to a length of more than
  1.8 miles.
  Among
  the
  public
  buildings,
  including
  three
  ziggurats, which
  occupied the northern heights of the old town in these later days,
  the German excavators under W. Andrae discovered
  a temple
  dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, whose earliest foundation dated
  back to Early Dynastic times. After recording and removing many
  later
  rebuildings,
  they were
  able
  to
  study
  this
  'Archaic
  Ishtar
  Temple' and,
  in the best-preserved building-level,
  to expose
  its
  complete plan and to recover the greater part of its contents.
  '
  ' ^
  Many years later, a very similar find was made by the French at
  Mari. Here it was to be expected that remains of the Early Dynastic
  period would be found, since in the king-list it is named as one of
  the cities from which a dynasty of kings ruled over Sumer. Sure
  enough, in a position adjoining one of the principal gates in the
  rampart surrounding the town, the excavator, A. Parrot, found a
  temple, again dedicated to Ishtar, of which the first three building-
  levels
  (a-c)
  dated from
  Pre-Sargonid
  times.
  In
  the
  years
  that
  followed, other temples of the same period were found nearer to
  the centre of the town, and these, like the Ishtar Temple, produced
  a rich harvest of sculpture and other objects. Meanwhile, Parrot
  and his team had become preoccupied with the clearance of an
  1 1 1
  enormous
  palace,
  dating
  frohi
  the
  first
  quarter
  of
  the
  2nd
  millennium bc, and this too was afterwards found to have replaced
  an earlier palace, contemporary with the Ishtar Temple.
  It was
  during clearances near this earlier building that they came upon a
  cache of valuable objects which included a seal-cylinder presented
  to a local ruler by 'Mesannipadda, King of Ur'.' '^ The building
  was thus firmly dated to the third phase of the Early Dynastic
  period
  and
  the
  relations
  between
  the
  two
  Sumerian
  cities
  established.
  '
  '
  "^
  The shrines at these two northern sites can now be added to the
  category
  of small
  Sumerian
  temples
  at
  the
  Diyala
  sites
  and
  elsewhere,
  to whose
  architectural and
  other
  conventions
  they
  almost
  exactly
  conform.
  Each
  has
  one
  or more
  rectangular
  sanctuaries, with an altar at one end and an entry on the cross-axis.
  In each, well-preserved examples of votive statues had survived
  and, against the side walls of the sanctuary, clay benches could be
  seen upon which they had rested. At Ashur there were other sorts of
  votive objects and ritual fixtures in the form of miniature buildings
  in
  terracotta.
  Fragments
  of
  a
  small
  painted gypsum
  plaque,
  showing the recumbent figure of the goddess Ishtar in reUef, were
  thought by the excavators to suggest the form which the cult statue
  might have taken.
  108
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  62 A pseudo-Sumerian statue
  from Chuera in northern Syria, a
  city whose inhabitants 'had
  adopted the garb and manners of
  the ahen peoples dominant in
  their world at the time'
  Chuera
  A final word should be said about this site, which is remotely placed
  in northern Syria, between the Khabur and Balikh rivers, eastern
  tributaries
  of the
  Euphrates.
  Excavated
  since
  1958 by Anton
  Moortgat,
  it
  has
  revealed
  a
  curiously
  outlandish
  reflection of
  Sumerian civilization, much affected by environmental differences
  and alien influences,
  '
  '
  = Fully occupied, as the excavations appear
  to show, both in the Early Dynastic and Akkadian periods,
  its
  buildings
  are
  of undressed
  stone,
  sometimes
  surmounted
  by
  brickwork, and its craftsmanship much affected by the proximity
  of metal sources. The temples have open porticoes, reminiscent of
  those in the Protoliterate levels at Tepe Gawra, which have been
  compared with
  the 'megaron'
  dwelling-houses of Bronze Age
  Anatolia
  (see above) and there
  are strange, un-Sumerian burial
  chambers. Yet there are also many votive statues - albeit small in
  62
  109
  
  The Early Sumerian Dynasties
  size and rather crudely made - and pottery vessels with figures in
  relief and other objects which are unmistakably Early Dynastic.
  Of the inhabitants themselves Mallowan says
  : 'They need not have
  been Sumerians
  ; they need not even have had any Semitic affinities.
  It may be assumed that they were wealthy natives, who, like many
  before them and many after, had adopted the garb and the manners
  of the alien peoples dominant in their world at the time.'
  ' '^
  Variants in Terminology
  Readers of Moortgat's reports on
  this excavation
  '
  ' ^ should be
  warned that some German scholars adopt a different terminology
  for the chronological sub-divisions of the Early Dynastic period,
  substituting names with a more epigraphic flavour. The terms they
  use are applroximately as follows:
  1
  There
  is a Mesilim period, called after a titular 'King of Kish'
  whose name has been found on a sculptured macehead. This
  is
  associated with a group of cylinder-seals in the 'Diyala linear style'
  (Frankfort), which Strommenger calls 'the early abstract style' of
  Early Dynastic
  II (ED
  II).
  It
  also corresponds
  to
  the level
  VIII
  Inanna Temple at Nippur.
  2 Next comes a phase identified by Moortgat with 'cylinder-seals
  grouped around an inscription [formerly] read Imdugud Sikurru
  .
  Strommenger calls this the Farah period, and sees in these seals the
  'later more naturalistic style' of ED II, perhaps continuing into ED
  Ilia, like the level VII Inanna Temple at Nippur.
  3
  After this Moortgat couples together a Meskalamdug style with
  UR I (Mesannipadda) period, which Strommenger equates with ED
  IIIb."8
  There have been criticisms both of these terms themselves and of
  the chronological conclusions which they imply. Mallowan, for
  instance, points out that Mesilim's name is not included in the king-
  list and that his macehead could be as late as ED III. (Rowton places
  him a little before Ur-Nanshe of Lagash, in ED Illa). Mallowan also
  reminds us
  that the Royal Graves
  at Ur were dug into
  a layer
  containing tablets older than those from Farah. Generally, British
  and American
  scholars prefer
  the simpler system of numbered
  phases.
  no
  
  Chapter Six
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  We have now summarized the main results of excavations at some
  of the
  principal
  ancient
  cities founded or occupied during
  the
  earliest historical periods in Mesopotamia. Our total knowledge of
  the civilization created during these centuries and of the way of life
  which It engendered has been acquired from two principal sources:
  first, from the study of material remains, exposed or recovered by
  archaeologists, and
  secondly from
  the
  contents of the
  written
  documents which their finds have made available to philologists. It
  is with the former source of information that we are here primarily
  concerned; so we must now consider the archaeological finds in
  greater detail. This may again be done under separate headings.
  Statues
  It might today seem strange to us that sculpture in stone should
  feature
  so
  significantly
  in Mesopotamian
  art. Perhaps
  the very
  scarcity of the material and the remoteness of the sources from
  which
  it could be obtained themselves invested
  it with
  a rarity
  value, appropriate to the purposes for which it was generally used.
  For a fact that must initially be remembered
  is that
  all forms of
  Sumerian
  sculpture,
  whether
  statues
  in-the-round
  or
  relief
  carvings, were of a religious character and intended to perform
  some ritual function within the confines of a temple. In this respect,
  the commonest artform, and perhaps the most characteristic of the
  Early
  Dynastic
  period,
  is
  the category of votive
  or
  'personal'
  statues, already frequently mentioned in describing the contents of
  early Sumerian temples. Fortunately the dedicatory inscriptions
  often found
  carved upon them
  leave
  little
  doubt
  as
  to
  their
  intention. The effigy of an individual worshipper, translated into
  stone and placed in the sanctuary of a religious building, could be
  expected to intercede on his behalf with an appropriate deity.
  '
  '
  "^
  In almost every one of the many temples mentioned
  in
  the
  previous chapter such statues were found. Whether lying displaced
  or broken beside the brick 'benches' on which they had stood,
  carefully buried beneath the floor of a sanctuary or even built into
  the structure of an altar, their recovery has contributed to the great
  volume of Sumerian sculpture now available for study. All that is
  now lacking in
  this
  field of discovery are the actual cult-statues
  themselves,
  which
  must
  have
  stood upon
  the
  altar-platform,
  creating a focal point for the liturgy of Sumerian religious ritual.
  Among
  the
  cache of discarded
  sculpture found
  in
  the Square
  Temple at Tell Asmar, a pair of male and female figures, almost half
  Sculpture
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  M'
  63
  Stone figure of a worshipper
  from Khafaje (Jemdet Nasr
  period)
  : the earhest known
  prototype of votive statues found
  in great numbers among the
  sanctuaries of later Sumerian
  temples. The style of carving
  is
  still undeveloped. Ht 10 cm
  64
  life-size, were tentatively identified by Henri Frankfort as god and
  goddess, by symbols carved on the base of the male figure. But the
  evidence of these and of the exaggerated size of their staring eyes
  have proved unconvincing to most other critics, who note in them
  an attitude of prayer common to all the smaller and less ostentatious
  votive
  figures:
  the folded hands, holding
  a cup from which
  a
  libation
  is about to be poured, and other features seeming more
  logically associated with a worshipper than with the object of his
  veneration. At Ashur
  too,
  in
  the
  'Archaic'
  Ishtar Temple, W.
  Andrae imagined a gypsum figure of the deity, in high relief above
  the altar, since a miniature version of such a figure had been found
  among the debris of the sanctuary.
  ' ^° This proposal too did not
  prove wholly acceptable, since no imprint of it had been left upon
  the wall. It is in fact not improbable that cult-statues generally were
  too valuable and too easily removed to be likely to have survived.
  It was Frankfort again who first attempted a stylistic analysis of
  these sculptures, using mainly as his study-material the 200-or-so
  complete or fragmentary statues recovered from temples
  at the
  Diyala
  sites.
  ' ^
  ' Bearing in mind that their peculiarities might be
  slightly provincial, he was able to distinguish two separate stages in
  the development of their conventional design: an earlier and a later
  style of carving, corresponding as
  it proved, at least in the Diyala
  region, to the second and third phases of the Early Dynastic period.
  Regarding the earlier of these two styles of carving, if we are to
  look first for its antecedents, they can be found only among the few
  surviving works of Protoliterate sculptors, to some of which we
  have already referred. Of these the only object comparable to our
  votive statues of later times is a rather crudely carved female figure
  from a Jemdet Nasr provenance at Khafaje, whose hands, folded
  around
  some
  missing
  object,
  already
  suggest
  an
  attitude
  of
  worship. '^^ Chronologically, however,
  this
  object
  is
  separated
  from Frankfort's
  'earlier' dynastic sculpture by a period of time
  corresponding to the entire Early Dynastic
  I period, to which no
  single work of sculpture has yet been firmly attributed. We shall
  therefore be justified in concluding that the Early Dynastic II style
  which we are about to consider, developed independently of any
  traditional influence. Its characteristics may perhaps best be seen in
  the group of statues from the Square Temple at Tell Asmar, all of
  which appear to be attributable to a single 'school' of sculptors.
  ' ^^
  Of the 'worshippers' in this group, nine are men, dressed in the
  conventional garment of the period - a simple skirt of wool with a
  girdle and long fringe. One, who is bald and clean-shaven, can be
  recognized as a priest
  ; the remainder have square beards and long
  hair, both neatly corrugated and painted black. Their eyes are inlaid
  with shell and lapis-lazuli. The twelfth sculpture
  is the kneeling
  figure of a priest carved in alabaster, ritually naked and wearing a
  toque-like
  headdress.
  The
  two
  female
  figures
  also
  wear
  a
  conventional garment,
  passing diagonally
  across the breast and
  draped over the left shoulder. As to their hairstyle, they show two
  variations of an arrangement common to both the second and third
  Early Dynastic phases:
  a
  'halo-plait' passing vertically over the
  crown ofthe head with a 'chignon' behind. But many other devices
  are to be seen at this time. The styHstic peculiarity of these figures
  112
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  consists mainly in the distinctive rendering of the human body, by
  the reduction of its component shapes to abstract forms. Whatever
  the difference between individual statues, the formal principles are
  the same: the sculptor has somehov^ rationalized its combination
  of miscellaneous
  features
  into
  a manageable formula of semi-
  geometric equations. It can of course be contended that the general
  simplification of forms may have been dictated in part by lack of
  technical skill among these early stone-cutters
  ; but the artistry with
  which
  it was achieved
  testifies rather to an interest in design,
  as
  opposed
  to
  actual
  representation. An
  interesting
  contrast
  is
  incidentally to be seen in the contemporary figures modelled for
  casting in metal. In the Early Dynastic
  II period metallurgy was
  already well understood and some striking works in copper were
  among the finds at Khafaje and Tell Agrab. But the designs are
  purely naturalistic and show no signs of deliberate formalization.
  For the purpose of Frankfort's study, the Early Dynastic III style
  of sculpture was represented mostly by votive statuary from the
  later Sin Temples at Khafaje. But it is also abundantly illustrated by
  examples
  from
  other
  sites,
  both
  in
  Sumer
  itself and
  in
  the
  dependent provinces of upper Mesopotamia (where the distinction
  between
  the two
  stylistic
  phases
  is
  less
  clearly
  defined). The
  sculptors of this later period have gained in confidence. They have
  discarded the devices of formal simplification and are no longer
  afraid to interest themselves in the details of physical appearance.
  The subtler contours of the body are carefully modelled; mouths
  and cheeks are shaped to give the face expression; the corrugation
  64 Group of votive statues of the
  Early Dynastic
  II period, found
  in the 'Square Temple' at Tell
  Asmar. The tallest pair were at
  first thought to be cult statues of
  a god and goddess. They
  represent Frankfort's 'earlier
  style' of carving, with
  formahzed geometric shapes. Ht
  of tallest figure, 76 cm
  113
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  65 The seated statue of Ebih-il
  from Mari, representing the
  'later style' of the Early Dynastic
  III period. He wears the
  characteristically Sumerian
  kaunakes garment with 'petals' of
  wool. His beard indicates the use
  of a drill: a hallmark of Mari
  sculpture. The figure
  is dedicated
  to the goddess Ishtar. Ht 52.5 cm
  66
  Seated statue of an individual
  called Ur-Nanshe, from the
  Ishtar Temple at Mari.
  According to an inscription, she
  (or he?) was a singer at the court
  of King Iblulil, which may
  account for the unconventional
  hairstyle. (Early Dynastic III
  period). Ht 26 cm
  of hair and beards are replaced by a pattern of curls, sometimes
  separated by
  drill-holes. An even more conspicuous change has
  taken place in the design and portrayal of clothing. Now for the
  first time
  the
  so-called kaunakes appears:
  a system of weaving
  which covers the whole garment with petal-shaped tufts of wool in
  an overlapping
  pattern, thought of by some
  as an attempt
  to
  simulate sheep-skin.
  ' ^'^ Certainly
  it transforms the appearance of
  these statues and is freely represented in other forms of pictorial art
  at this time.
  There
  is now in fact a striking uniformity of style and artistic
  convention
  throughout
  Mesopotamia.
  Fashions
  in
  dress
  and
  personal appearance are governed by
  a
  rigid convention which
  ignores
  any
  regional
  difference
  of
  race
  or
  tradition.
  The
  idiosyncrasy,
  for instance, of shaving the head while growing a
  luxurious beard, which is seen in statues from Khafaje or Warka,
  is
  equally common
  at Mari on
  the upper
  Euphrates, where
  the
  population
  is predominantly un-Sumerian.
  It
  is in fact from the
  Ishtar Temple and other Early Dynastic shrines at this northern site
  that some of the fmest and best-preserved Early Dynastic statues are
  derived,
  several of them inscribed with
  their names and occu-
  pations. '^^ Some also, like the famous Ebih-il, superintendent of
  the temple, are shown seated upon a chair or stool: once more a
  convention which is to be seen at Khafaje and elsewhere. Only the
  women in some cases wear a 'polos' headdress, shaped like a biretta,
  and one of them has a kaunakes outer garment draped over the top
  of it. By contrast, the 'singer', Ur-Nanshe, is seated crosslegged on
  a cushion and has straight hair, parted in the middle.
  ' ^^
  Equally rare are sculptured figures other than those of human
  beings, such as the bearded cow in alabaster from the Nintu Temple
  at
  Khafaje, which Delougaz suspected of being
  in
  fact
  a
  cult-
  statue.
  ' -^ We should accordingly now turn to the subject of relief
  carving, since
  it
  is plentiful and of great interest.
  Relief Carving
  In Early Dynastic times this form ofcarving is at first best illustrated
  by
  a
  class of wall-plaques
  in
  stone
  or
  slate. They
  are
  square,
  perforated in the centre and decorated in relief with a variety of
  pictorial scenes. Their purpose has been widely discussed and a
  number
  of ingenious
  suggestions
  put
  forward. '^^
  The
  most
  obvious inference - that they were affixed to an interior wall-face
  by a central peg, perhaps with an ornamental head - is confirmed
  by some examples in which flanges ofundressed stone at the sides of
  the square are clearly intended to be covered by the surrounding
  plaster. As for the scenes depicted, they are usually arranged in two
  or three registers, showing rows of figures engaged in religious
  ritual or ceremonies associated with royalty. Some are intended to
  commemorate a particular event
  ; and in one well-known example,
  both the nature of the occasion and the names of the participants are
  recorded by inscriptions.
  ^ ^^ Ur-Nanshe, 'divine bailiffofLagash', is
  seen carrying bricks for the construction of a temple, accompanied
  by his sons and attendants. But there were other, more standardized
  pictorial
  compositions,
  one of which had
  clearly
  at
  this
  time
  become so stereotyped among Sumerian craftsmen that a missing
  114
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  67 Sumerian wall-plaque from
  Khafaje (Early Dynastic III),
  showing servants attendant upon
  a king, with his chariot in
  readiness below\ A missing
  fragment (bottom left), has been
  replaced by part of a similar
  plaque from Ur, proving that
  the design was standardized at
  this time. The plaque is 51.5 cm
  square
  68
  Wall-plaque carved in relief,
  from Telloh. Ur-Nanshe of
  Lagash is seen carrymg a basket
  of bricks for the building of a
  temple - and again, seated
  among his children. The archaic
  inscriptions are an unusual
  feature of this plaque. Ht 40 cm
  115
  
  Prt'-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  II*
  f'
  69
  fragment of a plaque from Khafaje could be restored by reference
  to a replica found at Ur, some 100 miles away.'^^ This was the
  well-known 'banqueting scene', where a royal person in the top
  register is being served with food and drink, while below his empty
  chariot
  is
  being
  prepared.
  Musicians
  and
  domestic
  animals
  complete the pattern.
  As we have mentioned earlier, an important sequence of these
  plaques was found at Nippur in levels VIII and VIIB of the Inanna
  Temple.
  They
  have
  been
  very
  carefully
  studied
  by
  D. P.
  Hansen,
  '
  -*
  ' who points out that, in the earliest examples of all, the
  figures are merely drawn with incised lines, whereas they are later
  made to project from a recessed background. The designs at this
  stage are restricted to simple motifs, reminiscent of cylinder-seals. It
  is not until the second phase that they are improved by detailed
  modelling and that subjects like those mentioned above begin to be
  depicted. One may mention in passing that a musician depicted in a
  banqueting
  scene from
  level
  IIIB
  at Nippur
  carries
  an
  eight-
  stringed lyre with a bull-headed sounding-box, precisely similar to
  those found in the Royal Tombs at Ur (Early Dynastic Ilia).
  ' -'^
  Sumerian relief carving reaches a high degree of proficiency in
  the
  final phase of the
  Early Dynastic period (ED
  Illb). Unfor-
  tunately few examples of major works from
  this
  period have
  survived,
  and
  our judgment must
  be
  based
  primarily on
  the
  monument known
  as
  the
  'Stela of the
  Vultures', fragments of
  which were recovered by the French excavators of Telloh and are
  now in the Louvre. The scenes, which are carved in horizontal
  registers on both sides of the stone, commemorate the victory of
  Eannatum, ruler of Lagash, over the neighbouring state of Umma.
  The king, wearing a helmet resembling that found in the Tomb of
  69
  Part of the so-called 'Stela of
  the Vultures' from Telloh,
  showing Eannatum, 'Divine
  Baihff of Lagash', at the head of
  the Sumcnan phalanx, and
  (below) driving his chariot. He
  wears a helmet similar to that of
  Meskalamdug, found in his tomb
  at Ur. Ht 182 cm
  116
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architectw
  Meskalamdug at Ur, leads a phalanx of his spearmen into battle,
  drives a chariot
  at the head of his light infantry and afterwards
  presides over the ceremonial burial of the dead. On the reverse side,
  the victory
  is symbolically attributed to
  his god, Ningirsu,
  the
  v^arrior-god, son of Enlil, who gathers his victims in a net, sealed
  with the image of Imdugud, the lion-headed eagle. The objective
  record of a tumultuous event thus culminates in the expression of a
  religious abstraction. This monument, with its individual style of
  carving
  and
  ingenious
  pictorial
  composition,
  may
  well
  be
  considered one of the great documents of human history.
  Returning for a moment to the Early Dynastic II phase, there are
  other forms of stone sculpture found in temples
  : vases, for instance,
  or
  vase-holders,
  with
  figures
  partly
  carved
  in-the-round. An
  elaborately ornamental example from Tell Agrab depicts the naked
  and bearded 'hero', familiar on cylinder-seals, grasping two lions
  by their tails. In another, a kneeling priest, also naked, bears a vase
  on his head. But there
  is another category of vessels which have
  long remained an enigma on account of their wide distribution in
  countries other than Mesopotamia. These are flat-bottomed bowls
  with almost
  vertical
  sides, made of a
  soft greenstone, formerly
  referred to as 'steatite' (now more accurately identified as chlorite).
  Their carved designs are unique. To take a typical example from
  Khafaje, now in the British Museum, standing or seated human
  figures, Sumerian in appearance, hold spotted snakes or stylized
  streams of water, which undulate around the face of the vase, above
  and between mythical beasts and symbols.
  ' ^^ These include lions,
  leopards
  and
  small
  bears,
  with
  birds
  of prey
  and
  occasional
  scorpions. But also prominent and more unusual are humped bulls
  70
  Part of a complicated pot-
  stand from Tell Agrab (Early
  Dynastic II), carved in high relief
  with a scene familiar in cyhnder-
  seals of a 'hero' figure holding
  spotted lions by their tails. Ht
  20 cm
  70
  71
  117
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  71 A 'steatite' vase, imported
  from Baluchistan, showing a
  seated Sumerian figure, a spotted
  snake and a humped bull (zebu),
  which
  is not native to
  Mesopotamia. These vases have a
  wide distribution throughout
  Mesopotamia and Persia. Ht
  1 1.4 cm
  Architecture
  of the zebu breed, which
  is not native to Mesopotamia. Some of
  these figures are sparingly enriched with inlays of paste or coloured
  stone. Most remarkable of all, however, is their wide geographical
  distribution. Almost
  identical examples have been found
  as
  far
  north as Mari, south of Sumer itself at sites in the Arabian Gulf and,
  finally, as far away as Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley.
  Some light has at last been thrown, at least on the subject of local
  manufacture, by finds at the extraordinary site called Tepe Yahya
  south of Kerman, which lies on a main route from Sumer to north-
  ern
  India. Here,
  in
  a level dated to the
  late 3rd millennium bc,
  C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky recovered over 1,000 fragments of these
  'steatite
  vases', including some unfinished
  vessels and
  'wasters',
  together with large pieces of the raw material from which they
  were being carved. He later located a nearby source from which
  chlorite was obtained. ^^'* The excavator was also able to confirm
  that later the designs deteriorated into more simple representations
  of reed architecture. ^^^ But
  their symbolic significance and the
  talismanic(?)
  properties
  which
  made
  them
  so
  internationally
  popular at present remain a mystery.
  Building Methods
  The Sumerians, like other inhabitants ofMesopotamia, constructed
  their buildings of mud bricks, shaped in a four-sided mould and
  yz
  dried in the sun. Up to the end of the Protohterate period small
  rectangular bricks laid flat in horizontal courses (German, riemchen)
  seem to have been the rule
  ; but, after a transitional period, covering
  the Early Dynastic
  I period, these disappeared completely and a
  new method of building was adopted. Bricks were now slightly
  118
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  larger and 'plano-convex' in shape, having one rounded face often
  marked with the impression of a fmger or thumb.
  ' ^^ They were
  laid 'on-edge'
  like books on
  a
  shelf,
  successive courses leaning
  sideways in opposite directions to create a herring-bone pattern
  (easily recognizable as
  a criterion of the second and third Early
  Dynastic phases). Kiln-baked bricks of the same shape proved more
  suitable for pavements and wall-faces in parts of a building where
  water was in use, or for the revetment of an external facade. At a
  few sites, such as Eridu, Ur, and Mari, some poor-quality stone was
  locally available and could be used for foundations or powdered to
  make gypsum plaster. For the rest, buildings of the Early Dynastic
  period are assumed to have had
  flat roofs, constructed of palm-
  trunks, brushwood and clay. Doors pivoted on an indented stone,
  while windows - generally small and high up in the walls - could be
  protected by perforated terracotta grilles. In the absence of suitable
  wood, columns for supporting the roof were rare; but circular
  pillars,
  composed
  of segmentally
  shaped
  bricks,
  were
  not
  uncommon in major buildings.
  ' ^^
  73
  Temples
  A good deal has already been said about the planning of temples at
  this period. We have seen how they can apparently be divided into
  two classes:
  first, the 'high' temples, raised on brick platforms or
  actual ziggurats, and secondly those
  at ground-level, sometimes
  enclosed by private dwelling-houses. Unfortunately, for reasons
  which have been explained, very little is known about the planning
  and appearance of the former, and we are able only to assume some
  similarity to their prehistoric prototypes. In the second category,
  however, we are now provided with a dozen examples, so widely
  distributed among
  the
  Sumerian
  cities
  and
  sharing
  so many
  characteristics in common that a general analysis can be made of
  their design and function.
  72
  In the modern villages of Iraq
  bricks are made of mud,
  tempered with chaff and cast in a
  bottomless wooden mould,
  smoothed on top and dried in
  the sun
  73 Method of laying the 'plano-
  convex' bricks, used exclusively
  in the Early Dynastic II and III
  periods.
  119
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  The nuclear element
  in
  these temples,
  then,
  is
  a
  rectangular
  sanctuary
  with
  a
  door
  in
  one
  of
  the
  long
  sides
  ('bent-axis
  approach'). At one end there is a raised brick altar and behind it a
  wall-niche marking the position in which the cult-statue must have
  stood. Elsewhere in mid-sanctuary are smaller brick platforms or
  pedestals usually referred to as 'offering-tables', while brick benches
  along the bases of the walls served, as we know, as emplacements
  for
  votive
  statues
  (Ashur). More
  portable
  forms
  of furniture
  included
  tall pottery stands,
  in which some sort of foliage was
  placed;
  figures of carved stone or copper, supporting
  vases or
  bowls of incense (Khafaje, Agrab, Ur, etc.); 'rush-lights' of copper
  (Kish) and larger offering-stands of stone or terracotta, sometimes
  simulating buildings (Ashur). Explicit indications of actual ritual
  are to be found only in the actual structure of the altar.
  Its upper
  surface was sometimes protected by an inlaid slab of stone or slate
  (Asmar), from which ran a small terracotta drain, discharging into
  a concealed pottery jar (Agrab). These provisions could suggest
  either animal sacrifices or the pouring of libations, both of which
  are portrayed on cylinder-seals and elsewhere.
  In
  its
  simplest form,
  this
  sanctuary chamber needed only
  a
  buttressed outer facade, small towers flanking the entrance and
  a modest annexe containing a bread-oven (Asmar, Single Shrine
  Temple) to
  fulfil the requirements of a religious building. '^^ As
  larger and more elaborate temples developed, a main sanctuary as
  described above continued to be the nuclear element of the plan,
  around which extensions of various sorts could be added in ways
  varying according to the shape and other limitations of the site. The
  first addition (reflecting traditional precedents), would be rows of
  lateral chambers on
  either
  side, including one with
  a stairway
  giving access to the flat roof. Next, a forecourt could be contrived
  by enclosing the open space which usually existed at the approach
  to the main entrance. In due course this would itself be surrounded
  by subsidiary chambers, forming a small precinct,
  itself entered
  through an outer gateway with flanking towers.
  This process of growth
  is well illustrated by the Sin Temple at
  Khafaje which, in the final stages of its development, still occupied
  an irregular-shaped
  site, surrounded by private dwellings.
  ' ^9 A
  complete contrast is presented by other temples for which an open
  site was available, making
  it possible for the building to be pre-
  planned and symmetrically composed. An unpretentious example
  is the Square Temple
  at Tell Asmar, which
  is neatly arranged
  around a central court in such a way that two minor shrines can be
  added to the main sanctuary. This more formal type of design,
  unhampered by
  site
  restrictions,
  reaches perfection in the great
  74
  Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, whose massive outer walls enclose a
  number
  of self-contained
  units,
  each
  with
  chambers
  grouped
  around
  a
  separate
  courtyard. '"^^
  In
  addition
  to
  the generously
  proportioned main sanctuary, with its two-tiered altar and ranges
  of offering-tables, two minor shrines are again added, together
  with elaborate accommodation for resident priests.
  A comparative study of all these buildings and the characteristics
  which they share has now made it possible to visualize rather clearly
  the appearance and function of a typical place of worship in early
  120
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  74
  Plan of the 'Shara Temple' at
  Tell Agrab and adjoining city-
  wall, partly reconstructed by
  reasoned conjecture. The
  surviving part comprises {top
  left)
  a unit with two minor shrines
  (centre) the main sanctuary, with
  dependent chambers; and (below)
  a priests' resicTjnce. The high
  altar was built in two tiers, with
  a miniature stairway. (From
  Delougaz and Lloyd, 1942)
  Sumerian times. One example only seems
  to deviate from the
  architectural
  formula
  most
  generally
  accepted.
  In
  the
  Inanna
  Temple complex
  at Nippur,
  in addition
  to
  a sanctuary of the
  conventional 'bent-axis' type there is a second, free-standing shrine,
  isolated in its own courtyard and entered by a doorway centrally
  placed at the end opposite the altar.
  '
  "^
  ' This arrangement was to
  become the basic principle of all Mesopotamian temple planning
  from the end of the Early Dynastic period onwards.
  Before leaving the subject of Sumerian temples, something may
  well be said about the apparent discrepancy between the modest
  scale of their
  architectural
  remains and
  the magnitude of the
  purpose which they served. Quite apart from their function as a
  75
  75 Two sanctuaries of the 'Ishtar
  Temple' at Nippur (level VII,
  Early Dynastic II). That on the
  left has the long-axis approach,
  more common in later times.
  Elsewhere in this complex were
  pairs of brick columns. (From
  Hansen and Dales, Archaeology,
  1962)
  121
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  setting for seasonal ceremonial and religious ritual, their paramount
  function as centres for the economic and political administration of
  the
  state would surely lead one
  to expect
  far larger and more
  pretentious buildings than those which we have
  till now been
  describing. Let us, for instance, glance at a brief account given by
  H. W. F. Saggs of their status in this respect and the part which they
  played in the life of a Sumerian city. Bearing in mind that his views
  are not universally accepted, he says:
  The
  government
  of the
  Sumerian
  city-states
  at
  this
  time
  [mid-3 rd
  millennium
  bc], was
  hieratic.
  .
  .
  . The
  city and
  its
  lands, with
  all
  its
  inhabitants, was the estate of the city-god, with the ruler or priest-king (of
  whom Gilgamesh was a prototype) as his steward. The gods created Man
  to do their service, wherefore the free citizens were the servants of the god.
  Their primary function was thus,
  that they should serve the temple estates, or (what was the same thing in
  ancient eyes) the human who acted as the god's steward, namely the Ensi
  (governor or prince) of the city. In return, each free citizen received an
  allotment from the god's estates, that is from the temple lands.
  It is clear that, in early days, the greater part of the land - or perhaps
  all of it - belonged to the temple, and it was let out to the people on
  a share-cropping basis. The Ensi was the bailiff of the city-deity and
  administered the temple estates with a hierarchy of officials to serve
  him. Private ownership of property in land continued to be very
  rare until the fmal years of the Early Dynasties, when the more
  powerful Ensis tended to divert public funds for the aggrandise-
  ment of their own families. This led to the rise of a secular power,
  distinct from the religious authority (and perhaps to the kind of
  confrontation
  which
  took
  place
  under
  certain
  'governors'
  of
  Lagash). By that time, state rulers had begun to acquire, as we shall
  see,
  large
  palaces of their own; and
  these perhaps
  relieved the
  pressure of space
  in the temples themselves. But one must
  also
  remember that, through the whole of the Early Dynastic period,
  the service of scribes was still at a premium and the actual bulk of
  written documents accumulated in the process of state adminis-
  tration
  still on a very modest scale. Let us now therefore consider
  what is known about such buildings from excavations.
  Palaces
  Where secular buildings are concerned, those loosely described as
  'palaces' form the most obviously important group. And here we
  find that any commentary on their architecture is hampered by our
  imperfect understanding of their function and practical require-
  ments. In the earliest phase of the historical period, the concept of a
  'temple' seems to have implied
  a seat of royalty,
  as well
  as the
  administrative centre for the ruling hierarchy. Later, however, a
  more effective separation must have taken place between church
  and state; for the king now had a residence of his own, presumably
  of a sort which could meet the requirements of political activity and
  ceremonial.
  It
  is
  these
  characteristics
  therefore
  that we should
  expect to find in our so-called
  'palaces'. There are in
  fact four
  notable examples, of which three only - at Kish, Eridu and Mari -
  have
  sufficient
  features
  in common
  to
  suggest
  a
  conventional
  formula for such buildings. The fourth is the Northern Palace at Tell
  122
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  (D
  35m
  Asmar, which seems
  at
  this period
  to be composed merely of
  domestic units, each grouped around its own courtyard. '^^
  The palace complex at Kish (Early Dynastic Ilia) is composed of
  two buildings separated by a narrow alleyway. '"^^ The larger of
  them, approached through
  a towered gateway,
  is protected by
  duphcate outer walls and has a single interior courtyard, around
  which
  it
  is formally planned. Of the less heavily-walled building
  annexed to
  it,
  the only
  distinct features
  are
  at one end
  a long
  hallway with four central columns and at the other some sort of
  columned 'loggia'. Beyond
  this, neither plan
  is in any way self-
  explanatory.
  Equally
  enigmatic
  in most
  respects
  are
  the twin
  palaces of the Early Dynastic period, located outside the raised
  temple-precinct
  at Eridu.
  ^-^"^ Once more these are protected by
  \\
  EH
  Umm
  U
  76 Twin palace buildings of the
  Early Dynastic Ilia period and a
  monumental gateway at Kish.
  Here again, circular brick
  columns are an unusual feature.
  (After Mackay)
  76
  77
  77
  Outside the raised temenos at
  Eridu, one of two palaces dating
  from the Early Dynastic period.
  The unit consisting of a main
  reception room and square court,
  sets a precedent for palaces of
  later times. (After Safar, 1950)
  123
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  1^1
  Cylinder-Seals
  double walls, buttressed like those at Kish in a manner normally
  considered more appropriate to a temple. Yet here also we see the
  earliest known example of an 'audience-hall' or 'throne-room',
  opening off a square central courtyard
  : an arangement which we
  shall fmd adopted from now onwards
  as the
  basis of the main
  'reception-suite' in all Mesopotamian palaces.
  This combination of square courtyard and rectangular throne-
  room
  is
  even more
  strikingly
  illustrated
  in
  the
  'Palais
  Pre-
  sargonique"", which French archaeologists have partially excavated
  beneath the southeast corner of the huge 18th-century bc palace of
  Zimrilim at Mari. "^^ Whether or not this will prove to be a single
  element
  of
  a much
  larger
  building,
  its
  importance
  as
  an
  independent unit is emphasized by the duplication of its outer walls
  on
  all four
  sides.
  It
  is
  also confirmed by another aspect of the
  building, which has led the French to speak of it as a zone sacre. The
  rectangular hall has a small sanctuary at one end; the square court
  has ornamentally recessed wall-faces and
  is provided with ritual
  installations of various
  sorts; foundation deposits had been
  laid
  beneath the pavement of corridors separating the outer walls.
  If
  such discoveries seem strange in a building apparently dedicated to
  a secular purpose,
  it should be mentioned in advance that similar
  features occur in the main reception suite of the great palace built
  on the same site by Zimrilim some seven centuries later. As we shall
  see, they have been subject to diverse interpretations.
  The transition from one phase of the Early Dynastic period to
  another
  is
  clearly
  reflected in the changing designs of cylinder-
  seals. '"^^ We have already observed a certain deterioration in the
  artistic
  quality
  of
  seal-cutters' work
  towards
  the
  end
  of the
  Protoliterate epoch, and little improvement is to be seen during the
  century-or-so which
  followed.
  All
  interest
  in mythology and
  religious symbolism seems to have been abandoned, in favour of
  decorative compositions based on the shapes of animals and plants,
  supplemented by meaningless ornament curiously reminiscent of
  textile designs. This 'brocade
  style',
  as
  it has been
  called,
  is the
  hallmark of the
  first Early Dynastic phase. A reversion to more
  interesting and imaginative subjects begins to take place early in
  phase II. One subject which is revived and soon gains in popularity is
  that of 'animal contests'
  : attacks by Hons on cattle and their defence
  by human or half-human 'guardian' figures. In this role the bearded
  78
  'hero' reappears and the 'bull-man', now wearing
  a
  girdle and
  ornamental side-locks beneath his horns. '"^^ Intricate patterns are
  made from
  these
  figures,
  which
  are
  sometimes
  interlaced
  or
  inverted; but there
  is
  little attempt
  at
  plastic rendering and the
  linear designing
  is undisciplined. At a later stage experiments are
  made with pictorial subjects such as the well-known 'banqueting
  yg
  scene',
  but
  the
  results
  are
  hardly more
  successful. A
  notable
  innovation, however,
  is the occasional introduction of a picto-
  graphic inscription.
  In the third Early Dynastic phase, seal-making finally attains its
  full status as miniature relief carving. The figures become more
  124
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  78
  Cylinder-seal of the Early
  Dynastic II period. Familiar
  figures of the naked 'hero' and
  the 'bull-man' protect horned
  animals from attacking lions
  r
  c?
  ^J^f^ ^
  79 A 'banqueting scene' of the
  Early Dynastic III period. The
  seated female figure in the top
  register is identified by an
  empanelled inscription as Pu-abi
  (previously known as 'Shubad'),
  a queen whose body occupied
  one of the richest tombs in the
  Royal Cemetery at Ur. Opposite
  her is presumablyher husband
  Abargi
  80 Improved carving in the
  Early Dynastic III period. Bulls,
  now shown full-face, are
  protected from lions by the usual
  mythical figures
  81 A seated figure, identified as
  Shamash, the sun god, in his
  boat, with other deities and
  appropriate animal symbols
  125
  
  \lumiJiliim„„u,u„.
  ^^,
  """""
  Iff
  82
  Metal tools and weapons
  from Ur tombs. Top row. tanged
  and ribbed spearheads; second
  row: leaf-shaped spearhead,
  harpoon, knives and daggers;
  third row
  : drill-bits, straight and
  curved pins with eyeleted
  shanks; bottom row: a and b,
  scrapers;
  c, chisel; d and e,
  socketed adzes and/, axe cast in a
  two-piece mould; g and h,
  crescentic battle-axes
  /^ 4
  ^
  1
  '^
  \7
  L\
  I
  f^^
  I
  126
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  massive and are skilfully modelled; lions and 'guardians' alike are
  often depicted full-face and more ornamental species of ruminants
  are introduced; scenes of combat are punctuated by empanelled
  inscriptions
  ; designs are occasionally divided horizontally into two
  registers. Perhaps the most intriguing subjects chosen
  for these
  Early Dynastic III seals are the mythological or ceremonial scenes in
  which men and gods take
  part. Their interpretation has always
  depended largely on the evidence provided by Sumerian literature,
  and since more of this became available, many themes have been
  reliably identified. One sees for instance the sun-god, Shamash,
  voyaging
  in
  his
  boat
  through
  the
  cycle
  of night
  and
  day,
  surrounded by symbols which the texts explain. Then there is the
  fertility god on a throne, before which priests pour libations or pile
  offerings on an ornamental stand. More rarely portrayed
  is the
  ritual 'marriage', which took place between a god (Ningirsu) and
  goddess (Bau)
  at the New Year's Festival. But secular 'banquet'
  scenes make an alternative to religious subjects, sometimes attended
  by a burlesque 'orchestra' of animals. Many of these motifs now
  appear in other forms of ornament, especially on objects from the
  Royal Tombs at Ur.
  As
  for
  the
  materials from which
  the
  seals
  are made, many
  varieties of semi-precious stone are now in use. The cylinder could
  even be capped with silver at either end or, in rare cases, made of
  solid gold.
  80
  81
  Metallurgy and Composite Craftsmanship
  Treasures recovered from Early Dynastic levels at Sumerian sites
  testify
  to
  the
  ability of specialists
  in
  several
  different
  fields of
  craftsmanship and, in some of the most strikingly beautiful objects,
  one
  sees how
  their
  skills have been combined. '"^^
  In
  a
  class by
  themselves are the metalsmiths, whose services must at this time
  have been
  so
  greatly
  in demand
  at
  all
  levels of society. Their
  products, in the form of weapons, implements and utensils, have
  survived
  in
  great
  numbers,
  side-by-side
  with
  pictorial
  repre-
  sentations of the purposes for which they were used.
  In a well-
  known relief, spears, shields and helmets ofcopper are to be seen
  ; in
  another battle-axes
  ; 'guardian' figures in seal designs wield daggers
  with
  crescent-shaped
  handles;
  'rein-rings'
  with
  their
  animal
  mascots appear on
  chariots
  in
  battle-scenes; and
  at
  a
  'banquet'
  copper 'drinking-tubes' are used.
  For votive and ceremonial purposes,
  replicas of such objects
  were made
  in precious metals and
  delicately ornamented. The
  work of Sumerian goldsmiths ranks with that of the best craftsmen
  in any later age and there were few technical processes with which
  they were still unfamiliar. In fine hammered work, for instance, as
  well as repousse, chasing, engraving, granulation and filigree, they
  were entirely proficient. The perfection of their skill
  is seen in an
  object like the wig-helmet of Meskalamdug, which WooUey has
  described as
  '.
  .
  .
  a veritable tour-de-force', beaten up from the flat,
  with
  locks
  of
  hair hammered
  in
  relief and
  individual
  hairs
  represented by fine chased
  lines'. At the same time, some more
  simple objects, like the fluted cups and vases from the same tombs.
  83 Copper stand for an incense-
  bowl representing a naked priest.
  Ht 55.5 cm. Three were found in
  the Oval Temple at Khafaje
  (Early Dynastic III), smaller ones
  at Tell Agrab
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  84 A reconstructed figure in the
  Iraq Museum of Meskalamdug,
  wearing the ceremonial wig-
  helmet, found in his tomb at Ur.
  Beaten from a single sheet of
  gold and delicately chased,
  its
  perforations are for attachment
  to a leather linmg.
  {c. 2500 Bc)
  85
  Reconstructed figure in the
  Iraq Museum of a court lady
  from a royal tomb at Ur,
  wearing an elaborate headdress
  and jewellery of gold, lapis-lazuH
  and carnehan. There were 68
  similarly dressed women in the
  'dromos' of a single tomb (no.
  1237), known to the excavators
  as the 'Death Pit'
  «5
  show something more than mere technical competence. In their
  combination of shape and ornament one recognizes a real talent for
  elegant design. The work of craftsmen in gold and silver is again to
  be seen in the ornaments of female attendants in the Ur tombs
  : 'the
  gorgeous
  beech-leaf
  headdresses,
  the
  gold
  and
  silver
  florally
  decorated combs; the wreaths composed of Httle amulets in the
  shape of bulls,
  rams,
  birds and
  fish' and the huge boat-shaped
  earrings. '"^^
  In another
  sphere,
  the most remarkable accomplishments
  in
  casting
  must
  be
  attributed
  to
  the
  coppersmiths
  of the
  Early
  Dynastic period. Examples of their work are already in evidence at
  Tell Agrab during its second phase and they include the remarkable
  group in miniature of a chariot drawn by four onagers and driven
  by
  a bearded
  'king'.'^o Technologically
  this work
  is of special
  interest because
  it shows evidence of casting by the so-called
  cire
  perdue or 'lost-wax' process which now appears for the first time.
  More common finds in the Diyala temples were copper statues in
  the form of naked priests (or 'heroes'), with attachments enabling
  them to be used as offering-stands. One of these, from a group of
  three found at Khafaje, measured 76 cm high, while fragments of
  another from an
  Early Dynastic
  III provenance
  at
  Tell Agrab
  showed it to have been life-size.
  128
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  Inlaid Ornament
  Another realm in which Early Dynastic craftsmen excelled was that
  of inlaid ornament in coloured stone and other materials.
  Its uses,
  perhaps developing from the cone-mosaic technique of an earlier
  period,
  varied from
  pictorial
  friezes
  decorating
  the
  facades of
  buildings to the miniscule enrichment of precious objects. In the
  former case, carved figures of white limestone were set against a
  background of grey slate. For small-scale ornament a wide variety
  of coloured materials were used to form a surface incrustation, laid
  in bitumen over a wooden core. Of figurative designs executed in
  this technique, individual features could be carved in shell, bone or
  mother-of-pearl, to be fitted into a coloured background. A few
  detached figures of this sort were first found in Palace A at Kish.
  But
  the
  full
  possibilities of the medium were revealed by
  the
  abundant and often undamaged examples surviving among the
  treasures of the Ur tombs. Gaming-boards,
  toilet boxes and the
  sounding-boards ofharps were some ofthe objects decorated in this
  way, often with spirited scenes recalling those on cylinder-seals.
  Individual figures cut from shell or nacre could be engraved with
  additional detail and the incisions filled with red or black paste.
  Flakes of lapis-lazuli would then be
  fitted together
  to form
  a
  background,
  and
  the
  design
  enclosed
  in
  a
  formally
  patterned
  86 Miniature group in copper of
  a chariot drawn by four onagers
  and driven by a bearded
  Sumerian king. It was found in
  the 'sacristy' room near the high
  altar in the 'Shara Temple' at
  Tell Agrab and is the earHest
  known example of the cire perdue
  ('lost wax') process. Details of
  the chariot and harness have been
  reconstructed after careful study.
  Ht 7 cm
  29
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  I"
  I
  87 The so-called 'royal standard'
  from a tomb at Ur: a mosaic of
  shell figures on a background of
  lapis-lazuli, depicting on this side
  a 'peace' scene of banqueting and
  agricultural activity. Ht 20 cm
  88
  Reverse side of the 'royal
  standard', showing a
  'vv^ar' scene,
  with the king {primus inter pares),
  his helmeted infantry and
  chariots in action. This object
  may have been the sounding-box
  of a musical instrument
  border of other colours. At Ur, the tour-de-force in this category of
  ornament was the famous 'royal standard' with its scores of busy
  figures on either side, representing scenes of 'war and peace', and
  thought
  by
  some
  to
  be
  the
  sounding-box
  of some
  musical
  contrivance.
  ' ^
  Less well-known than the Ur 'standard', owing partly to the
  incomplete state in which
  it was found,
  is a similar and equally
  magnificent mosaic panel from Mari, composed of elements in
  ivory, shell, schist, lapis and gold.
  ' ^2 In the uppermost of its three
  registers,
  a
  procession
  of conventionally
  dressed
  male
  figures
  attends a libation ceremony, carrying appropriate vessels; but the
  scenes beneath them are composed entirely of women, whose dress
  and occupation are ofunique interest. Above, two figures face each
  other at either end of a couch supported by legs resembling those of
  a
  bull,
  and
  bend
  forward
  to
  arrange
  its
  kaunakes
  draperies.
  Approaching them from behind are other women, wearing the
  'polos' headdress and carrying votive vessels. Below them are pairs
  of women with unfamiliar coiffures, one of each pair seated on a
  three-legged stool while the other assists her in a task for which a
  'distaff appears to be changing hands. Without exception, these
  130
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  female figures wear, over
  their usual lower garment,
  a fringed
  shawl, conspicuously fastened by a long metal pin with
  its head
  bent at rightangles (a commonly found object, whose purpose has
  till now remained obscure). From a perforation at the head of the
  pin
  hangs
  a
  string
  of
  curiously
  shaped
  amulets
  or
  charms.
  Supplementary
  details
  add
  to
  the
  interest
  of
  this
  intriguing
  composition.
  Composite Objects
  It remains
  for us
  to consider some examples of the composite
  objects which figure so conspicuously among Early Dynastic art
  treasures. In a category of their own are musical instruments found
  in the Ur tombs, which WooUey extracted from the earth with
  such meticulous
  care.
  In
  referring
  to
  these
  the word
  'harp'
  is
  sometimes used rather loosely, since in fact only two answered to
  this description. The most common instrument was a lyre, with
  rectangular wooden
  sound-box
  inlaid
  in
  coloured
  ornament,
  upright members
  at either end and
  a cross-piece
  to which
  the
  strings were attached with wooden pegs for tuning. Usually the
  body of the lyre had a frontal ornament of metal in the form of a
  bull's head; but there was also a 'boat-shaped' lyre, with the copper
  figure of a stag set against the foremost upright. As we know from
  pictorial inlays found both here and
  at Mari,
  these instruments
  could be held at chest-level by a standing player, or themselves
  stand upright on the ground between the player's knees.
  ^ ^3 There
  was also a so-called 'harp-lyre', with twelve strings attached to a
  single upright and a bull's head, reconstructed by Woolley for the
  British Museum. But R. D. Barnett has now shown how a study of
  its
  actual
  remains
  in
  WooUey's
  photographs
  and
  notebooks
  89
  Shell inlay warrior with a
  battle-axe from the Ishtar
  Temple at Mari (Early Dynastic
  III)
  90 A lyre from the tomb of
  Meskalamdug at Ur, with the
  head of a bearded bull in gold
  and ornament of other materials.
  An instrument of this sort
  appears in the 'peace' scene on
  the 'royal standard'
  (ill. 87 top
  right).
  It is held at waist height
  by a standing man, accompanied
  by a singer. Ht 122 cm
  131
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  9^
  llIN
  revealed
  the
  components
  of two
  separate
  instruments:
  the
  sounding box ofa conventional lyre and the single upright member
  of a harp. ^54 Combined v^ith the figured inlay of their frontal
  panels and the gold or silver sheathing of their framev^^ork, the
  bull's head ornaments w^ith their luxurious beards of gold or lapis-
  lazuli add a fmal element of grandeur to a characteristic Sumerian
  design.
  If one more example
  is required, we should remember the so-
  called 'ram caught by
  its horns', which
  is in fact not a ram but a
  he-goat, symbolizing the generative vitality of the animal king-
  dom.
  ' 5 5 jts head and legs are ofgold, its belly of silver, its fleece part
  lapis and part shell. The stylized plant against which it stands is also
  sheathed in gold. This object is one of a pair which were taken to be
  ornamental supports for some sort of vessel or cult-object.
  Pottery
  92
  91
  He-goat in composite
  materials: gold, silver, lapis-
  lazuli etc., on a wooden core.
  One of a pair found in a royal
  tomb at Ur,
  it symbolizes the
  fertility of plant and animal life
  and was used as a support for
  some other object. Ht 50 cm
  Painted pottery with geometric and figured designs reappears for
  the last time in Sumer during the first Early Dynastic phase, espe-
  cially at the Diyala sites. This
  is the 'scarlet ware', which retained
  some characteristics of the fine polychrome pottery that preceded
  it in thejemdet Nasr period. ^^^ Technically, however, the decora-
  tion is less competently applied. The designs are in bright red paint,
  outlined in black over a buff or yellowish
  slip
  ; but the paint
  is
  friable, lacking the 'soapy' burnish of its earlier prototype. The
  commonest form of vessel is a broad-shouldered jar, with a shallow
  neck and one or more
  triangular
  'lugs' beneath
  the
  rim. The
  painted designs are in many ways unique. Filling the panels into
  which the surface of the vase
  is divided are groups of human and
  animal
  figures.
  In one example from
  Tell Agrab,
  three naked
  women are shown beating tambourines for the benefit of a tethered
  animal
  which
  appears
  to
  be
  a
  sacred
  bull.
  Other
  animals,
  conspicuously male, are of the antelope type with twisted horns. A
  tme example from Khafaje, now in the British Museum, has a more
  ambitious design, in which a wheeled chariot is represented.
  After the brief appearance of these attractive vessels in the Early
  Dynastic
  I and
  II phases, painted decoration on pottery seems to
  have been completely abandoned, nor does it appear again at any
  period in southern Mesopotamia. In the second and third Early
  Dynastic phases, painting is replaced by incised ornament in a wide
  variety of forms which, in combination with the changing shapes
  of
  the
  vessels
  themselves,
  provide
  useful
  criteria
  for
  dating
  purposes.
  In southern Iraq, the production of 'scarlet ware' seems to have
  been
  confined
  to
  the
  Sumerian
  provinces
  east
  of the
  Tigris,
  extending to the present frontiers of Iran.
  It
  is of some interest to
  remember that to the north also, in an area reaching from Nineveh
  to the confines of Syria, the final phase of the 'painted pottery era'
  was marked by the appearance of a new and remarkable form of
  design. This was the elaborately decorated ware
  first found by
  Mallowan in his deep sounding beneath the greatest of all Assyrian
  mounds, and since known as 'Ninevite Five'.
  ' " He has described
  these vessels as
  'tall fruit-stands with pedestal bases, high-necked
  I
  132
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  133
  
  Pre-Sargonid Art and Architecture
  \\m
  vases with angular shoulders and ring- or pedestal-bases, carinated
  bowls and
  other
  types'. He
  adds: 'Many
  of these
  vessels
  are
  overcrowded with designs, especially the bigger ones which depict
  long-necked
  giraffe-like
  goats, waterfowl,
  fish and many mon-
  otonous geometric patterns'. With
  its deep purple designs on
  a
  neutrally coloured ground,
  this pottery seems unrelated
  to
  the
  'scarlet ware' of the south, with which
  it
  is now known to be
  contemporary. '5^ Here
  in
  the north
  also,
  in
  the phase which
  followed, it was gradually replaced or accompanied by unpainted
  pottery whose quality depended upon the use of fme clay and the
  elaboration ofincised ornament. Current excavations at Eski Mosul
  and elsewhere are throwing new light on this subject. See Post-
  script, p. 231.
  92
  'Scarlet ware' of the Early
  Dynastic
  I period, developed
  from the polychrome pottery of
  Jemdet Nasr. The method of
  painting
  is here technically
  inferior, though ambitious figure
  designs are sometimes attempted
  I
  134
  
  Chapter Seven
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the
  Sumerian Revival
  The term 'Pre-Sargonid', which is sometimes apphed to the Early
  Dynastic period, serves in itself to emphasize the importance of the
  event which brought that period to an end. Sargon-of-Akkad's
  accession to power in about 2370 bc, and his rapid subjection of the
  old Sumerian city-states, resulted for the first time in the temporary
  supremacy of a Semitic element in the population ofMesopotamia.
  The transition from Sumerian to Akkadian rule must itself have
  portended a revolution in political ideas. Its magnitude will become
  apparent if we recollect for a moment the unchanging pattern of
  Sumerian history during the preceding centuries and the peculiar
  conventions by which
  it was
  dictated. These
  latter
  are indeed
  implicit even in the formal statements of which the king-list
  is
  composed, and they can be spelt out in a few words. The primary
  assumption here is that the land of Sumer was an entity made up of
  a number of city-states and that only one of them at any one time
  was supreme over the others. The overall kingship remained in
  this one city until, by force of arms
  it was removed to another.
  Also, each city had its own patron god, who owned the state; but
  these tutelary deities remained unaffected by inter-state conflicts.
  They were not held responsible for the rivalry of kings who were
  their
  'agents', though
  disputes among themselves were equally
  frequent.
  Finally, although the
  cities were continually fighting,
  either for supremacy or for adjustments of their frontiers, there
  remained among their rulers a strong sense of pride in the solidarity
  of 'the land'
  itself. And here one must remember that Sumer was
  regarded as a finite entity. The dozen-or-so city-states of which it
  was composed occupied a restricted territory (hardly larger than
  the modern Irish Republic), with northward extensions reaching
  no further than adjacent cities in north Syria, which shared the same
  culture. Sumerian ambitions did not reach beyond these limits,
  remoter lands being of little
  interest except where trading was
  concerned.
  With the foundation of an Akkadian kingdom in the north, all
  this was changed. In the dynamic authority and statesmanship of
  its
  first
  ruler
  a new
  factor became
  apparent. Unhampered by
  Sumerian tradition and the limitations which
  it had imposed on
  earlier kings, Sargon's own conception of monarchy was absolute
  and his ambition pointed beyond the bounds of an united Sumer
  and Akkad.
  It may be
  well,
  therefore, before returning
  to
  the
  archaeological
  record,
  to summarize
  such
  facts
  as
  are known
  regarding the origin and history of the Akkadian dynasty.
  135
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  \\m
  93
  Life-size head in bronze of an
  Akkadian king, perhaps Sargon
  himself (2370-2316 bc), found
  out of context in ruins of the
  Ishtar Temple at Nineveh by
  Campbell-Thompson and
  Mallowan. Note the refinement
  of modeUing characteristic of this
  period. Ht 30 cm
  I
  Semites in Mesopotamia
  First, then, a word must be said about the Semites, whose presence
  in Sumer at a much earlier date has already been inferred from the
  linguistic
  peculiarities of certain
  traditional names of Mesopot-
  amian
  cities. '^9 Regarding their country of origin, the one-time
  conception of the Syrian desert as a centre of diffusion for nomadic
  peoples has first to be discarded - if only because the greater part of
  it almost
  certainly remained uninhabited from
  the end of the
  Palaeolithic period until late in the 2nd millennium bc, when the
  camel first came into use for desert transport. Lacking the mobility
  of the modern Bedouin, nomadic herdsmen of those early days
  must have confined their movements to the peripheral grasslands,
  adjoining the territories ofmore settled agricultural peoples, whose
  society they gradually infiltrated. Certainly this was the case on the
  Mesopotamian side of the Syrian desert, and here there
  is some
  evidence to indicate the direction from which the infiltration took
  place. Semitic personal names appear in written texts throughout
  136
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  the
  Early
  Dynastic
  period,
  and
  their
  geographic
  distribution
  suggests
  that, whereas Semites were in
  a minority in the most
  southerly Sumerian cities, their numbers increased as one moved
  northward.
  In Mari and Ashur they already accounted for the
  greater part of the population.
  In the case of the Akkadians, their nomadic origin (if any) seems
  to have been quickly forgotten, and in the early texts there is no
  suggestion of the Sumerians having either opposed their intrusion
  into the country or resented their presence.
  It seems that, by the
  time of Sargon's accession, the central part of Mesopotamia, from
  the
  region
  of Nippur
  northward
  to
  the
  Hit-Samarra
  Line,
  including the Diyala district, had long been known as the 'Country
  ofAkkad'. For this reason the name Akkadian came to be applied to
  the non-Sumerian peoples of Mesopotamia generally. Culturally
  the most conspicuous distinction between the two ethnic groups
  was a linguistic one. The Akkadians had retained their own Semitic
  form of speech and, for purposes of writing, were compelled to use
  an awkward adaptation of the old cuneiform script. Nevertheless,
  once it was perfected, this written form of Akkadian was destined
  to become the linguafranca of the Near East where commercial and
  diplomatic correspondence was concerned. For the rest, Sargon's
  subjects continued to share the religious beliefs and social practices
  of the Sumerians.
  Sargon and his Successors
  The legend of Sargon's humble origin became a familiar theme in
  95
  the literature of later times
  : the upbringing of an orphan boy by
  benevolent peasants and his employment as cup-bearer to a king of
  Kish whom he eventually replaced upon the throne. These were
  prehminaries to a spectacular military career, which started with his
  defeat of Lugal-zaggesi of Uruk, temporarily the paramount ruler
  of
  all Sumer. Having then subdued the
  cities individually and
  'washed his weapons in the Lower Sea', Sargon founded
  a new
  capital at a place called Agade. Unfortunately this city is one of the
  few important political centres of Mesopotamia whose site has not
  yet been located. It seems in any case to have been well to the north
  of the main Sumerian enclave, though
  still accessible by river to
  sea-going
  vessels. One notices
  that
  at
  this point
  there
  is some
  evidence of discrimination
  in favour of the Akkadian element
  among Sargon's supporters. Akkadian governors were installed in
  the other Sumerian cities and the Sumerian language ceased to be
  used for administrative purposes. On the other hand, much time
  and energy was devoted to the restoration or rebuilding of old
  Sumerian religious monuments, and one remembers for instance
  that Sargon's own daughter became priestess of Nannar, the moon-
  god of Ur.
  For Sargon, as we have said, the domination of Sumer was no
  more than a preface to the extension of his conquests beyond the
  natural
  frontiers of Mesopotamia. His
  first venture of this
  sort
  carried him eastward into Elam, where he defeated the combined
  forces of four rulers, led by the King of Awan, and estabhshed a
  viceroyalty in the city of Susa, which from now onwards acquired
  137
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  a new political status. His second expedition followed the course of
  the Euphrates into northern Syria where, according to his own
  account, 'the God Dagan gave him the Upper Region'. This would
  imply that he gained access to the cedar forests of the Amanus
  Mountains and to the silver mines of the Taurus. Later expeditions
  assured the allegiance of settlements around or beyond Nineveh,
  and there
  is
  a famous
  text, known
  as the epic of 'The King of
  Battle', which shows the king advancing deep into the heart of
  Anatolia, to protect his own 'merchants' frOm the exactions of a
  local rujer, described as the King of Burushanda, somewhere in the
  region south of modern Kayseri. Also, accepted with some reserve,
  is an account of an expedition by sea, which carried him as far as the
  southernmost extremity of the Arabian Gulf, and some credit
  is
  given to his claim to have crossed the 'Sea of the West', to reach
  Cyprus and Crete.
  It is clear that successive enterprises of this sort led to the creation,
  for the
  first time
  in history, of a Mesopotamian empire,
  in the
  political sense, facilitating the commercial exploitation of countries
  hitherto almost unknown. Apart from the new sources of timber
  and essential metals which the opening of northern routes made
  accessible, and the many commodities unobtainable from the east,
  by way of Elam, the possibilities of seaborne trade in the Arabian
  Gulf became increasingly apparent. We are told for instance that,
  in Sargon's time, 'the ships of Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha were
  moored at the quayside in front of Agade'.^^° The
  first of these
  names, identified with the island of Bahrein,
  is already mentioned
  in texts of the Early Dynastic period as a centre of commerce; but
  ifMagan can be recognized as Oman or the Makran coast, Meluhha
  must be taken to be further afield and may well have served
  as
  a link with the contemporary civilization of the Indus Valley. By
  trade, at least, the Akkadian empire had reached the limits of the
  known world.
  Sargon's reign lasted for fifty-five years, but before he died, he
  found it necessary to repress the first of a series of revolts, which also
  darkened the reigns of his successors. Ofhis sons, Rimush was killed
  in a palace revolution, but Manishtusu and to a greater extent his
  grandson, Naram-Sin, were able to continue the aggrandisement
  of the Akkadian empire. Naram-Sin seems to have been a ruler of
  the same calibre as Sargon and like him became a hero of legend.
  His long reign (2291-2255 Bc) was occupied by a series of military
  operations, some of which
  are
  reflected
  in
  his own
  surviving
  monuments. In the north, for example, a campaign against a Hurrian
  king was commemorated by a royal relief, carved on a rock-face at
  Pir
  Hussein,
  near
  Diyarbakir (now
  in
  the
  Istanbul Museum).
  Another
  rock-sculpture
  at Darband-i-Gawr
  in northwest
  Iran
  (perhaps post-Akkadian) records a victory over the Lullubi, one
  of the tribal peoples of Luristan, who presented a continual threat
  to the Mesopotamian frontier ;^^i and another similar victory
  is
  celebrated in the design of the famous 'Stela of Naram-Sin', dis-
  covered at Susa and now in the Louvre.
  As for written records, references to the Akkadian kings might
  be expected in the archives of Ebla
  : a city once sacked by Sargon's
  armies (see Postscript).
  138
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  But, in the end,
  it was the Guti or Gutians, neighbours of the
  Lullubi in the north, who effectively overran the homeland of the
  Akkadians. This happened in the reign of Naram-Sin's successor,
  Shar-gali-sharri
  and,
  since
  their
  onslaught
  coincided
  with
  a
  concerted
  uprising
  of the
  old
  Sumerian
  states,
  the
  centre
  of
  government in Agade was destroyed and the empire disintegrated.
  The political chaos which ensued must have been considerable
  ; for
  the compilers ofthe king-list content themselves with the rhetorical
  question, 'Who was king? Who was not king?' The fact remains
  that for the greater part of a century, Mesopotamia was ri;led by
  semi-anonymous barbarians, who have
  left few monuments or
  comprehensible inscriptions.
  We have mentioned earlier in the present chapter the energy which
  the Akkadian kings devoted
  to
  the rebuilding of temples and
  sanctuaries in the old Sumerian
  cities. With
  this
  in mind,
  it
  is
  curious to observe how few traces of their work have actually been
  revealed by excavations at the sites themselves. One explanation to
  be considered is that, in almost every case, the process of rebuilding
  had in fact to be repeated a couple of hundred years later by the
  Third Dynasty kings of Ur who, perhaps intentionally, concealed
  all evidence of their predecessors' accomplishments. At the same
  time, it has to be remembered that these sites were some of the first
  to be excavated, at a period when the recovery of written texts and
  other removable
  antiquities took precedence over the study of
  architectural remains. The shortcomings of these early systems of
  excavating no longer need to be emphasized. Their relevance in the
  present
  context may however be
  illustrated by some
  selected
  examples.
  Buildings
  H. V. Hilprecht, excavating at Nippur in
  1 899-1900, discovered
  that the great Third Dynasty ziggurat covered the remains of an
  earlier one, founded by Naram-Sin of Akkad, but its investigation
  he considered to be impracticable. ^^^ Vincent
  Scheil,
  at Sippar
  (Abu Habba)
  in
  1893,
  encountered
  a
  great
  religious temenos,
  originally founded by Sargon ofAkkad, but could trace and record
  only
  part of the buildings which replaced
  it
  a thousand years
  later. '^3 £ ^
  Banks,
  at Bismaya (Adab)
  in 1903-4, during
  his
  search for tablets or statues, noted the existence of a palace, private
  houses and a cemetery,
  all of the Akkadian period, but made no
  records of them. ^^^ gy 1923-33, things were a little better, when
  Ch.
  Watelin, working
  in
  the
  Ingharra mound
  at
  Kish,
  could
  distinguish
  repairs and
  additions made
  to an
  older ziggurat
  in
  Akkadian
  times,
  and
  record contemporary
  graves
  in
  the
  'A'
  Cemetery. '^5 ^t Ur, any
  traces of buildings dating from
  the
  Sargonid period were deeply buried beneath the ruins of later
  times; but Woolley was
  at
  least able to study and minutely to
  record as many as 400 Akkadian graves. '^^ It remained for other
  British and American excavators in the 1930s to throw light on
  some peculiarities of Akkadian architecture.
  Archaeology
  139
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  140
  
  Tell Asmar
  Reference has already been made to the discovery at Tell Asmar in
  the Diyala region of a large and well-planned residential building
  dating from the Early Dynastic III period. At a slightly later date it
  had been rebuilt on a much more pretentious scale, with walls over
  2 m thick and an overall dimension of 73 m. '^^ This
  so-called
  'Northern Palace' was adapted, like its predecessors, to an irregular
  shaped site, and an analysis of its plan suggests its division into three
  distmct units. Centrally placed, one sees a suite of major residential
  and reception rooms, whose function is easy to infer. Annexed to
  this in the south, and accessible from it by a narrow doorway,
  is a
  self-contained unit with its own courtyard; and one may recollect
  that the contents of its surrounding rooms (mirrors, ornaments and
  toilet accessories), implied its occupation by women. Lastly to the
  north,
  and
  separated from
  the
  central
  suite by
  a
  system
  of
  courtyards leading to the main entrance, there was a third unit with
  service accommodation. But perhaps the most curious feature of
  this building was a range ofvariously shaped rooms on the east side,
  with built-in installations of kiln-baked bricks. These appear to
  have served some purpose involving the use of water, since each of
  them had a drain leading to a brick-vaulted sewer in the narrow
  alleyway outside the building. One notices that there are indeed
  small lustral places or toilets annexed to larger rooms at other points
  in the plan; but these longer chambers to the east seem to have had
  some other function, which has led one authority even to suggest
  that the building has been wrongly
  identified
  as
  a
  'palace'. ^^^
  Chronologically it is dated by brick-shapes and other evidence to
  the earlier years of the Akkadian epoch.
  94
  Plan of the 'Akkadian Palace'
  at Tell Asmar, with
  its royal
  apartments, elaborate drainage
  and separate wing for women.
  The adjoining Abu Temple
  (bottom left) was also rebuilt at
  this time
  {c. 2350 bc) with a
  double sanctuary. (Lloyd 1933)
  Khafaje and Brak
  There
  was
  other
  evidence
  at
  the
  Diyala
  sites
  of
  extensive
  occupation during the Akkadian period. Near the Northern Palace
  at Tell Asmar, private houses covering a wide area were exposed
  95
  Foundation plan of the
  'Palace of Naram-Sin' at Tell
  Brak, a military stronghold on
  the northern frontier of
  Mesopotamia. (P. P. Pratt after
  Mallowan)
  I4.I
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  ill'M'
  and carefully studied.
  ' ^^ At Khafaje, in an outlying part of the site,
  an enclosure wall had been
  built around
  a group of Akkadian
  buildings, of which only the foundations survived; '^^ and there
  were traces of an Akkadian occupation directly beneath the surface
  at Tell Agrab. But one of the most impressive and historically
  significant buildings dating from
  this period was discovered by
  Mallowan
  at Tell Brak, '^'
  a
  little beyond
  the modern Syrian
  frontier in northern Mesopotamia. This again has been called
  a
  pj
  'palace', but would rather seem to have been a military outpost or
  fortified entrepot, occupying a strategic position on the trade-route
  to southern Anatolia in the time of Naram-Sin. Built upon a site
  overlying the prehistoric 'Eye Temple', referred to in an earlier
  chapter, only its foundations had in part survived
  ; but from these
  the plan could be restored of an approximately square building,
  with immensely thick outer walls and a maximum dimension of
  over 100 m. The plan itself, as one would expect, consisted largely
  oflong storage chambers, grouped around a system of open courts.
  Plundered after the fall of the Akkadian empire, and destroyed by
  fire, it had been replaced by a less substantial building in the time of
  Ur-Nammu (211 3-2096 bc).
  96 The Stela of Naram-Sin,
  King of Agade (2291-2255 bc),
  celebrating a victory over the
  Lullubi and carried as booty to
  Susa by an Elamite ruler. In
  mountainous and wooded
  country the Akkadian monarch
  is depicted at the head of his
  troops protected by the symbols
  of his deities. The expressive
  freedom of the design and its fine
  carving shows a notable
  improvement on early Sumerian
  relief sculpture. Ht 198 cm
  Sculpture
  Well-preserved examples of Akkadian sculpture are hardly more
  plentiful than surviving buildings of the period, a fact which must
  be deplored if one considers the remarkably high quality of their
  achievement.
  Outstanding
  in
  this
  respect
  are two
  conspicuous
  monuments which chance circumstances have preserved for
  us.
  One is the life-size head in bronze of an Akkadian king, discovered
  out of context
  in
  the
  Assyrian
  ruins of the
  Ishtar Temple
  at
  Kiiyiinjik (Nineveh) and now in the Iraq Museum.
  ' ^^ Mallowan,
  who had the good fortune to find it, provisionally identified it as a
  portrait
  of Sargon-of-Akkad,
  perhaps
  dedicated
  by
  his
  son
  Manishtusu, whose name is recorded as founder of the temple. The
  king
  is
  depicted wearing
  an ornamental
  coiffure, whose
  style
  resembles
  the
  wig-helmet
  of Meskalamdug
  or
  that worn by
  Eannatum in the 'Stela of the Vultures'. On the other hand, his
  moustache and divided beard have a new air of sophistication and
  the modelling of his face shows a notable improvement on the
  work of Sumerian sculptors. One of his eyes has been damaged
  by the forcible removal of its valuable inlay.
  The second most important monument of the Akkadian period
  is the 'Stela of Naram-Sin', found by de Morgan at Susa, whither it
  had been brought by the Elamite king Shutruk-nakhkhunte as part
  of
  'the booty
  of Sippar'.'^^ The
  purpose
  of
  this
  relief
  is
  to
  commemorate an Akkadian victory over the Lullubi tribesmen. In
  a composition
  skilfully suggesting
  a campaign among wooded
  mountains, one's eye is drawn to the dominant figure of the king,
  standing high above his troops and protected by the symbols of his
  gods. Wearing a horned headdress to signify his own divinity and
  carrying
  a
  bow,
  he
  tramples
  the enemy
  beneath
  his
  feet.
  Aesthetically, this is a magnificent design, and would alone serve to
  emphasize
  the
  creative
  abiHty
  of Akkadian
  artists.
  If further
  testimony is needed in this respect, it must be sought among more
  142
  
  143
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  ||i«|.
  97
  fragmentary remains from Susa and elsewhere. Pieces for instance
  survive in the Louvre of other diorite stelae, depicting scenes from
  the triumphant aftermath of Sargon's victories over anonymous
  enemies.
  ' ^"^ Had these been less firmly dated, one w^ould still have
  attributed them to an earlier phase in the stylistic development of
  Akkadian carving. With figures arranged in horizontal registers,
  these
  reliefs
  retain many
  characteristics
  of
  their
  Sumerian
  prototypes, though the kaunakes garment is less in evidence and the
  nude bodies of defeated enemies show an improved understanding
  of musculature. A striking advance in the mastery of such designs
  does however appear to have taken place in the time of Sargon's
  successors. For there are fragments of a similar
  stela in the Iraq
  Museum, dating almost certainly from the reign of Naram-Sin,
  in
  which
  one
  sees
  an
  ultimate
  refinement
  of
  relief
  carving,
  comparable with that of contemporary Egyptian sculptors. '^^
  99
  97 Unprovenanced fragment of
  an Akkadian relief, showing
  naked prisoners after a victory
  : a
  rare example emphasizing the
  high attainments of
  Mesopotamian sculptors at this
  period
  Cylinder-seals
  Some compensation
  for
  the
  paucity of Akkadian
  sculpture
  is
  provided by
  the
  rich
  harvest
  of contemporary
  cylinder-seals,
  recovered from graves and private houses at some of the
  sites to
  which we have referred. The
  skill of 'Akkadian seal-cutters and
  their
  talent
  for
  design
  set
  a new
  standard
  for
  glyptic
  art
  in
  Mesopotamia.'^^
  In the
  first place, some innovations are to be
  noticed in their choice of subjects
  ; but more important than these is
  an overall change in the principle of their designs and
  style of
  carving. The aim of earlier artists had been to link their action-
  related
  figures
  together
  in
  a
  continuous
  frieze.
  This
  is now
  abandoned, and the new designs are contrived in such a way that
  the seal's rotation produces a succession of self-contained tableaux,
  often isolated from each other by empanelled inscriptions. The
  figures themselves are also much changed. Generally larger and
  more widely separated, the depth of carving gives higher relief to
  the impression and much attention
  is paid to ornamental detail.
  Unfilled spaces between them enhance the purity of their outline,
  while emphasizing by contrast the elaboration of their modelling
  and the felicity of the patterns which together they compose.
  Amongst the mythical figures of earlier times, the 'naked hero'
  and his companion the 'man-headed bull' are
  still to be seen in
  combat with horned animals or
  lions;
  but
  the
  contestants
  are
  separated and the animals often arranged antithetically, hke the
  'supporters' in a heraldic design, with a central motif in between.
  Mythical and religious scenes are also again popular, but must now
  be integrated
  into
  the framework of a
  static
  design. They
  are
  widely varied and of considerable interest. Apart from the more
  conventional subjects of worship and ritual, reference can easily be
  detected to the familiar myths of Sumerian literature. Once more
  the sun-god appears in his boat, or the water-god with streams
  flowing from his body. There is the bird-man, Zu, who stole the
  'tablets of destiny', Etana, who attempted to reach heaven on the
  back of an eagle, and many other figures of legend, which have
  been identified in the course of long studies devoted to the subject
  of these seals. '^^ Unique among them is an example dating from
  the Akkadian occupation of the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar, whose
  144
  
  45
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  war^WfF-^^Ti
  146
  
  imagery, characteristic of the Indus Valley civilization, established
  one of the first chronological links with the contemporary cities of
  Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.
  ' ^^
  Gasur
  Mention should be made finally of one further
  site from which
  important material of the Akkadian period was recovered by an
  American expedition
  in
  the
  late
  1920s.
  This was Nuzi
  in
  the
  neighbourhood
  of Kirkuk,
  which
  became
  a
  city
  of some
  importance
  under
  its
  Hurrian
  rulers
  in
  the
  15th
  centu/y
  bc.
  Excavations beneath the Hurrian palace area produced evidence of
  continuous occupation throughout the 3rd and'early 2nd millennia,
  during which time the place seems to have been known as Gasur.
  Already in the Early Dynastic period a temple had existed here,
  dedicated to Ishtar like the contemporary shrine at Ashur which it
  closely resembled. Important finds in the vicinity of this building
  included
  a large
  collection of tablets, throwing much
  light on
  commerce and trade connections in the Akkadian period. Among
  Old Assyrian texts also, were found references to mercantile estab-
  hshments in Anatolia, which lent new substance to the Sargonid
  legends associated with this subject. Other finds contributed to the
  hitherto unfamiliar typology of domestic and military equipment
  in the Akkadian period. Metal objects, seal-cylinders and pottery
  were plentiful, and could afterwards be compared with those from
  contemporary levels at Tell Brak, with which they had more in
  common than with their counterparts in the south.
  ' ^^
  98 Akkadian cylinder-seal. The
  ornamental 'combat' motif is
  isolated between vertical reeds
  and an empanelled inscription.
  Both design and modelling here
  reach a high standard
  99
  'Bull-man' and 'hero', each in
  combat with wild bulls, are
  arranged antethetically, with a
  mountain/tree symbol between
  100 Mythical scene showing the
  sun-god Shamash, rising between
  two mountains, and a water-god,
  with other deities in attendance
  Gutians and Lagash
  The situation in Mesopotamia during the long interregnum which
  resulted from the Gutian occupation
  is veiled in obscurity by the
  rarity of written
  texts. But
  it seems
  at
  least unlikely
  that any
  systematic control was maintained over the whole country. The
  interlude was, as we know, finally brought to an end early in the
  22nd century b c by a military insurrection, led by a ruler of Ur
  yet, some sixty years before this occurred, our attention is already
  drawn to the survival in the city ofLagash of a Sumerian ruler, who
  had
  attained
  sufficient independence and wealth
  to
  restore
  its
  temples and reorganize the irrigation of its territory. This was Ur-
  Baba, whose successor, Gudea, has been ensured a prominent place
  in Mesopotamian history, first, by the great number of inscriptions
  dealing
  with
  his
  accomplishments
  which
  have
  survived
  and,
  secondly, by his patronage of a school of sculptors in hard stone,
  who have bequeathed
  to
  posterity some of the most
  striking
  masterpieces of Mesopotamian sculpture. From Gudea's records,
  we even learn of a successful military campaign against Elam and
  the dedication of its spoils to his god Ningirsu, the embellishment
  of whose temple, E-ninnu^
  is described in much detail. '^°
  De Sarzec
  The modern
  'spoils' of Lagash,
  installed
  in the Louvre,
  are the
  results of excavations at the site called Telloh, conducted by the
  French scholar-explorer Ernest de Sarzec during the final quarter of
  147
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  IHl'
  loi
  Fragments of a diorite
  statue, now in the British
  Museum, probably from Telloh.
  The style of carving
  is well
  adapted to the quality of the
  material. The bald head is not
  unusual in this setting. Ht
  c. 73 cm
  the
  last century.
  ' ^
  ' To understand the sensation created by the
  arrival of his finds in Paris, one must recall that they provided the
  first
  substantial
  evidence
  of
  a
  civilization
  in
  Mesopotamia
  antecedent to that of the Assyrians, and that they remained unique
  in this respect until the resumption of excavations in southern Iraq
  after
  the
  First World War. A
  brief summary
  of de
  Sarzec's
  discoveries may not therefore be out of place. '^^
  Telloh
  Telloh
  is
  a very large
  site, near the Shatt-al-Hai
  canal, with
  a
  maximum diameter of about 0.9 miles. Of the principal mounds
  grouped near
  its centre (identified by the French alphabetically),
  the most productive were Tell A
  ('Palais'), Tell K ('Maison des
  Fruits') and Tell V ('Tell des Tablettes'). Attracted to the site by the
  finds of illicit diggers, de Sarzec's first two seasons of excavation
  (1877-8) amply confirmed the importance of Tells A and K, where
  he
  reported
  the
  discovery
  of
  a
  'superb
  fragment
  de
  statue'.
  148
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  foundation deposits with stone tablets and bronze figurines, two
  large inscribed clay cylinders, a fragment of the 'Vultures' stela and
  a 'statue colossale' which he left in place. Early in 1879, during his
  absence on leave, H. Rassam, representing the British Museum,
  slipped in and made some soundings of his own, but was frustrated
  by labour difficulties. A year later de Sarzec was back again and
  began a third campaign, resuming his excavation in Tell A. This
  time
  his
  success was phenomenal
  ('.
  .
  .
  toute
  la
  collection
  des
  grandes statues de Gudea et Ur-Baba, plusieurs morceaux de la stele
  des Vautours, des statuettes en pierre, des figurines de bronze des
  vases et un grand nombre d'inscriptions. Butin enorme, qui arriva
  en France en mai 1881').
  Up
  till now and during his fourth season, de Sarzec had been
  dealing with
  relics of the post-Akkadian phase in the history of
  Lagash.
  In his
  fifth and sixth campaigns, having transferred
  his
  activities to Tell K, he became involved with the remains of an
  earlier period. Inscriptions were found mentioning the names of
  governors
  of Lagash
  -
  Ur-Nanshe,
  Eannatum,
  Entemena,
  Urukagina - who had ruled the state in the Early Dynastic period,
  and
  an
  outstanding
  find
  at
  this
  time,
  bearing
  the name
  of
  Entemena,
  was
  the now-famous
  'silver
  vase',
  with
  its
  finely
  engraved symbolic design. Four further campaigns were to follow
  before de Sarzec's death in 1901
  ; but, after the discovery in 1893 of
  the source (Tell V) from which illicit diggers had been obtaining
  large quantities ofcuneiform tablets, the French excavators became
  primarily occupied in attempts to prevent the total pillage of their
  site. Unfortunately, owing to de Sarzec's failing health and other
  circumstances,
  there
  were
  long
  periods when
  it
  remained
  unguarded and the robbers were consequently given free rein. The
  number of tablets which found
  their way into the markets of
  Baghdad during
  those
  years have been computed
  at between
  35,000
  and
  40,000,
  as compared
  with
  the
  3,800 which were
  recovered by the French from their excavations.
  Gudea
  The statues of Gudea and his son Ur-Ningirsu, seated or standing
  and
  sometimes more
  than
  half
  life-size,
  are
  all
  identified by
  inscriptions.
  They
  are
  carved from
  boulders
  of hard
  diorite,
  brought by ship from Magan at the southern end of the Arabian
  Gulf. The
  exposed
  parts
  of the body show
  a
  refinement
  of
  modelling well suited to this material and the sculptor's treatment
  ofhis subject conveys an impression of strength in repose. Beardless
  and sometimes bald, the heads are set low in the shoulders, while
  the
  eyes
  profit from
  the
  absence of coloured
  inlay. '^^ While
  admiring the masterly design of these sculptures, one is compelled
  to regret the loss of the temple in which they stood, and of other
  rich furnishings which Gudea records having dedicated to his god
  Ningirsu. During his excavations, de Sarzec paid httle attention to
  architectural remains. After his death, however, the work at Telloh
  was resumed and continued intermittently until 1909 under the
  direction of Gaston Cros, who seems rapidly to have acquired the
  rudiments of the wall-tracing technique. One gathers from A.
  102
  Diorite statue found near
  Telloh, probably depicting
  Gudea himself, to judge by the
  characteristic headdress. The
  quality of these sculptures is
  partly dictated by the hardness of
  the stone, which will take a high
  polish. Ht 105 cm
  101-2
  149
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  103 Map showing the relative
  positions of Telloh and Al-Hiba
  in the ancient state of Lagash.
  (S.
  Ebrahim after W. S. Thomas)
  .
  S
  V
  \ \
  •
  \
  AGirsu (Telloh)
  V--^^ik_Lagash (Al-Hiba)
  ^
  —-^
  A.,
  <
  \ X ANina(Surghul)
  ^V
  AUruk
  \
  X
  ^
  —^..^^A Larsa
  V.
  1^
  3pm/
  ^^' ^s^./-^^^^ "X
  sokm
  AEridu
  103
  Parrot's summary of his reports that he did much to clarify the
  topography of the site. In Tell A, beneath the ruins of a palace built
  by an Aramaean ruler in the 2nd century bc, he located what he
  considered to be some remains of the Ningirsu temple and, in Tell
  K, a fortification built by Gudea. Among his fmds elsewhere (actu-
  ally purchased) was a headless statue, subsequently re-united in the
  Louvre with the fragment till then known as the 'Tete-au-Turban'.
  Al-Hiba
  More
  than
  seventy
  years
  after
  de
  Sarzec's
  death,
  in
  1972
  extraordinary discoveries were made during a survey undertaken
  by Th. Jacobsen and F. Safar, which led to an excavation sponsored
  by the Metropolitan Museum and University of New York, under
  the leadership o^V . E. Crawford, at a site called Al-Hiba, 15 miles
  southeast of Telloh. A variety of Sumerian inscriptions were found
  on
  tablets,
  stamped
  bricks
  and
  other
  objects
  (some
  of them
  associated
  with
  a
  temple
  building).
  Their
  content
  provided
  indisputable proof that Al-Hiba was in fact the site of the ancient
  city of Lagash. Further excavations may throw new light on this
  paradoxical
  situation; but for the present
  it
  is only possible to
  conclude that the city discovered by de Sarzec at Telloh and now
  identified by its ancient name, Girsu, '^"^ was a secondary political
  or religious centre in the state of Lagash.
  The Third Dynasty of Ur
  The Sumerian revival itself must be thought of as having begun in
  about 2120 BC, when Utu-hegal, King of Uruk, initiated the first
  large-scale revolt against the tribal rulers. He was supported by the
  Sumerian governors of several other cities, and one of these, Ur-
  Nammu,
  seems
  to
  have
  replaced him
  after
  his
  first
  military
  successes.
  It was he who completed the liberation of Sumer and
  founded the great Third Dynasty of Ur, thereby inaugurating what
  is sometimes called the Neo-Sumerian period. For a
  little over a
  century, under this king and his four successors, Ur, like Agade,
  150
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  was the capital of an empire; here
  as elsewhere much time was
  devoted to ambitious building programmes, which have left their
  mark on the cities in the form of ziggurats, temples and palaces. For
  our present purpose therefore, it may be well to concentrate on Ur
  itself, whose site (Tell Muqayyar) was so thoroughly excavated by
  WooUey between the years 1922 and 1934. '^^
  Buildings at Ur
  Woolley published an overall plan of the city of Ur as he found it,
  with
  details of the fortifications partly restored. '^^ Represented
  here are of course the city-walls as rebuilt by the Neo-Babylonian
  kings in the 6th century bc; but there is no reason to suppose that
  their outline
  differs greatly from those built in the time of Ur-
  Nammu fifteen centuries earlier. The town which they enclose takes
  the form ofan irregular oval with a maximum dimension of almost
  exactly 1200 m, and in Ur-Nammu's time was already surrounded
  by a wall and a rampart. Woolley describes it as follows
  The rampart was ofmud brick with a steeply sloping outer face
  ; the lower
  part was in fact a revetment against the side of the mound formed by the
  older town, but the upper part of it extended inwards over the top of the
  ruins to make a solid platform.
  .
  .
  . Along the top of this ran the wall proper
  built
  of baked
  bricks.
  .
  .
  .
  This
  massive
  fortification
  was
  further
  strengthened by the fact that the river Euphrates (as can be seen from the
  line of its old bed), washed the foot of the western rampart, while fifty
  yards from the foot of the eastern rampart had been dug a broad canal,
  which left the river immediately above the north end of the town. On
  three sides therefore Ur was ringed by a moat and only from the south
  could it be approached by dry land.
  It was presumably from this side that the walls were assaulted by an
  Elamite army
  in 2006 bc when
  the
  city was
  destroyed.
  For
  Woolley adds
  ... of Ur-Nammu's wall not
  a trace remained. We would come on
  examples of very large bricks specially moulded with the king's name and
  titles, reused in some later building, but none of them were in
  situ. Just
  because the defences of Ur had been so strong, the victorious enemy had
  dismantled them with special care.
  The Ziggurat
  A second heavily buttressed enclosure wall surrounded the sacred
  temenos in the northwest part of the town. In WooUey's plan of
  this precinct one sees that it was considerably enlarged in the time of
  Nebuchadnezzar, whose new wall passed across the ruins of the
  Third Dynasty mausoleum, which had been sited just outside the
  old temenos, near the earlier Royal Tombs. Of the buildings inside
  the original enclosure, by far the most conspicuous was the colossal
  ziggurat, built by Ur-Nammu and completed by his son Shulgi.^^"^
  1 04
  This remarkable monument, which
  is better preserved than any
  other of its sort in Mesopotamia, was studied and recorded with
  great
  care by Woolley, whose well-known perspective recon-
  struction of
  its
  original appearance
  has
  recently
  facilitated
  the
  partial restoration of its ruins by the Iraq Government. It is a soHd
  structure, built in three 'stages'. The core is of mud brick, probably
  laid around and over the ruins of an earlier tower, and it was faced
  151
  
  fM"
  104 The Third Dynasty
  ziggurat of Ur-Nammu at Ur,
  convincingly reconstructed by
  Woolley except for the form of
  the summit temple, which is
  hypothetical. The overall
  dimension at ground level
  is
  61 X45.7 m
  with a skin of baked brick, set in bitumen, about 2.4 m thick. The
  lowest
  stage, which
  is
  best
  preserved,
  measures
  61 x 45.7 m
  at
  ground level and
  is about 15 m high. The initial approach to the
  summit was by a triple stairway, with three converging flights and
  squat tower-buttresses in the angles between them. Where they
  met,
  at the
  first
  terrace
  level,
  the remnants of four brick
  piers
  suggested some
  sort of portico, which Woolley hypothetically
  provided with a domed roof. The height and dimensionsof the two
  upper stages were ascertainable, but they were also much denuded.
  Woolley
  observed
  three
  peculiar
  aspects
  of
  the
  ziggurat
  structure,
  for which he has offered
  tentative explanations. The
  fabric of the tower consisted of sun-dried brickwork, reinforced
  with thick layers of woven reeds at intervals of six or eight courses.
  Penetrating into its core, he found that bricks and mortar alike were
  hardened
  and
  discoloured
  by
  fire,
  a phenomenon
  which
  he
  attributed to the saturation of the structure by damp (perhaps while
  temporarily in ruins), and the consequent occurrence of internal
  combustion in the decaying vegetable matter. Conversely he was
  surprised by the multiplication of 'weeper-holes' penetrating the
  baked-brick outer
  shell of the lowest
  stage; and he wondered
  whether the
  terrace above could have been planted with
  trees
  which would have
  required
  irrigation. He had
  in
  fact found
  carbonized tree-trunks near the base of the tower. '^^ Finally he
  discovered a slight outward deviation in the line ofthe main facades
  at pavement level. This he was tempted to compare with the subtle
  distortion ofperspective contrived by the builders ofGreek temples
  fifteen centuries later. Remembering the great weight of the tower
  and the pliable quality of mud brick, others have mistrusted this
  explanation.
  The Terrace
  With the exception of the mausoleum which we have mentioned,
  all the major buildings originally founded by the kings of the Third
  152
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  Dynasty fell within the area of the old temenos as it existed at that
  time. For the most part, they had been so frequently rebuilt, with
  adjustments to their planning and arrangements, that the analysis of
  their ruins required much skill and patience. Indeed, had it not been
  for
  the convention by which, from Akkadian times onwards,
  baked bricks were stamped with royal inscriptions, the task would
  have been impossible. Ur-Nammu built his ziggurat on a raised
  terrace, surrounded by double walls with intramural chambers ('E-
  temen-ni-gur'). To
  this he added
  a second
  courtyard,
  with
  a
  monumental gateway
  at temenos
  level, which he dedicated
  to
  Nannar, patron god of Ur. Southeast of the ziggurat terrace was a
  huge and heavily fortified building called 'Gi-par-u', dedicated to
  Ningal, the consort of Nannar but also containing several minor
  shrines, incorporated during its long and complicated architectural
  history. This is probably to be regarded as the tieftempel or ground-
  level sanctuary. A smaller, square building ('E-nun-makh'), in the
  angle between the two ziggurat courtyards, has been variously
  identified as a palace, a temple or a 'treasury'.
  The main entrance to the ziggurat terrace in Ur-Nammu's time
  was by
  a
  rather inconspicuous gateway
  in
  the
  eastern
  corner,
  known as 'E-dub-lal-makh'.
  Its outer portico, looking southward
  over the more public part of the precinct, contained a statue of
  Nannar and was used by the king as a 'Seat of Judgment'. Later
  rulers separated it from the terrace and made it into a court-of-law,
  with its own subsidiary chambers grouped around
  it. Yet, almost
  seven cenruries later, the Kassite king Kurigalzu still referred to it as
  'The
  Great
  Gate,
  the
  \ncient
  One'. Of the remaining Third
  Dynasty buildings, two only survived in their original form. One
  of these, in the southeast angle of the old precinct, was 'E-kharsag',
  clearly the residential palace ofUr-Nammu and his successors. The
  other was the mausoleum, about which there
  is more to say.^^^
  This
  formidable
  conglomeration
  of buildings
  comprised Ur-
  Nammu's own tomb and those of his two immediate successors.
  Below the contemporary ground-level were the burial-chambers
  themselves with their corbelled brick vaults and long flights of steps
  leading down to them. Above these were the remains of elaborate
  and formally planned funerary chapels. See ill. 57.
  The Mausoleum
  One should say at once that the looting of these tombs in antiquity
  has to be regarded as a major tragedy. Judging from the astonishing
  wealth
  of
  the
  older
  dynastic
  tombs,
  which
  were
  otherwise
  conceived on a much more modest scale, these first great imperial
  monarchs must have been provided with immeasurably
  richer
  grave-deposits and buried with even more elaborate ceremony. All
  that
  is now
  left
  is the
  shell of the buildings with their vaulting
  partially intact; and Woolley found no more than fragments of
  gold leaf, testifying to treasure which was removed from them.
  Almost without
  exception,
  the tombs of subsequent
  rulers
  in
  Mesopotamia have remained unlocated.
  Regarding
  the
  vaulted chambers
  themselves,
  they had long
  103
  flights of stairs leading down into them and were roofed with
  corbel-type vaulting composed of baked bricks. In estimating the
  153
  
  I /-**
  "' s
  '-^^
  105
  Entrance to the brick
  vaulted tomb-chamber of Ur-
  Nammu in the royal mausoleum
  atUr
  height of the
  chambers, WooUey became aware of a
  curious
  circumstance. It was evident that, in the case of Ur-nammu's tomb,
  the pavement on which the burial was actually laid out seemed a
  somewhat shoddy
  affair and
  left
  a space between
  itself and the
  vault, in which there was only just room for a man to stand. He
  then found that the stairway went down several metres beneath
  this, to a proper pavement laid with several courses of baked bricks
  set in bitumen. What had apparently happened was that, when the
  tomb was actually constructed, the builders had not taken into
  account the flood-level ofsub-surface water; so that, when the king
  died and the time came for the tomb to be used, it was found to be
  filled
  with
  water
  to
  a
  considerable
  depth. The
  only remedy
  therefore was to fill it up to above water-level with rubble and then
  repave it. Evidently, since that time, the water-level had receded,
  because Woolley was able to excavate all the tomb chambers down
  to the original pavement level, and, after shoring up the vaults with
  timber,
  it became possible
  for
  visitors
  to
  walk' about
  in them.
  Today, a more permanent reconstruction of the vaults has been
  achieved and they have become a tourist attraction.
  154
  
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  Where the Ur mausoleum was concerned, Woolley
  as usual
  made an extremely thorough study of the surviving remains. He
  was even able
  to record
  details of a temporary
  superstructure,
  connected solely with the ritual ceremony of inhumation, which
  was later replaced by permanent memorial chapels.
  Temples and Sculpture
  The period of Sumerian revival seems to have coincided with a
  notable change in the planning of ordinary temples. The 'bent-axis'
  approach of earlier times was now abandoned in favour of ^ more
  obvious symmetry. The new plan, which was to survive with only
  minor variations throughout the remaining history ofBabylonia, is
  to be seen in its simplest form at Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), where a
  subject prince dedicated a temple to Shu-Sin, the deified King of
  Ur. '^° Tower-flanked portal and vestibule, ante-cella and inner
  sanctuary were now aligned on opposite sides of a central court, to
  create a single vista which terminated in the cult-statue itself. Ante-
  cellas could be duplicated and dependencies multiplied; but the
  cardinal sequence of features around which the plan developed
  remained constant from then onwards. As for the cult-statue itself,
  upon which the liturgy of Sumerian ritual was focused, some clue
  to its appearance may be sought in reliefsculptures where deities are
  depicted. A rare example is to be seen in the so-called 'Stela of Ur-
  Nammu', fragments of which were found by Woolley among the
  earliest remains of 'E-dub-lal-makh'. This was a monument
  3 m
  high, divided horizontally
  to depict scenes connected with the
  building of a temple. In the only undamaged register, the king
  is
  106
  Tell Asmar (Eshnunna), cut-
  away plan and section of a
  temple (A) dedicated to Shu-
  Sin, deified King of Ur, and the
  adjoining 'Palace of the
  Governors' with its private
  chapel, in the time of Illushuilia
  (2317-2283 BC). Vaulting over
  the 'Great Hall'
  is not impossible
  at this period. (Drawing by R.
  Leacroft)
  1, sanctuary;
  2, altar; j,
  great hall;
  4, throne-room; 3,
  courtyard;
  6, private court;
  7,
  ablutions;
  8, palace chapel; 9,
  ante-chamber;
  10, sanctuary; 11,
  toilet
  155
  
  Mr-
  The Dynasty of Akkad and the Sumerian Revival
  107
  Detail of the Stela of Ur-
  Nammu found at Ur,
  reconstructed from fragments.
  The King is instructed by seated
  gods to build a temple (perhaps
  the ziggurat). The 'Sumerian
  Revival' owed much to his
  initiative. Ht 304 cm
  twice depicted in confrontation, first with a god and then a goddess
  (perhaps Nannar and Ningal), before whom he pours a hbation
  over some sort of plant. Fragments of a terracotta vessel, similar to
  that in which the plant grows, were found beside the altar in the
  Shu-Sin
  temple.
  In
  contrast
  to
  the
  secular dynamism
  of the
  Sargonid reliefs, the tranquility of this religious scene is once more
  characteristically Sumerian. Similar subjects depicted on the seal-
  cylinders of this period have a correspondingly static quality.
  !
  lt\,ul
  Lirt.,/
  r
  156
  
  Chapter Eight
  The 2nd Millennium bc
  In the early years of the 2nd millennium, with the Sumerian empire
  disintegrating and
  a number of new
  states becoming
  actively
  independent, we are faced with an era of change in the political
  anatomy of Mesopotamia, which may once more justify a short
  historical digression.
  ' ^
  Of the two peoples who were jointly responsible for the downfall
  of Ur's Third Dynasty, the Amorites from Syria settled in Babylon
  and other cities to the north, while the Elamites returned eastward
  across the Zagros, leaving a governor of their own choosing in the
  Diyala state, Eshnunna, to guard their interests in Mesopotamia. In
  Sumer itself, meanwhile, throughout the whole ofthe 20th century
  BC, one watches two
  states,
  Isin (modern Bahriyat) and Larsa
  (modern Sinkara), contending for control of the ancient cities and
  their sacred shrines. At first Isin is in the ascendancy, but its enemies
  are many, including not only Larsa but Eshnunna with its Elamite
  allies. Furthermore, by the end of the century, two formidable new
  states have emerged from
  their previous
  obscurity
  to become
  prominent in the political scene: Mari (modern Tell Hariri) and
  Ashur (Qal'at Sharqat), situated respectively on the middle courses
  of the Euphrates and Tigris. Also in about 1900 bc, when Larsa
  appeared to be gaining the upper hand, a new dynasty was founded
  in
  Babylon, whose
  sixth
  ruler, Hammurabi,
  was
  destined
  to
  reshape the whole political pattern.
  Of the more northerly states which we have mentioned above,
  Mari is one at which we should take a closer look.
  Its ruins as we
  have said lie on the west bank of the Euphrates, a little to the north
  of the modern Syrian frontier. The Sumerian king-list attributes to
  it the status of a city with a dynasty ofrulers
  ; and sure enough, when
  a French expedition led by A. Parrot began excavating there in
  1933, their first find was an Early Dynastic temple, dedicated like
  that at Ashur which it closely resembled, to the goddess Ishtar. By
  the beginning of the 2nd millennium bc, the place had acquired a
  special importance
  as
  a
  station on
  the
  great trade-route which
  brought timber and metal from Syria or from the mines of the
  Taurus Mountains. At the time when the First Dynasty of Babylon
  was founded,
  its rulers were consequently rich and prosperous.
  Their palace, which Parrot had the good fortune to find and the
  opportunity to excavate, was an enormous building which will
  presently be described, and
  it contained an archive of more than
  20,000 tablets, revealing the city's history prior to its destruction by
  Hammurabi in about 1760 bc. '^^
  Conflicting States
  57
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  The Mari tablets
  first introduce us to several obscure Semitic
  kings, and then to one more historical ruler, lakhdunlim, early in
  whose reign the city temporarily
  lost
  its independence and was
  annexed to the state of Ashur. Mentioned in this connection is one
  of
  the
  first
  really
  notable
  Assyrian
  kings,
  Shamshi-Adad
  I,
  concerning whom a great deal is to be learnt from the Mari archive.
  The city of Ashur occupied a strategic position on a shoulder of
  rock, overlooking the Tigris at a point well beyond the Hmits of the
  alluvial plain.
  ' ^^ Li]^^ Mari,
  it was an important trading centre, in
  I
  contact both with the southern cities and with the sources of raw
  j
  materials in Anatoha. Between about 1940 and
  1 800 b c it had even
  I
  maintained a commercial colony or karum as far away as Kanesh
  I
  (modern Kiiltepe) in Cappadocia. Under Shamshi-Adad
  its own
  ,
  territory
  extended
  northward
  to
  include
  the
  uplands
  around
  Nineveh; so
  its extension westward as far as the Euphrates now
  created a formidable kingdom. From the Mari archive one learns in
  great detail how this came to be administered by Shamshi-Adad
  and his two sons, one of whom, Ishme-Adad, he established
  as
  governor of Mari. He himself preferred to be on the move from
  one minor city to another, and seems to have spent a good deal of
  his time
  at
  a
  place
  called
  Shubat-Enlil, probably on the River
  Khabur and now equated by some scholars with the
  site called
  Chagar Bazar, where Mallowan came upon tablets dealing with his
  financial
  affairs. '^'*
  Other
  contemporary
  letters
  in
  which
  the
  Assyrian royal family is mentioned have been found more recently
  at Tell Rimah, the site of a provincial capital in the Sinjar area. The
  combined
  contents of
  all
  these
  texts have helped
  to
  create an
  extremely
  clear
  (and sometimes
  entertaining)
  picture, both of
  public administration and of personal relations between the ruling
  families. For this reason alone they are invaluable documents.
  The end of Shamshi-Adad's reign is less easy to reconstruct. His
  southern garrisons seem to have been overrun by the armies of
  Eshnunna and Elam, which then drove westward to the Euphrates,
  and it may well have been in resisting this attack that the Assyrian
  king lost his life. When the situation again becomes clear, Ishme-
  Adad has succeeded him as King of Ashur (178 1 bc)
  ; but Mari has
  regained
  its
  independence
  and
  is
  ruled by
  lakhdunlim's
  son,
  Zimrihm, who had been exiled to Aleppo.
  It was in Zimrihm's
  time
  that
  final improvements were made
  to
  the
  palace which
  Parrot excavated.
  Zimrilim's
  political
  relations
  with
  the
  south,
  dependent on
  ephemeral alliances with Babylon and Eshnunna, were for the time
  being satisfactory. In the northwest, Syrian states such as lamkhad,
  of which Aleppo was a principal city, Alalakh and even Qatnah in
  the plain of Homs,
  all remained friendly. Only to the east of the
  Euphrates at this time
  (c. 1800 bc), the country had begun to be
  disturbed by
  the
  arrival of new
  immigrants.
  These were
  the
  Hurrians
  : a people of unknown extraction, neither Semites, nor
  Indo-Europeans. Ever since the Third Dynasty of Ur, there had
  been small
  centres
  in northern Mesopotamia whose
  rulers had
  Hurrian names. In Zimrilim's time they were already to be found
  at Carchemish, and later as far afield as Alalakh and the Orontes
  Valley. Nevertheless, it is from the American excavations at Nuzi,
  158
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  1 08 Head of a basalt stela
  recording Hammurabi's code of
  laws, carried away to Susa
  during an Elamite invasion and
  now in the Louvre. The King is
  seen confronting the seated
  figure of Shamash, god of
  justice. Beneath are 16 columns
  of cuneiform inscription in
  which the traditional laws of
  Babylonia are definitively re-
  formulated. Ht of top of stela,
  71 cm
  near Kirkuk, that our rather scanty knowledge of them
  is mainly
  derived.
  The Hurrians, in any case, were for the time being disunited and
  presented no serious threat to the cities of upper Mesopotamia. In
  the end
  it was the accession of a great statesman to the throne of
  Babylon which put an end to this peaceful interlude. In 1759 bc, the
  armies of Hammurabi defeated
  a
  coalition
  consisting of Larsa,
  Eshnunna, Elam and Mari. Two year's later Mari revolted, but was
  then completely destroyed, while Assyria, now much reduced in
  size, became a vassal of Babylon. As in the time of Sargon-of-
  Akkad, the whole country was now again united under a single
  ruler
  and
  an
  appropriate
  system
  of
  administration
  devised.
  Hammurabi's achievements
  in
  this
  respect
  are
  reflected
  in
  his
  famous law-code, inscribed on a basalt stela 3 m high, which is to be
  seen in the Louvre.
  10(
  159
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  .
  During the reigns of Hammurabi's successors, three unexpected
  ?
  developments foreshadowed the disintegration ofhis empire. In the
  j
  south a people inhabiting the so-called 'Sea-Land' at the head of the
  Arabian Gulf, encroached upon the old Sumerian cities and created
  j
  from them a new kingdom. Secondly, from the northeast came a
  I
  host of Kassites,
  displaced from
  their homeland by
  the same
  I
  movement of Indo-European peoples which brought the Hittites
  I
  into
  Anatolia. And
  finally,
  in
  1595
  bc,
  the
  Hittites themselves
  i
  under their king Mursilis
  I, after sacking in turn Carchemish and
  1
  Mari, swept on down the Euphrates as far as Babylon itself, which
  they plundered and burnt, thereby putting an end to Hammurabi's
  dynasty.
  The Hittite raid on Babylon was one of the stranger phenomena
  !
  of Near
  Eastern
  history;
  for
  Mursilis was almost immediately
  summoned home, to deal with enemies who were threatening his
  own
  capital
  in
  Anatolia.
  It was
  accordingly
  the
  Kassites who
  profited most, because they were thus enabled peacefully to take
  over the government of Babylonia. They adopted the religion and
  culture of Mesopotamia so thoroughly and unquestionably that,
  for the next 360 years, one would hardly be aware that much of that
  country was now being ruled by
  a dynasty of completely alien
  kings. To
  the north, meanwhile,
  in
  the
  hilly country beyond
  Nineveh, and west to the Euphrates, much the same situation had
  arisen in regard to the Hurrians. Such rulers as they possessed had
  now been replaced by a new, Indo-European aristocracy, whose
  political acumen enabled them at last to acquire for their people a
  national identity. Between Assyria and the Hittites there emerged a
  powerful kingdom, thereafter known as Mitanni, with its capital at
  Washshukanni (a site to the west of Nisibin which has not yet been
  located).
  ' ^ = In the early years ofthe 14th century, one finds its kings
  corresponding almost on equal terms with Egyptian Pharaohs of
  the
  1 8th Dynasty.
  It was also during this century that Assyria, still with its capital at
  Ashur, began
  to reappear
  as
  a major power. As one able ruler
  followed another,
  its southern frontier was stabilized, while the
  Mitannians, under pressure from the Hittites, soon began to relax
  their
  hold
  on
  northern
  Mesopotamia.
  Finally,
  weakened
  by
  internal disputes,
  their royal family
  lost authority and
  its army
  ceased to be a match for that of Assyria. In 1250 bc, after several
  defeats, the last Mitannian king was slain by Shalmaneser
  I and his
  country became
  a province of the Assyrian
  state. Shalmaneser's
  successor Tukulti-Ninurta
  I (1244-1208) conquered Babylon and,
  during
  the remainder of the 2nd millennium one watches
  the
  earlier stages in the creation of an Assyrian empire.
  With
  these
  historical
  events
  in
  mind,
  it may
  be
  easier
  to
  understand that the archaeology of the 2nd millennium can be
  divided into four principal phases, each of which
  is, as it happens,
  illustrated by the results of at least one major excavation. To begin
  with there is the 'Isin-Larsa' period
  (c. 2020-1763 bc), ending with
  Hammurabi's
  unification of Mesopotamia.
  This period
  is
  well
  represented
  at the Diyala
  sites:
  Tell Asmar (Eshnunna),
  Ischali
  (Neribtum), and Tell Harmal (Shaduppum). Next there are the
  reigns of Hammurabi and
  his
  successors,
  the Old Babylonian
  160
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  period, ending with the fall ofBabylon in
  1 595 b c. For this we have
  Parrot's wonderfully comprehensive finds at Mari. Thirdly, in the
  south there
  is the time of the Kassite Dynasty (1595-1235
  bc),
  documented primarily by the Iraq Government's excavations
  at
  Dur-Kurigalzu ('Aqar Quf). In the north this partly coincides with
  a period of Hurrian-Mitannian domination, of which we shall fmd
  evidence at Nuzi and elsewhere. And finally, there is the growth of
  Assyrian power: the so-called 'Middle Assyrian' period, which will
  bring us to recall the excavations made by the Germans at Ashur
  itself
  Buildings of the Isin-Larsa Period
  Eshnunna ceased to be a vassal ofUr in 2027 b c and some years later
  its first independent governor, Ilushuilia added a palace to the great
  temple which one of his predecessors had dedicated to Shu-Sin, a
  deified king of Ur.
  ' ^^ To the palace he annexed a smaller religious
  building, probably now dedicated to the local god, Tishpak. This
  'Palace Chapel',
  like the older temple, adheres to the plan now
  uniformly adopted in Babylonia, with entry, courtyard, antecella
  and sanctuary
  all on the same axis. The palace itself is of greater
  interest, because it takes its place in a long line of secular buildings
  planned for the same purpose.
  ' ^^ Facing the square court is a broad
  rectangular throne-room or audience chamber, with
  a
  staircase
  leading to the
  flat roof near one end.
  It
  is separated by smaller
  chambers from a 'great hall'
  (or bitanu court), perhaps used for
  assemblies. We shall see something of the same sort at Mari and,
  more than a thousand years on, in the standard 'reception suites' of
  the Late Assyrian palaces. In the Eshnunna palace, remnants of the
  state archive were found in the stair-well; but some of the most
  important historical evidence was derived from the stamped bricks,
  used during each successive reconstruction of the building, which
  provided a complete genealogy of local rulers. (See ill. 106.)
  We learn in this way that
  it was a later Governor, Ibiqadad
  II
  ('enlarger of Eshnunna'), who built an immensely greater palace,
  facing the earlier buildings across a broad street.
  ^ ^^ Of this only the
  foundations
  have
  survived;
  and
  it may
  well
  have
  remained
  unfinished.
  Yet
  here
  again
  one may
  recognize
  the
  standard
  arrangement of court, throne-room and 'great hall', now much
  enlarged and even duplicated. Elsewhere to the north, Ibiqadad's
  son (confusingly called Naram-Sin), built a separate audience hall-
  in this case differently planned, supposedly because he had 'assumed
  the prerogatives of divinity'.
  Nearer to the River Diyala itself is Ischali (ancient Neribtum),
  where,
  'in the year Rapiqu was sacked', Ibiqadad built a temple
  which is perhaps the finest monument of the Isin-Larsa period. "'^
  log
  The
  building
  is
  a
  precise
  rectangle,
  measuring
  approximately
  100 X 60 m, and incorporates
  three
  separate
  shrines,
  the
  largest
  dedicated to Ishtar-Kititum, a local form of the great goddess. The
  whole complex is raised 3 m above ground-level on a platform or
  kisu, faced with kiln-baked bricks set in bitumen. Baked brick
  is
  again generously used elsewhere, for instance in the construction of
  a wide stairway, leading from the outer courtyard to that of the
  i6i
  
  109 The Ishtar-Kititum
  Temple at Ischali (ancient
  Neribtum in the state of
  Eshnunna). Raised above its
  surrounding buildings on a
  terrace faced with baked brick,
  it comprised three separate
  shrines, of which the largest was
  raised even higher. A fine
  example of Mesopotamian
  architecture in the Isin-Larsa
  period (2017-1794 Bc).
  (Watercolour by W. Suddaby)
  major shrine which stands at an even higher level, and for the three
  towered gateways. An unusual feature
  is to be seen in one of the
  subsidiary shrines, whose sanctuary
  is set lengthwise on the main
  axis:
  a
  practice
  later
  adopted
  in
  Assyrian
  temples
  (German
  langraum). Elsewhere the hreitraum arrangement
  is maintained. A
  striking reconstruction o^ the whole building
  is to be seen in
  a
  much-published drawing by
  the
  late Harold
  Hill.
  It makes an
  interesting contrast to Shaduppum (Tell Harmal), which is a small,
  outlying heavily fortified administrative station, on the outskirts of
  modern Baghdad. ^^^ But
  it too was provided with no
  less than
  four comparatively modest temples, the largest of which has outer
  and inner gateways, flanked by the almost life-size figures of lions
  in
  terracotta.
  Archives
  of
  tablets
  found
  in
  its
  administrative
  buildings included, among other important texts,
  a code of laws
  preceding that of Hammurabi.
  Private Houses
  110
  Under
  this
  heading,
  a word
  should
  be
  said
  about
  ordinary
  dwelling-houses of the Larsa period. These are well represented in
  contemporary levels at the Diyala
  sites, but perhaps even better
  illustrated at Ur, by WooUey's excavation in a residential area to
  the southeast of the temple precinct. ^^^ Here there was a tangle of
  narrow streets with modest houses on either side, and occasionally,
  at important cross-roads where several lanes met, small rehgious
  shrines occupying
  sites of their own. The houses themselves
  so
  closely resembled those of any small town
  in
  Iraq early
  in the
  162
  
  mag. N
  present century, that they hardly merit description: blank walls
  facing the street, rooms in two storeys opening on to an unroofed
  central court, and in one, of which Woolley drew a well-known
  reconstruction,
  a
  sheltered wooden
  gallery
  at
  first-floor
  level,
  supported on posts. ^^^ Among their few distinctive features were
  the graves of their occupants, often buried beneath the ground-
  floor pavements.
  no A residential quarter of Ur
  in the 20th century BC. A tangle
  of narrow lanes lead off wider
  roads. The richer houses have
  two storeys of rooms, Hghted by
  an open court, and closely
  resemble those in the older cities
  of modern Iraq. (After Woolley)
  163
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  Palace
  Enlrance
  III The great palace at Mari, as
  completed by Zimrilim
  (i 779-1 761 Bc). The royal
  archives were found in two
  rooms near the approach to the
  king's apartments, where there
  was also accommodation (a
  school ?) for scribes. (After
  Hawkes, 1974).
  a, outer
  courtyard; b, audience hall (with
  murals)
  ;
  c, ceremonial courtyard
  (with murals)
  ; d, throne-room
  e, inner sanctuary and hall
  The Palace at Mari
  1 1 1
  The Mari palace had doubtless been the residence of Zimrilim's
  father, lakhdunlim, and afterwards used by Shamshi-Adad's son
  during the Assyrian interlude. But, as much of it was built of bricks
  stamped
  with
  the name
  of ZimriUm
  himself,
  he
  must
  have
  considerably enlarged and rebuilt
  it.
  It was,
  as we know, finally
  destroyed when the city-walls were razed to the ground in the 35 th
  year of Hammurabi (1757 bc). Nevertheless, when Parrot found it,
  its 4-m thick walls remained standing in some cases as much as 5 m
  high and the
  lintels of some doorways were
  still intact. ^^^ The
  whole building measures approximately 200 x 120 m - twice the
  dimensions of the Ishtar-Kititum temple. Much of the plan consists
  of a multiplication ofwhat is really the Babylonian dwelling-house
  unit - a number of chambers grouped around an open court; but
  these are subsidiary to the great central system of reception rooms
  and religious shrines.
  From the main entrance with its guardrooms, one passes into a
  huge outer courtyard
  (a), of which the main feature
  is a three-
  sided
  audience
  chamber,
  approached by
  a
  flight
  of
  steps
  (b),
  thought by some to be a surviving feature of an earlier building.
  But it is the inner, and slightly smaller courtyard
  (c), on to which
  the main suite of reception chambers faces.
  It
  is composed of the
  now-traditional elements:
  first
  a throne-room
  (d)
  with
  a pod-
  ium facing the central doorway, and then, separated from
  it by
  vestibules,
  a larger element corresponding to the 'great hall'
  (e).
  But the latter now has a clearly religious function
  ; for, at one end,
  steps lead up to a sanctuary and, facing it at the opposite end of the
  164
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  hall, is a throne emplacement. As Parrot has observed, this gives the
  whole central suite a non-secular character, and w^e shall see that this
  is borne out by the relics ofsculpture and mural paintings which are
  associated with
  it.
  More simply decorated are the living apartments of the royal
  family in the northwest corner of the building, whose outer walls
  on
  both
  sides
  are enormously
  strengthened. The
  king's own
  chamber and that of the queen were recognizable, and in the court
  between, some sort ofgame had been marked out on the pavement.
  Closer than one would expect to
  this domestic unit were two
  chambers with rows of clay benches, identified as a school or offices
  for scribes. Accessible from these were two of the store-rooms in
  which archives were kept - originally arranged upon shelves. The
  third and most important archive room was conveniently placed
  between the inner and outer courts. Elsewhere, among the 200-or-
  more rooms clustering around the central unit, ranges of other
  store-rooms could be recognized, including one group centred
  upon a chamber known to the excavators as the Cercle des officiers,
  which
  was
  distinguished by
  its
  painted
  walls.
  Also
  near
  the
  southeast corner of the building were two rooms composing
  a
  minor
  shrine,
  connected by
  a
  'processional way'
  to
  the main
  audience hall.
  112
  112
  Palace of Zimrilim at Mari
  toilet and terracotta baths in the
  royal apartments
  165
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  /VWyWY
  Mural Paintings
  1 1 3 ( Top) Mural painting on an
  outer wall of the throne-room in
  Zimrihm's palace at Mari (V in
  ill. III). The 'Investiture' scene
  (above) shouts the King before
  Ishtar, 'taking the oath' with his
  hand upon the divine emblem in
  the presence of other deities.
  Below, two figures of the
  'goddess with flowing vase' are
  in attendance. On either side are
  'sacred trees' and other symbohc
  figures. The Mari scene has been
  compared with the entrance to
  an Assyrian temple at Khorsabad
  (above), which again
  is flanked
  by 'flowing-vase' figures and
  artificial palm trees.
  (S. Ebrahim
  after Parrot, 1958)
  More must now be said about the mural paintings, which have
  been the subject ofmuch speciahzed study. ^^'^ As Parrot himselfhas
  observed,
  they
  are of special
  significance,
  in
  that
  they
  clearly
  illustrate 'the spirit of synthesis which animated the artists of the
  middle
  Euphrates
  at
  this
  period':
  the
  curious combination of
  Sumerian
  heiraticism,
  surviving from an
  earlier
  age,
  with
  the
  distinctive naturalism of the Semitic approach to art. As he says,
  these influences seem to have contributed to creating a new school
  of decoration, which, had it been given time to mature, might have
  produced one of the high artistic epochs of Near Eastern history.
  The murals were painted directly upon a thin layer of mud plaster,
  in a manner which has been taken to suggest that the true 'fresco'
  technique was understood.
  The largest and most ambitious composition, LTnvestiture du Roi
  de Mari, was found,
  still in place, on an outer wall adjoining the
  central entrance to the throne-room, in a part of the courtyard
  (c) which was protected from the weather by
  a roof or awning
  supported on posts. The central design is composed of upper and
  lower panels.
  In the former, the king, draped in an elaborately
  fringed costume and polos headdress, receives or touches a divine
  emblem held by the goddess Ishtar, whose raised foot rests upon the
  back of a lion. Other gods and goddesses are in attendance. In the
  lower scene,
  facing each
  other,
  are two identical figures of the
  'goddess with flowing vase', wearing a flounced dress and holding
  166
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  an
  ariballos
  vessel, from which
  streams of water,
  full of
  fish,
  undulate around the picture. Both scenes are framed on either side
  by
  tall panels with palm and other stylized
  trees, among which
  birds,
  mythical
  animals
  and
  divinities
  are
  to
  be
  seen.
  This
  composition has been ingeniously explained by one scholar
  as a
  ceremony taking place in the cella and antecella of a temple, of the
  sort which in later, Assyrian times was entered between 'flowing-
  i ij
  vase' statues and artificial palms. ^°5 Whether or not this
  is so, the
  decorative effect of such a design, with its ornamental border and
  bright colours, must have been magnificent.
  Another such painting adorned a wall of the audience chamber
  in the outer courtyard, like which it may be of slightly earlier date.
  Known to the excavators as Le sacrifice de I'eau by dufeu, it is a scene
  of worship
  and
  libation,
  attended
  by
  monstrous
  figures
  of
  Sumerian
  mythology:
  Tiamat
  of
  the
  Enuma
  Elish
  epic
  and
  Shamash, 'rising behind his mountain to scatter the stars'. The king
  (Shamshi-Adad I ?), again in his fringed garment, also appears in the
  surviving fragment of a 'sacrificial scene', whose original position
  in the building could not be positively determined.
  We have noted above
  that,
  in
  the
  centre of the
  city
  at
  the
  southeast approach to the palace, a cluster of minor temples had
  already existed in Early Dynastic times, dedicated to such gods as
  Nin-khursag, or more local deities like Ishtarat and Ninni-Zaza. ^'^^
  Some of these still survived in the
  1 8th century
  ; but they were now
  dwarfed in size by the Temple of Dagan (a grain-god worshipped
  along the middle Euphrates), to whose sanctuary a small ziggurat
  was
  at some time annexed. Dedicatory tablets showed that
  this
  temple was in fact build by Ishtup-ilum, a governor of the city in
  the late Larsa period {c.
  1 890 Bc), ofwhom a fine portrait statue was
  found, not in the temple but in the 'great sanctuary' of Zimrilim's
  palace. This and other Mari
  statues may therefore presently be
  discussed together with the combined products of the Isin-Larsa
  and Old Babylonian periods.
  During
  the
  excavation of buildings
  to which we have
  so
  far
  referred,
  little information could be recovered regarding either
  their facade ornament or method of roofing. In the 1960s, a British
  expedition led by David Oates, and working at Tell Rimah, in the
  Sinjar district west of Mosul, was able to throw much new Ught on
  both
  these
  matters. ^^^
  Here,
  where
  a
  largish mound
  already
  covered the remains of earlier settlements, a local ruler in the time
  of Shamshi-Adad
  I had built himself a
  city, surrounding
  it with
  fortifications and creating from the mound itself an emplacement
  for a remarkably fine temple. This building,
  as described by the
  114
  excavator himself,
  was approached by a free-standing stair carried on vaults, and from its roof
  further
  stairs or ramps led to
  a high terrace, perhaps surmounted by
  a
  higher
  shrine. The
  whole,
  three-
  or
  four-tiered
  structure must have
  resembled a ziggurat. The temple itself on its platform high above the city,
  was laid out on the Babylonian plan and decorated in a style that also has
  southern parallels, although as a complete system of ornament it is unique.
  All
  the
  external
  and
  courtyard
  facades
  were
  adorned
  with
  engaged
  Tell Rimah
  167
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  1 14 Plan of a temple at Tell
  Rimah in the Sinjar district, at the
  foot of a small ziggurat (early 2nd
  millennium bc). The fac^ades are
  elaborately ornamented with
  half- and three-quarter- columns
  of mud-brick, some moulded
  spirally or to represent palm
  trunks. Remnants of compHcated
  mud-brick vaulting had survived
  in this building. (After D. Oates,
  1964). a, ziggurat; b, shrine; c,
  antechamber; d, courtyard
  1
  1
  Plan and section of 'pitched-
  brick' vaulting on pendentives at
  Tell Rimah, late 3rd millennium
  BC. A simpler form of 'pitched-
  brick' vaulting was used 2000
  years later in the great iwan
  behind the Arch of Ctesiphon.
  (After D. Oates, 1973)
  rc'X
  TaWo
  100 cm
  68
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  columns, set singly or in groups, 277 in all
  ; the 50 large columns were built
  of carved bricks, laid in complicated patterns to represent spirals or palm-
  trunks.-^^
  But perhaps the more extraordinary feature of this building was the
  prevailing use of mud-brick arches and vaulting, even for trivial
  purposes where wood
  could have been
  substituted. ^°^ Com-
  plicated
  vaulting
  systems,
  including
  the
  use of 'pitched-brick'
  construction and even
  pendentives, were
  contrived with
  such
  casual facility that a long and widespread tradition of building in
  this manner seemed to be implied.
  115
  Sculpture
  Of the Mari statues, the only one undoubtedly contemporary with
  the palace is the 'flowing-vase' goddess, fragments of which were
  found both in the 'throne-room' and in the courtyard outside.
  (This must have been a fixture, since, by an arrangement of pipes, it
  actually
  dispensed
  water.)
  Stylistically however,
  it
  is
  of
  little
  significance, since its design in most respects suggests a traditional
  treatment of this particular
  subject. More
  characteristic are the
  several statues of local princes: Ishtup-ilum, found in the 'great
  sanctuary';
  Idi-ilum
  from
  the
  southeast
  shrine
  and
  Puzur-
  Ishtar, which was part of a
  'collection' of antiquities assembled
  by
  a
  Late
  Babylonian
  king
  (and
  now
  in
  the
  Istanbul
  116
  117
  116
  Statue in black stone of
  Ishtup-ilum, Governor of Mari,
  from the palace of Zimrilim
  (c.
  2200 Bc). Ht 152 cm
  117
  Statue of deified king
  dedicated to a temple by Puzur-
  Ishtar, Governor of Mari, found
  in the 6th-century 'Palace
  Museum' at Babylon. Like
  Ishtup-ilum, he wears a toga-like
  dress, also seen on contemporary
  statues from Eshnunna, found at
  Susa and now in the Louvre. Ht
  175 cm
  169
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  1
  ^^^r
  IdjH
  fjtn|
  1
  ^^^^J
  H
  *^ti^^^H
  ^^^^^^^^^^HKt aH1^L^B^m
  ' i^1
  mS^*^
  s
  ^^^^^^^
  «B
  Museum). These compare interestingly with the statues of two
  Eshnunna governors, one of them seated, which were carried as
  booty to Susa. In a world where the crudity of the kaunakes was
  hardly
  remembered,
  these
  statues
  are
  dressed
  in
  a
  toga-like
  garment,
  whose
  fme
  texture
  and
  restrained
  modelling
  are
  effectively
  contrasted with
  the
  obtrusive
  detail of ornamental
  fringes and the pattern of formally dressed beards. They are by no
  means lacking in dignity. ^
  ' °
  Other sculpture of the period is scarce and often of poor quality.
  Where relief carving is concerned, the scene depicted at the head of
  Hammurabi's 'law-code' stela is perhaps unique. The king, whose
  profile and headdress are familiar from fragmentary sculptures in-
  the-round, stands facing a seated god, with the emblem of divinity
  (justice?) in his hand, like Ishtar in the 'Investiture' painting. In the
  words of Henri Frankfort, the scene 'conveys, not only a sense of
  confrontation but of communication between the lord of justice
  and the law-giver'. But there is at this time another form of relief,
  modelled in terracotta. Of this,
  a fme example
  is the (privately
  owned)
  panel
  showing
  the
  naked
  goddess,
  Lilith,
  with
  her
  supporting
  lions and
  owls. ^
  '
  ' More common
  still
  are
  votive
  plaques of baked clay, cast in an open mould, which were probably
  sold
  to worshippers
  at
  a temple. Their
  subjects vary from the
  ubiquitous 'mother-goddess', now grotesquely conventionalized,
  to
  sensitively modelled figures of musicians, temple-women or
  more
  trivial
  motifs
  such
  as
  a
  bitch
  suckling
  her
  puppies.
  Corresponding
  to
  the
  fine
  terracotta
  lions
  from
  the
  temple
  gateways at Tell Harmal, similar beasts of bronze, with inlaid eyes,
  guarded the sanctuary of the Dagan temple at Mari. ^'^
  1 1
  Painted terracotta plaque
  showing the goddess Lilith,
  'Bringer of Death', winged and
  holding symbols ofjustice. Her
  name is associated with owls,
  both in the Gilgamesh epic and
  the Old Testament {Isaiah,
  XXXIV,
  14). Ht 50 cm
  119 Guardian Uons in terracotta
  from temple gateways at Tell
  Harmal (ancient Shaduppum), a
  minor walled city in the state of
  Eshnunna. Reconstructed from
  some hundreds of fragments
  (c. 1900 Bc). Ht
  c. 63 cm
  118
  119
  171
  
  The Kassites
  120 Wall ornament from the
  temple of Karaindash at Uruk: a
  rare example of Kassite
  architecture (14th century bc).
  Ht of brickwork, 198 cm
  121 The eroded ruin of a great
  ziggurat at 'Aqar Quf, west of
  modern Baghdad and site of the
  Kassite capital called Dur-
  Kurigalzu. The mud-brick core
  is reinforced with layers of reeds
  and heavy cables (Kassite
  Dynasty, I5th-i3th centuries bc)
  120
  121
  In view of the fact that the Kassites ruled Babylonia for more than
  four centuries,
  it
  is surprising to observe how little their national
  characteristics
  are
  reflected
  in
  the
  material
  remains
  of
  their
  occupation.
  These make
  it
  abundantly
  clear
  that,
  in
  religion,
  administration and technical practices, they adopted and faithfully
  maintained the age-old conventions of Mesopotamia, rebuilding
  temples and honouring the shrines of Sumerian deities. An almost
  unique exception in this respect is the temple ofKaraindash at Uruk
  which, with its exaggerated corner buttresses, seems at first to be
  sharply differentiated from the buildings around
  it. Even so,
  its
  elaborately decorated facade embodies one motif with which we
  are already familiar. Tall niches between its projecting pilasters are
  filled
  with
  the
  alternating
  figures
  of Babylonian
  gods
  and
  goddesses, holding in both hands the traditional 'flowing vase'. For
  the
  rest,
  they
  provide
  us
  with
  a
  very
  early example
  of the
  'moulded-brick' ornament which was later perfected by Assyrian
  and Neo-Babylonian craftsmen, ^
  ' ^
  The
  grandiose new
  capital,
  which
  was
  founded
  by
  the
  Kassites
  themselves and
  called
  Dur-Kurigalzu,
  is
  distinguished
  from other Babylonian cities only by the nature of its chosen site. It
  was built upon a low outcrop of soft limestone,
  at the northern
  172
  
  *'«!
  ^.2*'4
  .'Hi.
  
  Iliri-
  122
  Kisske-type kudurru or
  boundary stone, assigning land to
  an official called Marduk-nasir.
  The armed figure of a king(?)
  is surmounted by religious
  symbols. Ht 53 cm
  123 Head in terracotta of a
  bearded man from Dur-
  Kurigalzu. The style recalls that
  of the
  1 8th Dynasty in Egypt.
  Ht 4 cm
  extremity of the alluvial plain to the west of modern Baghdad,
  where the eroded core of its great ziggurat (now partially restored)
  still creates a conspicuous landmark. Iraq Government excavations
  in 1942-5 exposed a complex of temples at the foot of the tower
  and, further out on a peninsula extending into the neighbouring
  flood-basin, the remains of at least four palaces. ^
  '
  "^ Peculiar features
  of the temple area were rectangular platforms faced with baked
  brick, supporting the principal shrines. Inscribed pivot-stones and
  tablets found in this area were mostly dated to the reign of a king
  called Kurigalzu; but the stratification of the palaces, which had
  been rebuilt at more frequent intervals, implied the existence of
  one earlier king at least bearing the same name.
  One of these palaces
  ('H'),^'= unfortunately
  in part denuded
  owing to the weathering of the mound, did show some signs of an
  architectural arrangement perhaps characteristically Kassite. The
  central courtyard was surrounded by multiple doorways, giving on
  to long
  galleries
  reminiscent of cloisters. The
  reveals of these
  doorways were decorated up to a height of about
  i m with mural
  paintings, depicting processions of court officials.^ '^ They wore a
  short-sleeved garment
  with
  a
  fringed
  girdle and
  a
  fez-shaped
  headdress over their long hair in the Assyrian manner.
  It has been
  suggested
  and
  is
  entirely
  possible
  that
  this
  figured
  ornament,
  174
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  forming a 'dado' at the base of the walls, foreshadowed the use of
  sculptured slabs for the same purpose in later Assyrian palaces. In
  Kassite times, relief sculpture was mainly restricted to boundary
  stones (kudurru), bearing the emblems of gods invoked as witnesses
  of a land-settlement, or of a king who had authorized it.^'^
  Another palace
  ('A') of a much
  earlier period, had one long
  gallery, painted white, with triple rows of small plastered pedestals,
  The many fragments of gold leaf and other valuables lying on the
  pavement between these, strongly suggested
  its use as a treasure-
  chamber. Later
  it had been replaced by ranges of brick-vaulted
  repositories, probably intended for the same purpose. ^'^
  It was
  here, and in the stair-wells leading to the roof, that other valuable
  objects had been scattered, perhaps at a time when the palace was
  looted. Among many damaged gold ornaments and beads, one
  intact gold bracelet was found, on which
  'granular' ornament
  alternated with inlays of blue paste. Many fragments were also
  found o£ mosaic ornament
  in
  coloured
  glass.
  This would
  be
  contemporary with or older than the i8th-Dynasty Egyptian glass
  found
  at Tell-el-Amarnah. The craftsmanship of that period in
  Egypt was also recalled by the painted head of a man with a full
  beard
  in
  terracotta and
  the
  equally well-modelled
  figure of a
  lioness.-^ ^^
  123
  124
  124
  Sensitively modelled head of
  a lioness from Dur-Kurigalzu.
  Our knowledge of Kassite art
  depends mainly on small objects
  of this sort. Ht
  c.
  5 cm
  175
  
  Mitanni
  Nuzi
  We have now to deal with the Mitannian occupation of northern
  Mesopotamia, which was in part contemporary with the Kassite
  dynasty in Babylonia. Mitannian kings reigned from their capital at
  Washshukanni, near the headwaters of the River Khabur, from
  about 1500 BC until the mid-i4th century, when their kingdom
  disintegrated.
  During
  that
  time,
  one
  of
  their
  southernmost
  strongholds was the city now known
  as Nuzi, 12^ miles to the
  southwest of modern Kirkuk (Arrapha), and its site was excavated
  by Americans from Pennsylvania, under R. F. S. Starr and others,
  during the late 1920s and early 1930s. ^^° To anyone seeking the
  criteria of Mitannian culture, the results of this excavation are both
  rewarding and disappointing. A palace and temple were found, as
  well
  as
  a
  large number of important private dwellings.
  In
  the
  absence of conspicuous works of art, innumerable small finds give
  an impression of a people whose way of life was much enriched by
  trade and familiarity with the countries of the Levant and even with
  Egypt. But undoubtedly the major discovery of the expedition was
  an abundance of tablets: over 5,000 texts in all, including in certain
  cases the entire archives of a single family over periods of as much as
  five generations.^^'
  The main mound was called Yorghan Tepe, and beneath it lay
  the actual walled city with its palace and temple
  ; ^ ^ ^ but there were
  also
  outlying mounds
  covering
  the
  remains
  of other
  palatial
  residences. To the temple some reference has already been made,
  since
  it was originally founded in the Early Dynastic period, at a
  time when the place was known as Gasur.
  It was finally rebuilt in
  Mitannian times, in a form which comprised two sanctuaries, and
  its remains were conveniently dated by a letter from the Mitannian
  king Shaushattar
  {c. 1460 Bc). One shrine had internal walls faced
  with wooden panelling in the form of 'clapper-boards', pegged to
  the brickwork. Elsewhere the wall-faces were decorated with nail-
  shaped bosses of glazed terracotta and, suspended from these, some
  sort of woven
  fabric
  enriched
  with
  beads.
  Brightly
  coloured
  glazing, of the sort common in Egypt at this time, was also applied
  to other objects, such as small guardian figures of lions and, in one
  case,
  to
  a wall-ornament
  in the form of a boar's head. As for
  sculpture, the excavators had to be content with the eye-inlay of a
  life-size statue.
  The palace was built around the usual broad open courtyards. In
  the largest of these, at the approach to the main reception suite, the
  walls seemed to have had some sort of painted wooden entablature
  beneath the eaves and, before the main entrance to the throne-
  room,
  a pair of free-standing brick piers may have supported
  a
  portico or ornamental baldachin. Everywhere there were elaborate
  provisions
  for
  drainage and
  sanitation,
  including
  at
  least
  one
  example
  of
  a
  toilet,
  flushed by
  piped
  water from
  above. A
  luxurious bathroom and
  lavatory were annexed
  to
  the
  royal
  apartments, and the vestibule through which these were approached
  was
  decorated with
  impressive mural
  paintings,
  incorporating
  foreign motifs such as guilloche ornament, acroteria, bucrania and
  'Hathor heads'
  . ^ ^ ^ Main doorways had pivot-stones, in one ofwhich
  the bronze 'shoe' of the door-pivot itself remained in place. The
  176
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  12$
  Fragile pottery of the style
  known as 'Nuzi ware', with
  designs painted in white on a
  dark ground. Such vessels date
  from the time of the Mitannian
  kingdom
  {c. 1475-13 50 BC),
  based in northeast Syria. (From
  Starr, 1938)
  great thickness of the walls in the principal reception units could
  have implied an increase in
  their height to allow for clerestory
  lighting
  ; but the excavators preferred to see in this a mere provision
  for security.
  Several mansions in the northern suburb, including that of the
  'Crown Prince' ('Governor of the City of Arrapha'), were the
  subject of special study. Those of two brothers called Tehip and
  Shurki
  Tilla between them produced
  1,000
  tablets. That of an
  individual called Zigi contained a formidable collection of copper
  objects,
  comprising
  arrowheads,
  spearheads,
  knives
  and much
  laminated armour plating, fused into heavy masses. But there were
  tools as well as weapons
  : scythes, punches, chisels and adzes - all
  discarded apparently at a time when the buildings were destroyed
  by fire.
  Among the minor fmds made in these palace buildings at Nuzi,
  one distinctive feature was an unusual type of pottery. ^^"^ These
  fmely made vessels were elegantly decorated with designs in white
  paint on a dark-coloured background. The commonest form was a
  tall cup with 'button base', and the patterns, usually in horizontal
  registers, included motifs till now unfamiliar in Mesopotamia, such
  as running
  spirals, guilloches and rosettes,
  as well
  as formalized
  birds and plants. Though this ware has been found as far south as the
  Kassite capital Dur-Kurigalzu and to the north at Tell Billa beyond
  Mosul, its affinities are with northern Syria, where it has appeared
  at such
  sites
  as
  Tell Atchana
  (Alalakh), and was supposed by
  Woolley (perhaps wrongly) to have originated in Crete. Mitannian
  cylinder-seals too, have more in common with those of northern
  Syria, and even Cappadocia. The designs are often overcrowded
  and confused; but certain motifs such as the stylized 'sacred tree'
  and the winged griffin survived in the imagery of later Assyrian
  ornament. ^^5
  Finally, there is the famous collection of texts from Nuzi. The
  excavations brought to light no less than 4,000 cuneiform tablets, of
  which almost 1,000 were found in the house of Tehip-Tilla. Their
  contents create an extraordinarily detailed picture of daily
  life in
  this part-Hurrian community of citizens. Legal and commercial
  transactions which they often record are of interest in themselves;
  but it is their incidental references to people, places and things that
  promote
  one's
  understanding
  of
  the
  social
  or
  environmental
  background against which they were written, and amplify the
  evidence provided by archaeological fmds.
  125
  177
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  In
  an
  appendix
  to
  R. F. S.
  Starr's
  publication
  of the
  Nuzi
  excavation (1939), E. R. Lacheman summarizes most interestingly
  the 'evidences of material culture' to be derived from the texts: a
  most welcome addition to an archaeological report of this sort.
  It
  I
  appears under headings whose variety alone prepares one for the
  I
  wealth of information which they contain.
  First then, Nuzi emerges as a walled city, with towers, bastions
  and
  gates whose names
  are mentioned. The
  palace
  is
  a
  great
  complex of buildings with annexes serving many purposes and a
  long architectural history. The temple known to the excavators
  was one of several shrines, piously served by the leading families, by
  suitable offerings and the gift of slaves. Accounts of the building or
  repair of private houses provide a glossary of architectural terms
  and structural details. Streets are frequently mentioned by name,
  and the topographical picture
  is supplemented by much detailed
  reference
  to
  the
  distribution of water:
  a
  small
  river serving
  a
  network of canals, reservoirs and bridges, each of them carefully
  named. Other landmarks were individual wells. Dealings in real
  estate
  and
  the
  transfer
  of
  land
  ownership
  reveal
  details
  of
  agricultural practices in a well-irrigated province, surrounded by
  uncultivated steppc-land, and there is a precise vocabulary of words
  commonly
  used
  for
  such
  purposes.
  One
  learns
  the
  relative
  popularity of various crops, of which barley is once more the most
  common,
  followed
  by
  wheat, emmer,
  poppy
  and
  flax.
  In
  a
  separate category
  are orchards and
  gardens, from which
  fruit,
  vegetables and flowers are listed by name, in careful inventories,
  and the wood of fruit-trees is recommended for specified purposes.
  Much information of a more technical character is provided under
  further headings, such
  as 'Chariots and Wagons',
  'Furniture' or
  'Clothing', and there is a section on tools, weapons and armour.
  In the catalogue of subjects dealt with by the Nuzi
  texts, one
  regrets above all the paucity of references to political subjects and
  contemporary
  history.
  Indeed,
  the
  only
  piece
  of inscriptional
  evidence by which the Nuzi culture can be positively dated is, as we
  have said, a document from a room in the great house of Shilwi-
  Teshup
  : a well-known letter from Shaushattar, King of Mitanni,
  who ruled in the latter part of the 15th century bc.
  The Middle Assyrian Period
  For our knowledge of Assyrian archaeology during this period we
  are
  indebted
  almost
  exclusively
  to
  the work
  of the German
  excavators at Ashur (Qal'at Sharqat) on the Tigris. The decision to
  embark on this major enterprise was made in 1903, when, in the
  south, Robert Koldewey's expedition had already spent four years
  wrestling with the problems presented by the great ruinfields of
  Babylon. They
  had
  by
  then
  largely
  elucidated
  the
  site-plan,
  identified most of the
  principal
  buildings and were
  assured of
  success in their efforts to resurrect the remains of Nebuchadnezzar's
  capital
  city.
  Only
  in
  that
  year,
  it
  became
  evident
  that
  the
  unexpectedly high level of the sub-soil water-table was likely to
  preclude the investigation of any occupation level earlier than the
  7th
  century
  bc. A
  supplementary
  operation
  was
  therefore
  178
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  suggested, at a site where such remains might be more accessible
  and, when Ashur was chosen,
  it was Walter Andrae who was
  entrusted with the new undertaking. From then onwards,
  until
  1 91 3, the two excavations continued simultaneously at
  sites 350
  miles apart. Their combined accomplishment, both in the recovery
  of historical information and in the perfection of archaeological
  method, has since come to be generally recognized. ^^^
  City of Ashur
  We have already mentioned the situation of Ashur, on an outcrop
  of limestone rising to a considerable height in the angle formed by
  two
  courses
  of the
  River
  Tigris.
  This
  gave
  the
  city
  natural
  126-7
  protection on two sides and, on the landward side, its defences were
  completed by a crescent-shaped array of powerful walls, enclosing
  an
  area
  three-quarters
  of
  a
  mile
  wide.^^^
  Andrae's
  principal
  excavations were carried out in the elevated part of the city to the
  north and northwest, where its temples and palaces were situated.
  He had assured himself that this was so by the now-standardized
  German method of cutting search-trenches (suchgraben) clean across
  the site from east to west at intervals of 100 m, corresponding to the
  grid-lines of his initial survey. At the same time the full circuit of
  the fortifications was traced, exposing the principal gates, river-side
  quays and other features. His deepest penetration was the sounding
  which revealed the Pre-Sargonid foundation of the Ishtar Temple.
  The latest architectural remains he encountered could be dated to
  the final phase of the Parthian period, about ad 256.
  Andrae and Koldewey were both
  architects, and
  at Babylon
  their
  tendency
  to
  over-correct
  the
  evident
  faults
  of
  earlier
  excavators resulted in their concentration on the study of buildings
  rather than written texts. ^^^ At Ashur, the function of Andrae's
  epigraphical advisers gained in importance for reasons which soon
  became obvious. Over a period of some 2,000 years, successive
  kings had contributed
  to
  the restoration and
  multiplication of
  public buildings or fortifications
  ; and the chronological sequence
  of their building-levels could only be determined with the help of
  associated
  inscriptions.
  These showed
  that many of them had
  continued to be rebuilt by Late Assyrian kings, long after the city
  had ceased to be their administrative capital. In the paragraphs that
  follow,
  this will explain the mention of royal names belonging
  more correctly to a later chapter.
  Fortifications
  The landward rampart of the inner city was built and rebuilt by a
  number of kings, including Shamshi-Adad I in Hammurabi's time.
  Tukulti-Ninurta
  I
  (i 244-1 208 Bc) provided
  it with an external
  moat,
  20 m
  wide. A
  foundation
  inscription
  also
  records
  that
  Shalmaneser III (858-824 bc) completely reconstructed
  it, adding
  an outer wall which ran parallel to it but was diverted at its southern
  end to enclose an extension of the city. Meanwhile, in about 1300
  BC, Adad-Nirari
  I had constructed a great quay of baked brick
  along the eastern river front, and this had been strengthened by
  several later kings
  as a secondary protection against flooding. A
  description of the town in the time of Sennacherib (704-681 bc)
  179
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  126 The city of Ashur on the
  Tigris, in the Middle Assyrian
  period, as seen from the
  northwest. A drawing by Walter
  Andrae himself, towards the end
  of his ten-year excavation
  127 Town plan of the city of
  Ashur, on
  its eminence at the
  junction between two branches
  of the Tigris. The Bit Akitu
  is
  outside the town to the
  northwest. (From Hawkes, 1974)
  180
  
  The 2nd Millennium B C
  mentions
  thirteen
  gates
  in
  these
  fortifications,
  though
  the
  excavators
  were
  able
  to
  locate
  only
  eight
  (distinguished
  by
  numbers in the site-plan). The most important of these, used by
  travellers to the north, was known to the Assyrians as 'Gurgurri' (i
  & 2 in Andrae's plan). Between this and the western river-bed there
  was a kind of citadel (referred to by the Germans as Aussenhaken),
  with gates at either end (3 & 4) through which a great procession
  passed out of the city at the time of the New Year's Festival (sec
  below). Next there were gates in the north wall,
  a western gate
  known as 'Illat', and finally minor gates at the southern extremity
  of the city and its later extension (7 & 12).
  Temples and Palaces
  Approaching the city by river from the north, its massed buildings
  must have created an impressive silhouette - as one realizes from a
  well-known
  reconstruction drawn by Andrae
  himself. ^-^ The
  126
  temples rose to a maximum height on the northernmost shoulder
  of rock, and there were three ziggurats. The
  greatest of these,
  which had been given its final form by Shamshi-Adad
  I, measured
  60 m square and was originally dedicated
  to the Sumerian god
  Enlil, who, as a patron of Assyria was later replaced by the city-god
  Ashur himself. In its exposed position the tower was much denuded
  by weather and nothing remained of its stairways or auxiliary
  buildings. Out of 38 temples mentioned in the inscriptions, only 4
  were fully excavated, the largest of which was again dedicated by
  Shamshi-Adad to Ashur and occupied the most prominent position
  on
  the
  northern
  height,
  with
  an
  enclosed
  precinct
  extending
  southward.
  Here,
  as
  in
  the
  later
  rebuildings of the
  old
  Ishtar
  Temple, something is to be learnt about the changing conventions
  that dictated the planning of sacred buildings. The Ashur Temple,
  as built by Shamshi-Adad, seemed to have two main sanctuaries, one
  at least conforming to the breitraum arrangement currently adopted
  in Babylonia. Many centuries
  later, Sennacherib added to
  it an
  eastern annex, with its cella set lengthwise on the main axis in the
  Assyrian manner. As for the Ishtar Temple, after the destruction of
  the 'Archaic' shrine, the Germans found traces of no less than six
  rebuildings, in the course ofwhich even its dedication was changed.
  Yet, always annexed to
  it, was
  a small secondary shrine, where
  Ishtar continued to be worshipped, and which still retained the old
  langraum
  cella,
  with
  its
  'bent-axis'
  approach
  following
  the
  Sumerian tradition.
  Of the two other principal temples, both had dual dedications
  and unusual plans. One was the Anu-Adad shrine, with
  its twin
  ziggurats, identical tieftempel units in the Assyrian manner, and an
  enclosed forecourt:
  all contrived
  as
  a
  single
  architectural com-
  position. The second double temple, dedicated to the moon- and
  sun-gods, Sin and Shamash, was first built by Ashur-nirari I (c.
  1 500
  1 28
  Bc), but rebuilt to a different plan by Sennacherib. Both have twin
  Assyrian sanctuaries, approached through breitraum
  antecellas. A
  fifth cult-building, hardly
  to be regarded
  as
  a temple, was that
  known in Assyrian as the Bit Akitu, to which the cult-statues were
  brought
  in
  procession during
  the New
  Year's
  Festival.
  It was
  located 400 m outside the city to the north-west, and consisted of a
  181
  
  llHri'
  128 The Temple of Sin and
  Shamash at Ashur
  : above,
  foundation plan at the time of
  Ashur-nirari
  I (1500 Bc); below,
  plan at the time of Sennacherib
  (704-681 Bc). The long, axial
  sanctuaries are common to most
  Assyrian temples. (After Parrot,
  1946)
  great square courtyard with lateral colonnades and a sanctuary on
  the main axis, more closely resembling a throne-room.
  A further word should here be said about the Akitu or 'New
  Year's
  Festival', which acquired
  its complete ceremonial form
  during the early centuries of the ist millennium bc. By that time it
  had replaced or assimilated the earlier Sumerian 'Spring Festival',
  associated
  with
  the
  'Sacred
  Marriage'
  of god
  and
  goddess,
  symbolizing the recurrent cycle of creation and fertility. The feast
  now took place at the time of the spring equinox and lasted eleven
  days, each day marking a stage in
  a prolonged and complicated
  182
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  ritual
  performance.
  It was
  for
  the
  culminating
  phases of
  this
  ceremony that the Bit Akitu or Festival House provided a setting.
  Thither the statues of the gods w^ere escorted, mounted on wagons
  or boats, having been temporarily removed from their temples, to
  be present
  at the celebration of a
  rite known
  as the 'Fixing of
  Destinies', in which the king himself played a leading role. Many
  details of the
  ritual
  used on
  these
  occasions
  are known from
  surviving
  texts; and
  at Ashur
  the paved way along which
  the
  procession passed out of the city has been revealed by excavation.
  In contrast to the temples, there
  is
  little to be said about the
  secular buildings at Ashur. The so-called 'Old Palace', sited next to
  the main ziggurat, embodies a labyrinth of rectangular chambers
  and ranges of store-rooms, entered and lit from a succession ofopen
  courtyards. In this way it resembles the palaces of the Larsa period
  at
  Eshnunna,
  with which
  indeed
  its
  original
  foundation was
  contemporary. Here and there also, as in the palaces of Mari and
  Ur, private religious shrines are incorporated. The Ashur palace
  was still in use at the time of Tiglath-pileser
  I (ii 15-1077 bc); but
  during the Late Assyrian period, what remained of it seems to have
  been converted into
  a mausoleum. Ashur-nasirpal (883-859 bc)
  embellished one of its gateways with winged-bull sculptures and
  beneath
  it he constructed elegant tomb-chambers. These were
  found by the Germans to contain huge, monolithic sarcophagi,
  looted in antiquity but
  still bearing the names, among others, of
  Ashur-nasirpal himself and of Shamshi-Adad V (823-81
  1 bc).
  Meanwhile, on an artificial terrace in the northwest angle of the
  city wall, Tukulti-Ninurta
  I,
  after his conquest of Babylon, had
  built a 'New Palace' ofwhich only the stone foundations remained.
  Not
  content with
  this,
  he
  also
  provided
  himself with
  a new
  residential suburb, i-8 miles to the north of the city on the left bank
  of the Tigris, and named
  it 'Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta'. Here too he
  built
  a
  miniature
  ziggurat
  and,
  beside
  it,
  a
  temple
  with
  a
  Babylonian sanctuary and
  a
  cult-niche
  actually penetrating
  the
  facade of the tower itself Andrae thought that in this case access to
  the upper terraces of the ziggurat was obtained by building a bridge
  over the street behind. For the rest, some of the most interesting
  discoveries
  at
  Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta
  were
  examples
  of figured
  ornament in coloured glaze on terracotta, sometimes in the form of
  upright
  wall-slabs
  ('orthostats'),
  and
  a
  panel
  built
  up
  out
  of
  polychrome glazed bricks. ^2°
  Some Finds at Ashur
  We should now
  consider some of the
  finds
  at Ashur and
  the
  symptoms among them of ideas
  or innovations which
  can be
  accepted as characteristically Assyrian. In a study of this subject,
  Henri Frankfort claims that
  ... in the fourteenth century an art emerged which, for all its derivations,
  possessed an individual
  character, not only
  in
  style but
  also
  in subject
  matter.
  It depicted secular subjects with an interest in actuaHty for which
  no incident seemed too trivial. In religious matters on the other hand,
  it
  displayed a cold formalism, which did not allow man to meet the gods face
  to face, but only to perform the established rites before their statues and
  emblems. ^^'
  183
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  U
  129 An altar of Tukulti-Ninurta
  I
  (i 244-1 208 Bc) from Ashur,
  with a relief in which homage is
  paid only to the symbol of a
  god, in this case Nusku, set upon
  an image of the altar itself
  Ht 53 cm
  IJO
  131
  An example, frequently quoted, of this last tendency
  is the carved
  relief on an altar set up by Tukulti-Ninurta
  I. If one remembers the
  direct confrontation between man and god in the scene carved on
  Hammurabi's famous stela, here is a direct contrast. The Assyrian
  king
  is seen to approach and then kneel before an altar similar to
  that on w^hich the picture is carved, and it is surmounted, not by a
  statue but by the traditional symbol of a particular god, in this case
  Nusku, one of the three fire-gods manifest in the sacrificial flame.
  Perhaps this attitude to divinity is equally reflected in the planning
  of Assyrian
  temples
  described
  earlier, where
  the
  cult-statue
  is
  withdrawn to the furthest extremity of an elongated sanctuary. As
  for the god Ashur himself, he too more often appears as a symbol
  rather than in human form. His figure acquires wings, like the sun-
  disc of Egyptian Horus, and the disc has a bird's tail.
  Another contemporary development can be seen in the carving
  of cylinder-seals, which now show a new upsurge of interest in
  design. ^3 2
  jj^
  ,.j^£ Larsa and Old Babylonian periods 'presentation
  scenes' had reached such a degree of monotonous uniformity that
  an inscription had often to be added giving the owner's name. This
  convention
  was now
  discarded
  and
  replaced
  by
  distinctive
  compositions in tabloid form. Some traditional 'combat scenes' can
  be seen to survive, but new subjects are abundant. A king hunts
  ostriches
  ; a winged horse protects its foal from a lion, or stags graze
  184
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  130 A late example of the
  'presentation scene'. According
  to the inscription, the seal's
  owner, Hashhamer, Governor of
  Ishkun-Sin,
  is brought by a
  minor goddess into the presence
  of a king of Ur (early 20th
  century b c)
  131
  Middle Assyrian seal design
  showing a king or genius hunting
  ostriches (13 th century bc)
  132 Another Middle Assyrian
  scene, described as 'the noble
  Pegasus defending his wingless
  foal from a Hon
  .
  .
  .'
  133
  Seal design marking the
  transition from Middle to Late
  Assyrian styles
  {c. 900 Bc). Kings
  and supporting genii face a
  sacred 'tree of Hfe', with th«
  bird-Hke symbol of the god
  Ashur above (cf.
  ill. 148)
  ^'JiWiii'm':^^:Jj,r
  /
  mmm '•mv'mmMm'^i^^SW^.
  185
  
  The 2nd Millennium BC
  among
  stylized
  trees
  and
  mountains. Added
  to
  these
  are
  the
  hitherto aUen motifs which we have seen at Nuzi, imported by way
  i55
  of Mitanni from Syria: the 'sacred tree' and the 'winged griffin'.
  Other Mediterranean forms of ornament are to be seen
  in the
  glazed panels from Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta.
  Ilhrl
  Building Practices
  Our earlier account of buildings at Ashur was, for obvious reasons,
  largely confined to variations in their ground-plans. Where fa9ade
  ornament and external appearance are concerned, occasional clues
  are to be found among contemporary seal designs. This applies in
  particular to the parapet treatment of buildings, whether religious
  1^4
  or secular. We suspect that the use of crenellations was introduced
  at about this time from Egypt; and one 13th-century seal from
  Ashur shows
  a double fortress wall,
  its parapet crenellated with
  round-headed merlons. ^^^ Two other
  seals from the same
  site,
  dated perhaps a hundred years later, show for the first time merlons
  in the 'stepped' form familiar today. ^^^ One of these
  is of special
  interest, first because the symbol of the dog-deity, Gula, proves the
  building to be a temple rather than a fortress; which would mean
  that the crenellations are probably ornamental. Secondly,
  it shows
  architectural
  details, such
  as towers rising above the tops of the
  walls, doorways and rectangular panels which might be windows.
  Finally, in seals of this period, genii of the sort known as apkallu
  13}
  sometimes
  appear:
  hybrid
  creatures with two
  pairs of wings,
  winged and hawk-headed monsters, or bearded men sheathed in
  the skins of fish. But these are to be seen more frequently in the
  form of terracotta plaques or figurines, such as are sometimes found
  buried beneath the floors of houses for apotropaic purposes. They
  too take their place in the imagery of later Assyrian times.
  134
  Fortifications of an Assyrian
  city, from a relief of Tiglath-
  Pileser III, showing crenellated
  parapets and towers as finally
  standardized in Late Assyrian
  times. (Drawing by R. Leacroft)
  186
  
  Chapter Nine
  The Late Assyrian Period
  Early in the loth century at Ashur, a new dynasty was founded by a
  king called Ashur-rabi II and in a sense this marked the beginning of
  an important epoch in Mesopotamian history. The reign of his
  grandson, Adad-Nirari II (91 1-89 1 bc) saw the earliest stage in the
  revival
  of economic
  stability
  and
  military
  initiative
  which
  eventually led to the creation of an Assyrian empire. Adad-Nirari's
  first concern was to establish once and for all the essential frontiers
  of his kingdom, and this he accomplished by a series of successful
  campaigns and poUtical manoeuvres. Cities like Arrapha (Kirkuk)
  in the east and Guzan (Tell Halaf) on the headwaters of the Khabur
  in the north, became strongpoints in a new defensive system, while
  small
  Aramaean
  principalities
  on
  the
  middle
  course
  of
  the
  Euphrates were annexed
  to
  protect
  his trade connections with
  Syria.
  At an early stage in these operations, Assyria's southern frontier
  with Babylon was fixed by a treaty, the text of which has been
  preserved
  in
  a
  rather
  famous
  inscription
  known
  as
  the
  'Synchronous History'. This document conveniently incorporates
  a chronological account of all previous border disputes between the
  two states. It may also be considered to correspond in time with the
  beginning of accurately dated history, since from now onwards we
  have
  the supplementary evidence of the
  so-called
  '//mmw-lists'.
  These
  lists record in chronological order the names of particular
  officials
  appointed
  annually
  to
  preside
  over
  the New
  Year's
  Festival. Since they had come to be used in dating legal agreements
  and other important documents,
  their
  historical
  significance
  is
  obvious.
  Adad-Nirari's successor, Tukulti-Ninurta II made the first move
  in extending his father's frontiers to the north and, in doing so,
  found himself for the
  first time
  in contact with the Muski
  (or
  Phrygians?) who
  had
  replaced
  the
  Hittites on
  the
  Anatolian
  plateau, and also with the 'Nairi peoples', later consolidated into
  the
  state
  of Urartu.
  After
  this he
  contented
  himself with
  an
  operation of the sort which was later repeated at intervals by most
  of his successors: a general sweep around the eastern and southern
  provinces, checking on subject states from whom tribute had not
  been forthcoming, and making an admonitory gesture towards
  Babylon. On this occasion, he paused to inspect the remnants of the
  old Kassite capital at Dur-Kurigalzu.
  Imperial History
  187
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  But, from an archaeological viewpoint, the most important of
  these first 'Iron Age' kings of Assyria was Ashur-nasirpal (883-859
  Bc)
  ; for it was he who transferred the centre of government from
  Ashur itself to a hitherto less-important city at the junction of the
  Tigris and the Upper Zab. This was Kalhu, the Calah of Genesis,
  now known
  as Nimrud, which he enlarged and embellished to
  create a new Assyrian capital. Once this was done, and an improved
  military headquarters established, he set out on a campaign directed
  towards the Euphrates crossings in the northwest. Until now, the
  main barrier to progress in this direction had been a powerful state
  centred on
  Til Barsip
  (Tell Ahmar), near Carchemish, and
  its
  capture opened the way to Aleppo. From there his armies marched
  almost unopposed
  as
  far
  as the Mediterranean, and tribute was
  exacted from the coastal cities. Inaugurated in this way was the long
  saga of foreign conquest which, under Ashur-nasirpal's successors,
  brought Assyrian armies westward as far as Egypt.
  For the time being, his hold on the Levantine cities at least must
  have been oppressive, for, in the reign of his son, Shalmaneser III,
  we hear o£ an anti-Assyrian coalition, headed by
  a prince called
  Adad-iri of Damascus (who is suspected to have been Benhadad of
  the Old Testament). This revolt was suppressed and the inland
  cities of Syria brought into subjection, along with Tabal, north of
  Aleppo and Que in
  Cilicia. Economically these conquests must
  have been greatly to the advantage of Assyria, since they ensured
  the freedom of trade-routes to the west and access to metal-sources
  in the Taurus Mountains.
  Similarly, in the south, Shalmaneser's
  suppression of a revolt by Chaldean chieftains against the friendly
  government in Babylon (celebrated on his throne base at Nimrud),
  enabled him to maintain contact with traders in the Arabian Gulf,
  who brought goods from India and Arabia by way of Dilmun
  (Bahrein).
  It would be out of place here to pursue further the threads of Late
  Assyrian history in any great detail. Of its framework
  it may be
  necessary to recall only those elements which lend coherence to the
  archaeological
  record. The
  five
  reigns which followed
  that of
  Shalmaneser
  III represent a period of comparative inertia, during
  which
  imperial
  aspirations seem
  to have been
  temporarily
  in
  abeyance and
  little effort was made to counteract the erosion of
  newly acquired territories. To the north in particular, the now-
  powerful kingdom of Urartu, with
  its system of fortresses in the
  region of Lake Van, was pursuing
  a policy of expansion which
  threatened to deny the Assyrians access to Anatolia.
  Its territories
  now extended eastward to the shores ofLake Urmia and, by 745 bc
  when
  Tiglath-pileser
  III succeeded
  to
  the throne
  in Kalhu,
  the
  Urartian armies were engaged in a westward thrust towards Syria.
  Firm action was needed and Tiglath-pileser proved himself a ruler
  equal to the occasion. During his reign one sees Assyria recovering
  its lost territories and re-establishing itself as the leading economic
  and military power in the Near East. Contributary to this revival
  were the successful administrative reforms whereby he reorganized
  the whole system of government, both in the homeland and in the
  provinces.
  These were made
  effective by
  the
  establishment of
  posting-stages along the main caravan routes which enabled the
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  king to be in continual contact with his provincial governors. The
  vassal states which they controlled were further protected by an
  outer
  tier
  of
  'client
  kingdoms',
  with
  a
  greater
  measure
  of
  independence. By the time of his death in 727 bc Tiglath-pileser
  ruled an empire extending from the borders of Egypt
  as
  far
  as
  southern Babylonia,
  the only region
  still
  afflicted with political
  unrest.
  It was in this quarter that dissident tribesmen, now under
  the leadership of the formidable Marduk-apil-idinna (called in the
  Bible
  Merodach-baladan),
  were
  for many
  years
  to
  persist
  in
  defying the authority of Assyria.
  We are now confronted with the names of four great rulers, in
  whose reigns one sees, as it has been said, 'not only the culmination
  of Assyrian power but
  the
  seeds of
  its
  disintegration'. Where
  Sargon
  is concerned, the circumstances of his accession and his
  subsequent military triumphs must, for our present purpose, be
  subordinated to
  his enterprise in providing himself with
  a new
  capital. At the site known today as Khorsabad, 12 miles northeast of
  Nineveh, he built himself a heavily walled city, more than
  i mile
  square, and named
  it Dur-Sharrukin.
  Its pubUc
  buildings and
  fortifications were completed in a remarkably short time; but there
  is some doubt whether the accumulation of residents which would
  have created a populous city, could have been accomplished in the
  sixteen years of his reign. For he was seldom there and after his
  135 Map of the Assyrian empire.
  (S. Ebrahim after Postgate, 1977)
  189
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  136 Map showing the Hne of
  Sennacherib's Canal, from the
  barrage and sluices at Bavian,
  passing over thejerwan aqueduct
  and finally joining the course of
  the River Khosr to Nineveh.
  (S.
  Lloyd)
  lj6
  death
  in
  705
  bc
  the
  place
  was
  abandoned.
  His
  successor
  Sennacherib preferred to adopt the older city of Nineveh as his
  centre
  of government,
  thereby
  profiting
  from
  the
  obvious
  advantages of its central position on the east bank of the Tigris, and
  it was there that, for the third time in succession, a new and more
  splendid setting was contrived for the Assyrian court.
  In a well-known text, Sennacherib reproaches his forbears for
  having neglected the upkeep of Nineveh. He adds a lengthy and
  rather detailed account of his own efforts to remedy this situation,
  and the magnitude of his undertaking
  is made apparent by the
  immensely extended area of the city whose ruins can be seen today
  from the west-bank eminences of modern Mosul. Its walls form an
  irregular rectangle almost 2j miles long, and on the side facing the
  river one sees the older mound whose shape and size he adapted to
  form an emplacement for
  his palaces and temples. Outside the
  walls,
  as we know from the same text, he laid out orchards and
  plantations with rare trees brought from distant provinces, and he
  added to these a zoological garden. Not content with the quality of
  water in the Tigris he also constructed a canal, more than 50 miles
  long with stone aqueducts, to bring a cleaner supply from springs in
  the mountains to the northeast. At its remotest source, on a cliff-
  190
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  face near Bavian,
  its completion was commemorated by rock-
  carvings of the Assyrian gods and inscriptions, to which he added
  an account of his other poHtical and mihtary accomphshments.^^^
  In these texts and others from his palace at Nineveh, Sennacherib is
  convincingly presented
  as perhaps the greatest soldier-statesman
  since Hammurabi.
  Only two notable figures remain in Late Assyrian history. One is
  Esarhaddon, who succeeded Sennacherib after his eventual murder
  by members of his own family. He it was who reached the ultimate
  goal
  of his
  country's
  imperial
  ambitions by
  invading
  Egypt.
  During the temporary absence of its Ethiopian
  ruler, Tarku or
  Tirhakah, he besieged and captured Memphis, thereafter adopting
  the
  title of the Pharaohs, 'King of Upper and Lower Egypt'. At
  Nineveh he had time to build himself a new administrative palace,
  in which he installed some of the loot from Egypt, before receiving
  the news that Memphis had been retaken by Tarku. He was on his
  way to deal with this situation when he died. In a document which
  has survived, Esarhaddon had long ago assured the accession to the
  Assyrian throne of his son Ashur-banipal, and it was he who was
  now compelled
  to reconquer Egypt.
  This time Memphis was
  destroyed. Ashur-banipal next turned his attention to the southeast
  frontier, where Elam was in revolt, having formed an alliance with
  Chaldea. Here too he scored
  a notable victory and
  it was
  his
  capture on this occasion of Susa, the Elamite capital, which was
  commemorated by a well-known relief carving in his palace
  at
  Nineveh.
  Twenty-five years later, the Chaldeans played some part in the
  events which led to the final destruction of Nineveh. In 614 bc, a
  Median army under Cyaxares invaded the Assyrian homeland,
  capturing Nimrud and totally destroying the more ancient capital
  at Ashur. This brought them into contact with the Babylonians and
  a
  treaty was signed between Cyaxares and the Chaldean king
  Nabopolassar. During the following year, the Medes were also able
  to enlist the help of Scythian tribes to the north of their realm and
  the three peoples made common cause against Nineveh. The city
  fell
  after
  a
  surprisingly
  short
  siege
  in 612 bc and was
  largely
  destroyed. The remnants of the Assyrian court took refuge
  at
  Harran on the northwest frontier.
  Early Excavations in Assyrian Cities
  It has seemed necessary to present this rather threadbare account of
  the latest phase in Assyrian dynastic history in order to clarify the
  chronology and location of the discoveries which we are about to
  discuss. Their abundance and variety are today made apparent by
  the heavy
  volumes
  in
  which
  they
  are
  recorded,
  and by
  the
  accumulation around them ofcommentary hterature. Here again it
  becomes clear that a selective analysis of the knowledge which they
  have helped us to acquire is the most that can usefully be attempted.
  For our present purpose, then, a distinction must first be made
  between two
  classes of excavation,
  to which the ruins of Assy-
  rian
  cities have on occasions been submitted - widely separated
  as they were in time, and variously dependent on the contemporary
  191
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  lifi
  137
  Austin Henry Layard
  (18 1 7-1 894) in Bakhtiyari dress.
  A drawing by Ulrica Lloyd from
  portraits in Layard's Early
  Adventures and Autobiography and
  Letters
  understanding of archaeological intention. The
  first category of
  course comprises the work of the great pioneer explorers in the
  19th century, whose objective was the discovery and acquisition of
  removable antiquities, with little attention to the setting in which
  ij8
  they were found.
  It
  started
  in
  1842 with
  Botta's
  discovery of
  1J7
  Khorsabad, followed two years later by Layard's first excavations
  at Nimrud.
  It
  lasted, with
  a brief interval during and after the
  Crimean War, until the death in 1877 of George Smith, who had
  found and identified the cuneiform version of the 'Deluge' story.
  Excavations in the second category - of the sort with which we
  are familiar today, paying proper attention to stratigraphy and
  environmental evidence - were resumed in 1927, when American
  archaeologists
  returned
  to
  Khorsabad,
  and
  later
  by
  British
  excavators at Nimrud. To the lives and adventures of the earliest
  excavators
  little attention will be paid here, except to admire in
  retrospect their dedication and persistence in the face of sceptical
  discouragement or deliberate obstruction. They were rewarded in
  the end by
  popular
  reaction
  to
  the
  romantic
  appeal
  of their
  192
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  138
  Paul Emile Botta, discoverer
  and excavator of Khorsabad.
  Botta's pioneer work in Assyria
  received little recognition from
  the government of the Second
  Republic in France. He was
  relegated to a consular post at
  Tripoli in Syria and died in 1870
  discoveries and could
  forget
  the ill-humoured contention and
  international rivalry which had marred their relations with each
  other, and which later deteriorated into an undignified scramble for
  archaeological
  loot.
  Their
  story
  has
  been
  told
  elsewhere,
  in
  narrative form by the present writer and, more objectively by
  French and German
  scholars. ^^^ Our
  present aim
  will be
  to
  examine the sites at which they dug, and to identify the monuments
  or buildings that they encountered, in the light of subsequent and
  more systematic investigations.
  Nimrud (Kalhu)
  At Kalhu, the greatly enlarged city designed by Ashur-nasirpal II
  (883-859 Bc) during the early years ofhis reign, was approximately
  square
  in
  shape
  with
  a maximum
  dimension
  of almost
  1.25
  miles. 2 3*7 Its site was bounded on the west side by the Tigris and to
  the south by a canal, into which water was diverted from the Upper
  Zab river. In the southwest corner, a mound created by the remains
  139
  193
  
  ^he Late Assyrian Period
  Plan of City Walls
  Palace
  139 Diagram showing the
  fortifications of Nimrud and its
  principal groups of buildings.
  The city was protected to the
  west by the Tigris and to the
  south by a wide canal. (After
  Hawkes, 1974). A, Fort
  Shalmaneser
  140
  140 Plan of the citadel mound at
  Nimrud after the conclusion of
  Mallowan's work there in 1963.
  Previous excavations by Layard,
  Rassam, Loftus and others took
  place intermittently between
  1845 and 1854. Principal finds
  were made in the northwestern
  and southeastern groups of
  buildings. (From Mallowan,
  1966)
  Original bed of Tigris
  of earlier settlements had been reshaped and revetted to form a
  raised citadel, within which the main palaces and temple buildings
  could be concentrated. But there was also, in the southeast corner, a
  walled enclosure containing the imperial arsenal.
  It was the citadel mound which
  first attracted the attention of
  Layard when he started his excavations in November
  1 845
  . ^ ^ ^ As it
  exists today, partly eroded by the drainage of rainwater from the
  summit, one sees the rhomboid of its retaining-walls, dominated by
  the
  remnants
  of
  a
  small
  ziggurat
  in
  its
  north-west
  corner.
  Dramatically revealed by Layard's first trenches were the walls and
  sculptures of Ashur-nasirpal's own official residence (later known
  as the 'Northwest Palace'), overlooking the river directly south of
  the ziggurat. It was here that, in addition to wall-reliefs, he exposed
  for the first time doorways flanked by guardian figures of winged
  bulls or lions with tall 'genii' behind them. His work was for the
  time being confined to chambers around the ceremonial court of
  the building, and they contained figures of bronze, alabaster vessels
  and fallen fragments of mural paintings which he had no means of
  conserving.
  Layard's
  first period of work at Nimrud lasted until 1847, by
  which time he had
  located and examined
  a number of other
  buildings. Again on the river-front was a so-called 'Western Palace'
  of Adad-nirari
  III and a 'Southwest Palace', built or restored by
  Esarhaddon, using sculptures intended for a building of Tiglath-
  pileser III. The name of this last king was also associated with that of
  Shalmaneser III on many inscriptions from a 'Central Palace'
  : and
  it was in the environs of this building that Layard came upon the
  famous 'Black Obelisk' (now in the British Museum), with
  its
  scenes of tribute-bearers among whom
  'Jehu, King of Israel'
  is
  named. Finally, beneath an eminence in the southeast corner of the
  mound, he cleared some rooms of a building attributed to a very
  late Assyrian king called Ashur-etililani, in which Mallowan, over a
  century later, made important finds. In 1847, with Rawlinson in
  Baghdad acquiring improved knowledge of cuneiform, Layard
  194
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  195
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  was able
  to
  satisfy himself that the
  site he was excavating was
  Kalhu, rather than Nineveh.
  Layard returned to Nimrud in 1849, after pubHshing his book,
  Nineveh and its Remains, and he brought with him an artist (Cooper,
  later replaced by Bell), to take over the task of drawing the reliefs
  which had been occupying too much of his time. During
  the
  following two years he made further finds in the Northwest Palace,
  including some hundreds of bronze objects, with ornaments of
  ivory
  and" even of
  glass. At
  the
  foot of the
  ziggurat he
  also
  discovered a temple dedicated to Ninurta, with inscribed paving
  slabs presenting the annals of Ashur-nasirpal's reign and,
  in
  its
  sanctuary, an almost undamaged statue of the same king, which has
  i
  tken its place in the British Museum as a rare example of Assyrian
  '•f^
  •
  sculpture in-the-round. But, during 1850 as we shall presently see,
  he had begun
  a secondary excavation
  in
  the
  palace mound
  at
  Nineveh, where his discovery of Sennacherib's palace brought his
  archaeological field-work to an end.
  From 1852 to 1854 Layard's work in Assyria was taken over by
  his assistant Hormuzd Rassam, brother of the locally born British
  Consular representative in Mosul, who from then onwards became
  known for the ruthless pragmatism of his archaeological methods
  and disregard for the
  finer points of international
  ethics. ^^^ At
  Nimrud, in the southeast part of the citadel he located the Nabu
  Temple complex, more recently and more methodically excavated
  by Mallowan's expedition. There he found statues, two of which
  were respectively dedicated 'for the life of Adad-nirari III and of
  his mother Sammuramat (Semiramis)
  : also a stela ofShamshi-Adad
  V. But he was by now
  too
  preoccupied with
  excavations
  at
  Nineveh to absent himself for long from Mosul. In 1854 Rawlinson
  entrusted the work
  at Nimrud to W. K.
  Loftus, who
  is better
  known for his earlier soundings at sites of Sumerian cities in the
  south. ^•*'^ Loftus made one more important find in a building to the
  west of the Nabu Temple, now known as the 'Burnt Palace'. This
  was a fine group of carvings in ivory, which, after a belated study
  by the British Museum in the 1950s, made possible the first stylistic
  analysis of craftsmanship in this medium.
  Khorsabad
  Three years before Layard's discovery of Nimrud, Paul Emile
  ij8
  Botta was appointed French Consul in Mosul. Already in 1842, he
  had
  started
  without much
  success
  to make
  soundings
  in
  the
  Kiiyiinjik mound
  at Nineveh, when
  his workmen told him of
  ancient sculptures recently found at Khorsabad
  : a large mound on
  the River Khosr,
  12
  miles
  to the northeast.
  In March
  1843 he
  transferred his activities to this site and was soon busily excavating
  in the building which we now know to have been the palace of
  King Sargon
  II. His
  success was immediate and
  his
  finds very
  similar to those which were to astonish Layard two years later at
  Nimrud. In the following year he had the good fortune to be joined
  by
  E. Flandin,
  a
  remarkable draughtsman, who
  systematically
  recorded the reliefs and other sculptures now brought to hght in
  almost overwhelming numbers. ^"^^
  196
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  At Khorsabad Sargon had selected a site where, as at Nimrud,
  there already existed a small ancient mound of the sort which could
  conveniently be reshaped to form a raised emplacement for his
  palace buildings. The city which he laid out took the form of a
  square, with sides measuring rather more than a mile each, and was
  surrounded by towered walls with seven gateways. The palace
  platform was set astride the northwest wall and its inner part was
  surrounded (as American excavators discovered in the 1930s), by an
  inner citadel
  at ground level, containing other public buildings.
  Also as at Nimrud there was an 'imperial arsenal' in the southern
  corner
  of
  the
  town.
  In
  conformity
  with
  Assyrian
  tradition,
  Sargon's palace itselfwas planned around two main courtyards, the
  innermost of which was used
  for ceremonial purposes. Where
  Botta's excavations are concerned,
  it
  is made
  clear in the
  five-
  volume record of his work, which he and Flandin published in
  1849-50, that they were limited to the projecting suite of state-
  rooms on the northwest side. They lasted until 1846; but after the
  political
  events
  of 1848
  in
  Paris,
  Botta was
  for some
  reason
  disgraced and sent to an obscure consular post in the Levant. By
  then, like Layard, he had come to understand that the city which he
  had been excavating was not, as he had thought, Nineveh.
  At Khorsabad in 1852, Botta was replaced by Victor Place. The
  artist Felix Thomas accompanied him as principal assistant, and it is
  to him that we owe the only surviving records ofmajor finds made
  by the French expedition during that and the following year. ^^^
  The
  entire plan of the
  palace was now
  traced and the
  better-
  preserved sculptures extracted for transport to Paris, together with
  many smaller finds. According to Place's own calculation, at the
  end of 1853, he had cleared 209 chambers, grouped around 31
  courts, in addition to 3 temples and a small ziggurat. He had traced
  the circuit of the city walls - 24 m thick on stone foundations - and
  he had examined 7 gateways, 3 with sculptured portal figures and i
  (no.
  3
  on
  his
  plan), with
  its
  vaulted archways and
  archivolts
  ornamented in coloured glaze, almost intact. By 1855, with his
  records completed, he was ready to return to France, and it was in
  that year
  that the great
  disaster took place. The story
  is today
  generally well known. The Khorsabad sculptures travelled safely as
  far as Baghdad, where the 235
  cases were loaded, together with
  antiquities from other sources, on to a large country boat and two
  kelek
  rafts, bound for Basrah. Near Kurnah, where the Tigris
  is
  joined by an effluent from the Euphrates, the convoy was attacked
  by hostile tribesmen and all five vessels were capsized. Fortunately,
  an earlier consignment, shipped to France by Botta in 1847, had
  arrived safely, but today this modest collection, together with two
  winged-bull
  figures
  in
  the
  British Museum,
  represent
  all
  that
  remains of the French finds at Khorsabad. ^"^^
  143
  143-4
  The ruins of Nineveh,
  as we have mentioned, received attention
  from both English and French excavators during the period of
  activity which we have been discussing.
  Its city walls, now some
  141
  distance from the Tigris, form an irregular rectangle, almost jj
  Nineveh
  197
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  U
  141 The city plan and
  fortifications of Nineveh in Late
  Assyrian times. Excavations in
  the second half of the 19th
  century took place principally on
  the main citadel mound,
  Kuyiinjik. The smaller mound,
  Nebi Yunus,
  is still inhabited,
  being the site of an important
  Moslem shrine. An earUer course
  of the Tigris skirted the city w^all
  to the southwest, which now
  marks the limit of modern
  Mosul. (From Hawkes, 1974)
  142
  miles in circumference, with an outer rampart and ditch on the
  eastern side.^'*'^ The palace mound, known by the Turkish name,
  KUyiinjik, marks the line of the western wall, facing the river. One
  mile to the south, a second, smaller mound covers the ruins of the
  Assyrian arsenal, and at
  its summit today the houses of an Arab
  village cluster around a Moslem shrine, associated with the name of
  the Prophet Jonah
  {Nebi
  Yunus).
  Entrances
  to
  the
  city
  firmly
  identified are, in the north wall the Nergal Gate, with its guardian
  figures
  still
  preserved,
  and
  to
  the
  east
  the Shamash
  Gate.^'^^
  These and others, together with the adjoining fortifications, have
  recently been exposed and partially restored.
  During his first campaign at Nimrud, Layard had found time to
  continue Botta's soundings in the Kuyiinjik mound at Nineveh;
  but it was not until June 1847 that his expectations in that quarter
  were realized. In the southern corner of the citadel, he came upon
  the
  walls
  of
  an
  enormous
  building
  which
  proved
  to
  be
  Sennacherib's principal palace; but he was compelled to postpone
  its further exploration while he returned temporarily to London.
  When he resumed work there in 1849, he was at first disappointed
  to find evidence that the palace had been destroyed by fire - perhaps
  during the sack of Nineveh in 612 bc. The damage, however,
  proved to be less than he had expected, and much of the sculpture
  198
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  V'-W'
  had survived. In the 71 chambers which he investigated, over 2,000
  sculptured slabs were exposed, while two small rooms (numbered
  40 and 41 in his plan), were found to contain great quantities of
  tablets, comprising a part of Sennacherib's library - a prodigious
  store-house of contemporary knowledge, with detailed records of
  contemporary events. ^"^^ At this time, Layard also made a
  less-
  successful attempt to excavate in the unoccupied part of the Nebi
  Yunus
  mound.
  Here
  he
  found
  inscriptions
  of
  Adad-nirari,
  Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, but was forced by the hostility of the
  inhabitants to discontinue his work. In 1851, he finally returned
  home, leaving the excavations in charge of Hormuzd Rassam.
  Layard had reached an understanding with Victor Place that
  British excavations should be restricted to the southern half of the
  Kiiyiinjik mound and Place now asserted his right to explore the
  northern part. Rassam, who returned to Mosul in 1852, contested
  this agreement, and, having eventually resorted to the expedient of
  working under the cover of darkness, had the good fortune to
  discover the great northwest palace of Ashur-banipal, which he
  claimed for the British Museum. In addition to the famous 'Lion
  Hunt' sequence of sculptures, the building also proved to contain
  the remaining half of the royal library. This was the triumphant
  culmination of the
  British excavations
  at Nineveh. They were
  142
  Plan of Sennacherib's palace
  at Nineveh. Unhappily no
  complete record has been kept of
  all the excavations in the
  Kiiyiinjik mound and even the
  relative positions of some major
  buildings are today uncertain.
  (After Paterson, 19 12)
  199
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  CiW Wall
  I
  143 Ground plan of Sargon II's
  capital city, Dur Sharrukin, at
  Khorsabad, with fortifications
  enclosing an area over one mile
  square. The detailed plan (above)
  includes the royal palace on its
  platform, level with the city
  walls, excavated by Botta and
  Place and later re-examined by
  Gordon Loud. Beneath this at
  ground level
  is the fortified
  citadel excavated by Loud in the
  1930s, comprising a number of
  minor palace and other public
  buildings. (From Hawkes, 1974)
  Khorsabad
  200
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  completed
  in
  1874 by George Smith, whose methodical search
  through
  the
  spoil
  from
  Rassam's
  excavations
  resulted
  in
  the
  recovery of a missing fragment from the 'Deluge' text.
  It should be added, how^ever, that a highlight in Rassam's own
  subsequent explorations was his discovery in 1878 of Imgur-Enlil, a
  'country
  seat' of the Assyrian kings
  at Balawat, 25 miles east of
  Mosul. From a low mound at this
  site he extracted two pairs of
  huge bronze
  gates,
  set up
  respectively by
  Ashur-nasirpal and
  Shalmaneser III at the entrances to a palace and temple. ^"^^ These,
  together with a third pair found by Mallowan, will presently be
  referred to in greater detail.
  American Excavations at Khorsabad
  From the above account ofexcavations in the ruins ofLate Assyrian
  cities,
  it will already have become evident that secular buildings
  now take precedence over temples. The king-emperors of this age
  were more concerned with the construction of fortifications and
  the planning of pretentious royal palaces than with the religious
  shrines which were occasionally annexed to them. As one ruler
  succeeded another, the palaces themselves multiplied in numbers
  and were enlarged or reconstructed, usually without respect to the
  overall planning of the great platforms on which they stood, and
  their ultimate destruction added to the confusion of their surviving
  ruins. This was the case at Nimrud, and to an even greater extent at
  Nineveh, where the architectural record has to this day remained
  regrettably incomplete.
  If, by contrast, we turn to Khorsabad, we
  fmd a city built, occupied and abandoned in the space of a single
  144 A reconstruction of the
  Royal Palace and citadel
  buildings at Dur Sharrukin by
  William Suddaby after Loud and
  Altmann. On the left, the raised
  temple of Nabu can be seen,
  connected to the palace platform
  by a bridge
  201
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  generation.
  Its remains, uncomplicated by problems of stratig-
  raphy, have been excavated and recorded v^ith great thoroughness
  over a long period of time. For our present purpose, therefore,
  it
  may
  be
  accepted
  as
  a model most
  effectively
  illustrating
  the
  principles of planning and construction favoured by contemporary
  builders.
  143-4
  The American excavators who returned to Khorsabad in 1928
  did much to amplify the fmds of their French predecessors. After
  clearing an 'undecorated' city-gate (no. 7 in Botta's plan), they set
  about re-excavating parts of the palace, at the same time removing
  certain
  sculptures
  rejected
  by
  Botta
  for
  lack
  of
  transport
  facilities. ^"^^ In 1930, a second gate ('A') was found, ornamented
  with winged bulls and genii, which led in its turn to the discovery
  of an inner citadel, surrounding the palace at ground level. Under
  the direction of Gordon Loud, the following years were spent in
  exposing the many buildings enclosed by the citadel wall, while at
  the same time examining the great 'arsenal' estabhshment in the
  southern corner of the city (known to Place as 'Palace F').^4 9
  In the course of Loud's work in the citadel, a new survey was
  undertaken, which involved checking and correcting Place's palace
  plan. - 5
  From this a striking inference could be made regarding the
  inadequacy of Assyrian building methods
  in
  their
  initial
  stages.
  Even the platform itselfproved to be asymmetrically planned, while
  the layout of buildings in the citadel appeared haphazard to the
  point of inconvenience. At the approach from Gate
  'A',
  a large
  temple, dedicated to the god Nabu, was sited at an awkward angle
  beside a paved street. This building was raised on a platform of its
  own to the level of the palace, from which
  it could be reached
  directly by a bridge over the road. Beyond
  it there was an open
  space from which a broad ramp led up to the main portal of the
  palace, and facing
  this - again
  off-centre -
  a secondary
  citadel
  gateway. Elsewhere within these inner walls, Loud excavated five
  minor
  palaces,
  whose
  plans
  had
  been
  adapted
  with
  obvious
  difficulty to the sites available. This curious absence of preliminary
  planning would appear to have been characteristic of monumental
  building at all periods in Mesopotamian history.
  In the main palace, as we have said, the ceremonial apartments
  and
  state-rooms
  were
  planned
  around
  an
  inner
  courtyard,
  dominated on one side by sculptural composition of winged bulls
  and other figures, guarding the three entrances to the throne-room.
  This huge
  rectangular
  chamber
  had
  walls
  about
  12 m
  high,
  decorated with mural paintings from pavement to ceiling, and at
  one end a throne emplacement with relief carvings. At the other, a
  vestibule led to a stairway, giving access to the
  flat roof, and
  a
  doorway near the throne brought one through a long robing-room
  to the private courtyard around which the residential apartments
  were grouped. This arrangement of a throne-room with subsidiary
  chambers
  and
  stairway
  seems
  to
  have
  been
  an
  architectural
  convention universally adopted in all Assyrian palaces, and here at
  Khorsabad
  it can again be recognized in the 'reception suites' of
  minor buildings in the lower citadel. A second convention of the
  same sort dictates the composition of an isolated group of state-
  rooms on the northwest side of Sargon's palace, where doorways
  202
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  lead
  out
  on
  to
  an
  open
  terrace.
  Loud
  found
  an
  identical
  arrangement of chambers in the residential part of the southern
  arsenal. ^5
  1
  Where religious buildings are concerned, the Nabu temple with
  its two outer courtyards and conventionally planned sanctuary
  is
  the most conspicuous. But Loud also re-excavated the assemblage
  of three smaller temples annexed to the palace on the southwest
  side; and one of these - the Sin Temple - revealed a well-preserved
  facade. Reeded panels on either side of the arched doorway^ sprang
  from small projecting platforms, faced with glazed-brick ornament
  in bright colours. Beside each of these was a tall artificial palm-tree
  and
  a female
  statue of the
  'flowing-vase' type -
  all extremely
  reminiscent of the mural painting from Mari on which we have
  earlier commented. The small ziggurat adjoining these temples was
  too denuded to examine further. But if Place's reconstruction can
  be relied upon,
  it had a spiral ascending stairway dividing
  it into
  successive stages, each painted a different colour. ^^
  Regarding the arsenal-palace {ekal masharti) at Khorsabad, which
  Loud took to be the residence of Sennacherib at the time when he
  was crown-prince, one point of interest could now be established.
  Stone column-bases found by Place in
  its ruins had brought to
  mind an inscription in which Sargon claimed to have built a palace
  of the Syrian kind, known as bit hilani, with a columned loggia in
  front of the throne-room. But Loud was able to show that the
  position of the columns in the building did not conform to this
  theory, and Sargon's hilani must therefore be sought elsewhere. ^^
  Little more need be added about
  the
  plan,
  since,
  as we
  shall
  presently
  see,
  an
  arsenal
  building
  of the same
  sort was
  later
  completely excavated by Mallowan at Nimrud.
  At Khorsabad, walls of every description were built of mud brick.
  Contrary to the usual practice, mortar was here very seldom used,
  the bricks being only partially dried after casting, and laid in a soft,
  pliable condition. Kiln-baked bricks were used in great quantities
  for facings and pavements. The city walls, which were over 20 m
  thick, were revetted at their base with dressed stonework up to a
  height of 1. 10 m. Behind this facing, undressed stone was roughly
  laid to form a base for the brick upper structure, which terminated
  in a crenellated parapet with stone merlons. Here, as elsewhere in
  Assyria, stone which may be described as gypseous alabaster (now
  known as 'Mosul marble'), was easily obtained from local quarries,
  if necessary in very large blocks. The palace platform had a facing
  of stone in blocks up to 2.7 m long, weighing as much as 23 tons
  apiece. For the rest, stone was mainly used for portal sculptures and
  for the 'orthostat'
  slabs on which the
  reliefs were carved. These
  latter were
  exclusively placed
  inside
  the
  building,
  to form
  an
  ornamental 'dado' along the bases of the
  walls. The Americans
  discovered that the rows of slabs were set in place and their reliefs
  carved in situ, before the brick upper structure was built. ^^ 4 Where
  slabs occurred on both faces of a wall, the space in between was
  filled with rubble, composed partly of masons' chippings. Another
  Building Construction
  203
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  145 One ot a pair ot winged and
  human-headed bulls with
  attendant genii from the
  southwest gate into the citadel at
  Khorsabad (now at the entrance
  to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad)
  use oi stone was for the thresholds of important doorways, where
  huge slabs were laid, carved with designs representing carpets. ^^
  With regard to roofing, traces were found in the city gates of
  barrel-vaulting in brick, and 'pitched-brick' vaulting was used in
  the drainage system of the palace platform. But in the palace itself
  Loud satisfied himself that
  flat ceilings were the rule, sometimes
  with painted beams. For wood was comparatively plentiful. Cedar,
  cypress, juniper and maple were among the species recognized, and
  from fallen beams he calculated that
  it was available in scantlings
  capable of spanning the widest chambers.
  Late Assyrian Sculpture
  Sculptures
  in-the-round
  of
  this
  period
  are
  for
  some
  reason
  remarkably rare. A few isolated portraits of royalty have survived,
  the best-preserved examples being rather more than half life-size.
  That of Ashur-nasirpal II, found in the Ninurta Temple at Nimrud,
  which may be taken
  as
  typical, has been described
  as
  'dull and
  impersonal'
  ; yet the figure of this king, bare-headed and draped in
  the simple fringed shawl which was the court-dress ofAssyria, has an
  indisputable dignity. ^ ^ 6
  204
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  By
  contrast,
  the most conspicuous and
  characteristic
  class of
  sculptures in
  this category are the lamassu guardian figures with
  which the gateways and palaces of Assyrian cities were adorned.
  These hybrid colossi - winged and human-headed bulls or lions -
  were usually 'double-aspect' figures, set facing outwards against the
  reveals of doorways, with a fifth leg, intended to rationalize their
  appearance from in front as well as from the side. Each of these
  monolithic monsters was carved, partly in relief and part in-the-
  round, from a single slab of stone measuring up to 5.5 m square.
  Roughly shaped in the quarry, it was transported to its destination,
  often by river, and set in place for the final carving to be done. ^^^
  The most spectacular achievement ofLate Assyrian sculptors was
  in the realm of relief-carving. Their contrivance of pictorial designs
  in this medium for the decoration of interior wall surfaces was in
  itself a
  great
  technical accomplishment;
  but
  their
  capacity
  for
  abstract expression elevated the products of their craftsmanship
  into the realm of creative art.
  As for the subject of the reliefs, from the time of Ashur-nasirpal
  onwards, they were primarily concerned with the king's victorious
  campaigns against the armies and cities of dissident dependencies.
  This theme tends to become almost monotonously repetitive. As
  Frankfort has put
  it: 'We see the march of armies, subjugating,
  burning and punishing in country after country.' The war-chariot
  is
  a
  recurrent
  motif,
  and one
  sees them
  advancing
  against
  a
  retreating enemy, while infantry dispatch the wounded, left upon
  the field. 'Opposition is centred on a city; it is taken, its leaders are
  impaled or killed in other ways, then the inexorable chariotry
  presses on again.' Variety is obtained by suggesting the geographi-
  cal background
  against which these events
  take
  place, and the
  national characteristics of Assyria's various enemies. Details of these
  are carefully and vividly presented, with a reality which is the more
  H5
  146
  146
  Relief from Sennacherib's
  southwest palace at Nineveh,
  depicting the transport by raft of
  a winged bull {lamassu) figure
  from a quarry in wooded
  country. The sculpture has
  already been roughly shaped and
  will be completed in situ.
  Ht 135 cm
  m
  \\'^
  'r>
  \^
  m
  ^«^»^m€i
  t4^mmm.M4r..
  /(' K
  f
  205
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  147
  Relief from the 'Central
  Palace' of Tiglath-Pileser III
  (744-^27 Bc) at Nimrud,
  showing an attack on a walled
  city. Scaling ladders and a
  battering-ram are used, with
  covering fire from archers. In a
  mountainous setting (below)
  enemies are slain and (above)
  naked captives impaled on stakes
  148 Rehef from the 'Northwest
  Palace' of Ashur-nasirpal
  II (883-
  859 BC) at Nimrud. Figures are
  shown of the King, worshipping
  before a 'sacred tree', supported
  by winged gods, each holding a
  cone and situla (metal bucket)
  above, the god Ashur in a winged
  sun-disc (compare the slightly
  earher seal design in ill. 133)
  149
  Reliefs from the 'North
  Palace' of Ashur-banipal (668-
  627 Bc) at Nineveh. Above, a
  Hon-hunt in progress
  ; below, a
  ceremony in which the king
  pours libations over his victims
  148
  130-1
  remarkable
  if one remembers the limitations of the medium in
  which
  these
  artists
  worked,
  and
  their
  ignorance
  where
  the
  principles of perspective were concerned. Under these circum-
  stances, the ingenious devices by which spatial recession could be
  suggested, particularly in depicting landscapes, are unparalleled in
  pre-Greek art.
  On the whole, the king's military campaigns took place during
  fixed seasons of the year. During the intervals between these, he
  would seek distraction in hunting, and
  this was another subject
  much favoured in the
  reliefs.
  It
  is perhaps best illustrated in the
  carvings of a later historical phase, but there is one good sequence of
  hunting pictures from the time of Ashur-nasirpal. ^^8 xhese do not
  in fact represent an event taking place in open country, but in an
  enclosure formed by the shields of soldiers, within which lions were
  released to be shot at by the king from his chariot. After the hunt he
  is seen pouring libations over the bodies of his prey, attended by
  courtiers and musicians. Usually at this time, the slabs were about
  2 m high and the pictures arranged in two horizontal registers. But
  the culminating scene in this sequence, where the king rests and
  takes refreshment after the hunt, occupies the
  full height of the
  stone.
  It
  is a sort of epilogue, in which we are reminded of the
  divine protection which he enjoys, by the figures of benevolent
  genii on either side. Similar figures, facing a 'tree-of-life', appear
  again in a great self-contained panel behind the actual throne in the
  throne-room of the Northwest Palace
  at Nimrud. ^^q
  jj- ^^s the
  character of a rather splendid wall-tapestry, and its composition is
  repeated elsewhere in the embroidered design on Ashur-nasirpal's
  mantle. ^^*^
  Strangely enough
  religious svmbolism of any
  sort
  appears only rarely in these sculptures.
  In the reign of Shalmaneser III, a variant form of relief ornament
  is seen for the first time, in the great bronze gates of Balawat. These
  206
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  207
  
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  tmsi-^g,jH^Siiimm^'^i-^.r^^m-
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  150 Reconstruction of the
  Balawat Gates (lower half shown
  only) in the British Museum
  151
  132
  are double doors of wood, with each 'leaf measuring 1.8 m wide
  by 6. 1 m high, and each is supported at the side by a circular pivot-
  shaft of the same material. They are ornamented with separate,
  horizontal bands of bronze plating, 28 cm wide and hardly more
  than 2 mm thick, running from side to side and continuing around
  the pivot-shaft. These bands are modelled by a repousse process with
  scenes in relief similar to those elsewhere carved in stone, and, as
  there are two registers to each strip, the height of the actual design
  cannot exceed 13 cm. The scenes here chosen are once more of a
  narrative or
  episodic
  character, but
  lively and
  revealing. ^^' A
  victory
  is won over the Chaldeans among the palm-groves of
  lower Mesopotamia
  ; on the Mediterranean coast, the island fortress
  of Tyre
  is captured and the tribute of its ruler brought ashore in
  boats to the Assyrian camp
  ; in southern Urartu, the army's advance
  is hampered by
  hills and
  forests. But here in the north,
  a more
  strange episode
  is also depicted. The king has discovered what he
  takes to be the source of the Tigris, in a mountain cave. With the
  soldiers up to their waists in water he makes appropriate sacrifices,
  while
  a
  sculptor
  carves
  a
  rock-relief
  to
  commemorate
  the
  occasion. ^^^ The third pair of gates from Balawat, now restored
  and returned to the Iraq Museum, add new instalments to the same
  pictorial history. ^^^
  After the Assyrian revival in the mid-8th century bc, Tiglath-
  pileser
  III
  built himself a
  provincial
  palace
  at
  Til
  Barsip
  (Tell
  Ahmar) on the Euphrates in Syria, in which mural paintings were
  substituted for reliefsculptures in stone. ^^"^ The designs were in red,
  208
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  -^<^^S?»*«««^^s!S£!r''»"
  151 A detail from the Balawat
  Gates. An episode in
  Shalmaneser Ill's campaign of
  858 BC on the Levant coast. The
  city of Tyre, on its rocky island
  (top left), sends tribute by boat
  to placate the king. Below, he is
  seen in his chariot, passing on to
  further conquests, and his camp
  (bottom left)
  is left empty.
  Ht 27 cm
  152
  Detail from a mural
  painting in the 'Governor's
  Palace' at Til Barsip on the
  Middle Euphrates (reign of
  Tiglath-Pileser III, 744-727 bc).
  The murals (substitutes for stone
  reUefs) are painted in black, red,
  and blue on a white plaster
  background
  209
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  ^F^
  , 3^
  . -'^^^
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  ,^:•,^•-
  r
  L/.^~>
  i
  i f
  7 \
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  A \^^W/A\<.\\\x^ <^ ^^^^v^^C'^A%C<<^3^:S^S^A\^i vMWf^^''
  210
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  blue and black on a background of white plaster, and their subjects
  very similar to those of the stone
  reliefs. Episodes in the king's
  military campaigns alternated with hunting scenes, and paintings of
  winged genii took the place of portal sculptures. Reconstructed in
  the
  Louvre,
  these
  murals were
  not reproduced
  in
  colour
  for
  pubhcation until comparatively recently. ^^^
  Stone reliefs from palaces of Tiglath-pileser's successors in the
  8th and yth centuries show changing characteristics. In the state-
  rooms at Khorsabad, narrative
  is replaced by static compositions,
  representing court ceremonial. The huge figures of the king and his
  courtiers, some 2.75 m high, follow or confront each other in
  hierarchical formality, and one notices the coloured paint which is
  sparingly applied to their hair, beards and the exposed parts of their
  bodies. The possibilities offered by these larger slabs were later to be
  exploited
  by
  the
  artists
  of
  Sennacherib's
  time
  for
  pictorial
  compositions of another
  sort. Historical episodes could now be
  elaborated on a much less restricted scale and concurrent incidents
  added to a central theme. For this purpose, the division of a picture
  into horizontal
  registers was often abandoned. A
  single design
  might now extend
  to
  the
  full height of the
  slabs,
  while new
  formulae could be devised to imply relative distance or dramatic
  priority. New details of landscape added to the panoramic effect of
  these compositions.
  It would be impossible here to enumerate the many and various
  subjects chosen by
  the
  artists of this
  period. ^^^ Almost
  all
  are
  concerned with violence and the destructive
  effects of punitive
  warfare. Some
  are
  lent
  special
  interest by
  their accompanying
  inscriptions, which identify historical events and even individual
  personalities.
  After
  the
  capitulation
  of Lakish
  in
  Palestine,
  Sennacherib may be seen receiving his officers and their suppliant
  153
  Relief carvings of a winged
  god and gift-bearers from the
  Palace of Sargon
  II at Khorsabad.
  In this case the orthostat slabs are
  over 3 m high
  153
  154
  (Right) Part of a sculptured
  scene from Sennacherib's palace
  at Nineveh, identified from
  inscriptions as the capitulation of
  Lakish in Palestine. In a hilly
  landscape w^ith vines and olives,
  the King, seated on an elaborate
  throne before his tent, receives
  his commanders while Jewish
  prisoners bow before him. His
  chariot awaits him below
  (Left) The captive people of
  Lakish are tortured or deported,
  together with their families and
  belongings. Early in the yth
  century BC attempts of this sort
  were made to evoke pictorially
  the setting in which events took
  place
  211
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  155
  Relief from the 'North
  Palace' of Ashur-banipal at
  Nineveh. In a vine-arbour, to the
  sound of music, the king and
  queen celebrate a victory over
  the Elamites. Hanging in a tree
  (left)
  is the severed head of their
  enemy Te-umman, King of
  Elam
  156
  Sandstone stela of Ashur-
  nasirpal
  II, whose portrait
  appears inset beneath the
  symbols of his gods. Sin, Ashur,
  Shamash etc. Around this figure
  are 153 lines of inscription
  celebrating the completion of his
  capital, Nimrud, in 879 BC and
  recording the attendant festivities
  captives
  ; or he is shown, during one ofhis campaigns in the marshes
  of southern Mesopotamia,
  watching from
  an
  island
  while
  his
  soldiers pursue the enemy in boats through the reed-beds and fishy
  waters of the lagoon. Ashur-banipal celebrates the capture of Susa
  to the sound of music, with a quaint bird's-eye view of the city
  behind
  him,
  contemplating
  the gruesome
  aftermath of heavy
  fighting
  ; or accompanied by his wife, he relaxes on a couch in an
  arbour of vines. ^^"^
  In
  this
  last phase of Assyrian
  relief carving,
  the drawing of
  animals receives particular care and attention.
  It reaches a peak of
  accomplishment
  in
  the
  time of Ashur-banipal, when
  hunting
  scenes,
  depicting
  lions,
  wild
  asses
  or
  gazelles, became
  popular
  subjects.
  For here - perhaps
  deliberately -
  a note of pathos
  is
  introduced, and one's sympathy is aroused for the 'dying lioness' or
  for the 'onager mare' who
  is compelled to abandon her foal.
  The more practical value of the reliefs, from an archaeological
  viewpoint,
  is the wealth of detailed evidence which they provide
  about the appearance and characteristics, not only of the Assyrians
  but of neighbouring peoples with whom warfare brought them
  into contact. Painstaking study of these pictorial records has by
  now
  acquainted
  us
  with
  every
  smallest
  detail
  of
  military
  equipment, and of common practices in its use which the written
  texts
  alone
  could
  never have made
  clear. ^^^
  Regarding
  those
  aspects of Assyrian life which the reliefs illustrate, little remains to
  be learnt.
  British Return to Nimrud
  Some account must now be given of the finds made by a British
  expedition under
  the
  leadership of M. E. L. Mallowan, which
  139-40
  returned
  to Nimrud
  in
  1949 and worked
  there
  for
  a
  further
  fourteen
  years. ^^^
  Mallowan
  at
  first
  concentrated
  on
  the
  Northwest
  Palace,
  where
  the
  'central
  ceremonial'
  block
  of
  buildings,
  excavated by
  Layard, had included
  a
  great
  throne-
  room. ^^° His
  first important find was indeed made
  in
  a
  side-
  chamber adjoining the throne itself This was a commemorative
  136
  stela of Ashur-nasirpal II, bearing an effigy of the king in relief and
  212
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  213
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  157
  157
  Reconstructed part of a
  'book', found in a well at
  Nimrud, consisting of wax-
  covered 'boards' of ivory, hinged
  to unfold. The wax was
  darkened in colour with a yellow
  'orpiment' (sulphide of arsenic)
  to make the inscription more
  easily readable. The size of each
  board was 33.8 x 15.6 cm. (From
  Mallowan, 1966)
  an inscription of 153 lines covering both sides of the stone.
  It
  is a
  monument of special interest, because it records the ceremonies and
  festivities arranged to celebrate the formal opening of the palace in
  the year 879 bc, and it includes details of the food prepared for the
  entertainment of 69,574 persons over a period often days. Other
  information
  of
  this
  sort
  enabled
  Mallowan
  to
  calculate
  the
  approximate population of Calah itself, after Ashur-nasirpal had
  made
  it
  his new
  capital. The
  figure
  at which
  he
  arrived
  (a
  minimum of 86,000
  including
  children), makes
  an
  interesting
  comparison with the
  'six score thousand' inhabitants which are
  attributed to Nineveh in the Old Testament {Jonah, IV,
  11).
  Meanwhile, in the eastern 'domestic wing' of the palace, two
  deep wells were investigated. In one of these ('AB'), which had
  been
  partly
  excavated
  by
  Layard,
  a
  fmd
  was
  made
  whose
  significance became clear after it had been examined in the British
  Museum laboratory. This was
  a 'book', composed of fifteen or
  more
  'leaves', joined by
  golden
  hinges
  to open
  inwards
  and
  outwards, rather like a Japanese screen. The 'leaves', of wood and
  ivory, had
  raised edges
  to protect
  a surface of wax, on which
  inscriptions were engraved in cuneiform. Together they composed
  a written document of several thousand lines. The 'cover' bore the
  name of Sargon
  II, together with the title of the text and a note to
  say that the 'book' should be kept in the 'King's new palace at Dur
  Sharrukin [Khorsabad]'. Until that time, contemporary evidence
  of writing on a wax surface had been found only in Phrygia. But
  Mallowan was reminded of a
  later Babylonian
  inscription,
  in
  which the officer who read the omens to the king was instructed,
  when the reading was over, to 'close the book'
  ; a phrase which was
  difficult to understand, supposing that it was a tablet from which he
  was reading.
  It was from a second well in this part of the palace ('NN') that
  Mallowan recovered
  several
  objects, now considered to be
  the
  greatest masterpieces in the category of 'Nimrud Ivories', presently
  to be discussed.
  First came the strikingly beautiful female head,
  perhaps an ornament from some piece of furniture, which came to
  be known
  by
  the
  excavators
  as
  'Mona
  Lisa'.^^'
  Measuring
  16 X 13.3 cm, the ivory of which
  it was made had matured to a
  warm brown
  colour
  and
  the
  features,
  lightly
  stained
  with
  214
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  158
  Ivory head of a woman,
  perhaps from a piece of
  ornamental furniture, found in a
  well beneath the 'Northwest
  Palace' at Nimrud. The hair,
  eyebrows and pupils are stained a
  darker colour. Known to the
  excavators as the 'Mona Lisa',
  this carving probably dates from
  the late 8th century bc.
  Ht 16 cm
  appropriate
  colouring,
  have
  been
  compared
  by
  Mallowan
  stylisticallv to those of archaic Greek sculptures. There was a second
  head of the same sort, much more crudely carved, and both are
  dated to about 700 bc. Even more aesthetically effective than either
  of these objects were the two ivory (or rather chryselephantine)
  plaques, representing
  a lioness
  killing
  a negro,
  against
  a formal
  background of lotuses. ^'^^ They are about 10 cm high, elaborately
  enriched with gold leaf and coloured incrustations. The cloisonne
  process by which they are decorated has been closely studied in the
  British Museum. ^"^^
  Other
  buildings
  of the
  citadel
  which Mallowan
  excavated
  included the northern wing or Chancery of the Northwest Palace,
  and the Ninurta Temple at the foot of the ziggurat; the southwest
  complex, consisting of Loftus' Burnt Palace and the Nabu Temple
  (Ezida) with the neighbouring Governor's Palace; a large group of
  private dwellings and the great Quay Wall, supporting the western
  or river-side of the citadel platform. All these building remains
  were
  methodically
  recorded
  and
  successive
  phases
  in
  their
  architectural history distinguished. During these years, Mallowan
  159
  Ivory plaque from the same
  well at Nimrud as
  ill. 158,
  depicting a lioness killing a
  young negro in a thicket of lotus
  and papyrus plants. The flowers
  are inlaid with lapis and
  carnelian, mounted in gold by a
  cloisonne process
  ; prominent
  features such as the boy's curls
  and his trousers are gilded.
  Ht 10.5 cm
  215
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  S.E. PALACE AND
  NABU TEMPLE
  I
  i6o
  Projected plan of the 'Burnt
  Palace' at Nimrud
  {c. 612 bc),
  where ivories were first
  discovered by Loftus in 1854.
  (From Mallowan, 1966)
  161
  Plan of Fort Shalmaneser at
  Nimrud. To the north and west
  are three courtyards, surrounded
  by workshops, stores and offices.
  One of these (southwest)
  is
  divided into long magazines, one
  of which was the main Source of
  ivory. Separated from these by a
  parade ground is the king's
  residence, composed of a throne-
  room and standard suites of royal
  apartments.
  Idl
  was not primarily searching for large statues or reliefs, but his work
  was amply rewarded by fmds on a smaller scale
  : bronze vessels or
  weapons, fme ivory
  carvings and
  deposits of unbaked
  tablets,
  objects of a sort which earlier excavators had been incapable of
  preserving. But his most notable discoveries were made after the
  expedition had transferred
  its activities to the huge, and hitherto
  unexcavated, group of buildings in the remote southeast corner of
  the outer town. This was the 'Imperial Arsenal' (ekal masharti) of
  Shalmaneser III.^"^^
  Buildings answering to this description have been found to exist
  in
  all three of the Late Assyrian capitals. The arsenal at Nineveh
  remains buried beneath the modern buildings of Nebi Yunus; but
  an inscribed prism from
  that quarter gives
  a description of its
  reconstruction
  in
  the reign of Esarhaddon.^^^ Another passage
  defines the purpose served by such a building, stating that it was 'for
  the ordinance of the camp, for the maintenance of the stallions,
  mules, chariots, weapons, equipment ofwar and spoils of the foe of
  every kind'.
  It also records how, annually at the time of the New
  Year's Festival, the establishment was subject to inspection by the
  king himself, for whom residential quarters were provided.
  The
  Arsenal
  at Nimrud, known
  to
  the
  excavators
  as
  Fort
  Shalmaneser, occupied a rectangular site measuring 300 x 200 m,
  enclosed on the east and south sides by the city wall and elsewhere
  by its own massive fortifications. David Oates, who took charge of
  its excavation in 1958, thought that it had also been provided with
  an 'outer bailey', and there is evidence of a similar arrangement at
  Khorsabad. The fortress itself was divided into five main sections.
  In the centre there was a broad parade-ground, with a throne-dais
  on one side for the king. Two large courtyards to the north of this
  were surrounded by the functional accommodation of an official
  216
  
  217
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  162
  Part of the huge stone base
  for the king's throne at Fort
  Shalmaneser, sculptured in reUef
  all round with processions of
  tribute bearers and court officials.
  Here in the centre Shalmaneser
  himself is seen greeting with a
  handshake Marduk-Zakir-
  Shumi, King of Babylon
  162
  entrepot: workshops
  for
  carpenters,
  smiths, leather-workers or
  armourers, often with their tools and appliances preserved among
  the
  litter of scale-armour and,
  in one
  case,
  a royal statue under
  repair.
  Elsewhere,
  stores
  for
  food
  and
  wine
  adjoined
  the
  administrative offices and adjutant's quarters. A third court to the
  west of the parade was divided into spacious magazines, arranged
  around smaller light-wells. The entire south side of the building
  was occupied by
  the royal
  residence, of which
  the ceremonial
  section, with its entrance from the parade-ground, was composed
  of two elements, their plans conforming precisely to architectural
  conventions which we have already observed at Khorsabad and
  elsewhere: namely,
  a 'reception
  suite' with
  its huge rectangular
  throne-room and a projecting wing containing state apartments.
  In the throne-room the stone dais itselfhad survived, and proved
  to be decorated with spirited relief carvings representing the receipt
  of tribute from Syria and Chaldaea. The principal subject was an
  encounter between Shalmaneser and the contemporary ruler of
  Babylon, in which the two kings actually clasp hands. ^'^^ Almost
  equally impressive was the pictorial panel in glazed brick, fallen
  from above the doorway in an adjoining chamber, in which the
  figure of the Assyrian king appears in duplicate beneath a winged
  disc. 2 77
  At Fort Shalmaneser, however, the most rewarding discovery of
  all was
  the
  contents
  of storage chambers
  in
  and
  around
  the
  'southwest
  courtyard',
  on
  the
  western
  side
  of
  the
  parade-
  ground. ^^^ They contained
  a vast collection of ivory
  carvings,
  mostly of the sort which were used to decorate furniture, chariots
  or parade harness. Piled or scattered at all levels in the debris which
  filled the rooms, they consisted of plaques in high or low
  relief,
  ajoure figures of animals or men and some subjects carved in-the-
  round - the work of Phoenician or Syrian craftsmen, looted from
  the cities of the west. From the thousands of fragments recovered,
  some hundreds of items have now been restored and many of them
  published.
  ^"^^
  218
  
  The Nimrud Ivories
  We have already had reason to mention a study of Late Assyrian
  ivories made
  by
  R. D.
  Barnett
  during
  the
  years
  preceding
  Mallowan's
  excavation
  at
  Nimrud. ^^°
  This
  was
  based
  on
  a
  collection which had been retained for almost
  a century in the
  British Museum, and it proved to be derived from two sources:
  Layard's finds in the Northwest Palace and Loftus' discoveries in
  the Burnt Palace. Unlike these early excavators, Barnett was now
  able to compare these ivories with more recent finds of tjie same
  sort from sites in Palestine, Syria, Anatolia and even from Cyprus.
  At an early stage in his study of their
  stylistic characteristics,
  it
  became abundantly
  clear
  that
  in both groups
  the majority of
  designs were the work of Phoenician craftsmen in the coastal cities
  of the
  Levant,
  This was
  notably
  so
  in
  the
  group from
  the
  Northwest Palace, which consisted mainly of furniture enrich-
  ment, like the parts of a 'royal throne' said by Layard to have been
  found in 'Well AB'. Some examples of 'standard designs', such as
  the 'woman-at-the-window' (the Phoenician goddess Astarte) or
  the 'cow turning its head to lick a suckling calf, were marked by
  their makers with a sign corresponding to a letter in the Phoenician
  alphabet. In others, 'Egyptianizing' designs pointed to the same
  origin. By contrast, in the Loftus group Barnett professed also to
  recognize a 'Syrian' style, forming an independent unit associated
  with some more inland centre, in which non-Phoenician motifs
  were used and the designs applied to
  different forms of object.
  These included caryatid figures, model shrines and pyxis vessels for
  ointment. He also suspected the presence in this group of objects
  manufactured in Assyria itself, perhaps by imported craftsmen.
  16
  163
  163
  Ivory ornament with tenons
  for attachment to furniture. The
  Phoenician motifknown as
  'courtesan at a window' was
  popular in the Levant and
  elsewhere. This fragment, dated
  c. 700 B c
  , is from the
  'Northwest Palace' at Nimrud
  219
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  164 Ivory figure, carved in the
  round, of a Nubian leading an
  oryx while carrying a live
  monkey and a leopard-skin. A
  'luxury object' from Fort
  Shalmaneser
  165
  Another motif, popular
  among Phoenician ivory-carvers
  over a period of several centuries
  and with Egyptian overtones,
  is
  the 'cow suckUng its calf. This
  ajoure (open-work) example
  is
  from Fort Shalmaneser
  {c. 700
  BC)
  166
  164
  Barnett's Nimrud Ivories was eventually published in 1957 and
  during the years that followed, as we have seen, a great volume of
  new material became available. Mallowan, in the study of his own
  fmds which appeared nine years later, was able to confirm many
  earlier conclusions; but he was cautious in accepting Barnett's firm
  distinction between Phoenician and 'Syrian' work, on the grounds
  that a free interchange of craftsmen may have taken place at that
  time in all markets west of the Euphrates. On the other hand, he
  also was able
  to detect
  a whole school of imported
  artists and
  indigenous carvers, owing little except their technique to foreign
  influence.
  Regarding
  the
  purpose
  and
  setting
  of
  the
  ivories,
  Mallowan gained the impression that
  this highly prized, luxury
  material was applied
  as
  a veneer to every conceivable form of
  furniture. One room at Fort Shalmaneser (no. SW7) contained a
  great number of panels, juxtaposed in their original setting, and
  these at least could be identified as the elaborate ornamental backs
  of beds, couches and chairs. In this connection, he could point to
  the furniture so carefully depicted in a relief, already mentioned,
  in which Ashur-banipal and his wife are resting after the capture
  of Susa. He
  lists some of the other purposes and classes of objects
  for which ivory carving was used, and makes an interesting com-
  parison with
  a
  surviving inventory of spoil, brought back by
  Sargon
  II from the cities of Urartu, where ivory was as popular
  as in Assyria itself.
  In considering the Levantine style of carving and its background,
  one
  is reminded that the Phoenician craftsmen by whom
  it was
  220
  
  The Late Assyrian Period
  perfected were renowned, even in the Old Testament, for their skill
  and ingenuity. Nevertheless, where design was concerned, one also
  notices that they lacked any authentically native tradition. Just as in
  Europe the artists of the Renaissance turned to ancient Greece for
  their inspiration, so for the Phoenicians, Egyptian art provided the
  source of a ready-made idiom. Egyptian art, however, was based
  on religious imagery and on
  a huge repertory of symbolic and
  mythical forms. For the Phoenicians neither the religion nor the
  symbolism
  was
  their
  own,
  and
  little
  attempt
  was
  made
  to
  understand
  them.
  Their
  adaptation of Egyptian imagery .was
  accordingly often incorrect and occasionally clumsy. Surprisingly,
  its visual effect remained unimpaired. ^^'
  Chronologically, the Nimrud ivories could logically be dated to
  any
  period
  between
  Ashur-nasirpal's
  reign
  and
  the
  eventual
  destruction of his capital. Adad-nirari III is known to have acquired
  an ivory bed and a couch from the king of Damascus in about 800
  BC. But Mallowan considers the bulk of his fmds to be later than
  this and dates much of it to the reign of Sargon II. The extinction of
  the Syrian elephant towards the end of the 8th century may have
  increased the shortage of ivory.
  166 A magnificent ivory bed-
  head from Fort Shalmaneser,
  composed of 12 panels, each
  with the figure of a bearded
  warrior and magical tree, those
  in the centre surmounted by sun-
  discs. Dated by Mallowan to
  730 BC
  221
  
  Chapter Ten
  Babylon: The Last Mesopotamian
  Monarchy
  A Dynastic Revival
  After the fall of Nineveh, the Medes withdrew to consolidate their
  conquests in eastern Anatolia, leaving the Babylonian ruler in full
  control of Assyria. For the moment, however, Nabopolassar was
  compelled to devote his energies primarily to the revival of the
  southern Mesopotamian economy and
  the
  restoration of cities
  whose
  civic amenities had been neglected during the period of
  Assyrian domination. Meanwhile, the most formidable threat to
  the newly acquired Assyrian provinces was from the Egyptians,
  who had already established a military outpost on the Euphrates
  crossings at Carchemish. It was the crown-prince, Nebuchadrezzar
  ('Nebuchadnezzar' of the Old Testament), who was entrusted with
  the task of confronting their armies and recovering the
  cities of
  northern Syria. In this he was initially successful but, long after he
  had
  himself become
  king,
  he
  continued
  to
  be
  involved
  in
  a
  perpetual
  struggle
  to
  protect
  the
  trade-routes
  on
  which
  the
  prosperity of Babylon depended. It was during one of his successful
  campaigns in the Levant that the city ofJerusalem was taken and
  some thousands ofJews deported to Babylonia. At home, during
  the intervals of peace, he devoted much of his time to completing
  the work
  of
  his
  father
  Nabopolassar,
  in
  rebuilding
  the
  old
  Sumerian cities; and at Babylon
  itself, the magnificent layout of
  pretentious public buildings and fortifications which have been
  revealed in our own time can be attributed for the most part to
  Nebuchadnezzar's ambitious planning and precocious ingenuity.
  As for Nabonidus, the
  last independent ruler of Babylon, he
  appears by contrast to have been both eccentric and ineffectual
  : a
  'deviationist', whose enigmatic behaviour and frequent absence
  from his kingdom remain to
  this day something of a puzzle to
  historians. Apart from his rejection of Marduk, the time-honoured
  patron of Babylon, in favour of the god Sin, whom he worshipped
  at Harran, recently found inscriptions have provided an account of
  his prolonged and totally inexplicable sojourn in central Arabia. ^^^
  A group of historical
  relics, found
  at Ur, were
  identified by
  WooUey as Nabonidus' private collection of antiquities.
  At home in Babylon during Nabonidus' reign, political events
  were overshadowed by
  the ominous expansion of the
  Persian
  empire under its first great Achaemenid ruler. In 539 b c, the armies
  of Cyrus
  II, supported by dissident peoples of Assyria, marched
  upon Babylonia.
  Frontier defences were hastily manned by the
  222
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  crown-prince
  (Belshazzar
  of
  the
  Old
  Testament), who
  had
  deputized for Nabonidus during his long absences
  ; but these were
  soon overrun, and within days
  the
  city of Babylon
  itself was
  peacefully occupied, almost without opposition, by the Persian
  army.^^^ On instructions from Cyrus, violence was avoided and
  where possible the inhabitants persuaded to accept their new ruler
  as some sort of 'liberator'. Three thousand years of self-rule
  in
  Mesopotamia thus ended in a curious anti-climax.
  We have three different sources of information regarding the
  city
  of Babylon
  as
  it
  existed
  during
  these
  fmal
  years
  of
  independence. One
  is
  to be found in the writings of the Neo-
  Babylonian
  rulers
  themselves,
  which
  include
  (in
  a document
  known
  as
  the
  Steinplatten
  inscription),
  Nebuchadnezzar's own
  account ofhow he built the city. But at this time in the 6th century
  BC there is another form of evidence which would not previously
  have been available
  : namely the eye-witness accounts, written by
  contemporary
  travellers of other nationalities who had actually
  visited Babylon. From the Hebrew writers of the Old Testament
  little can be learnt in this respect, since their short and unwelcome
  association with
  the
  city apparently
  left no time
  for detached
  observation. In the case of the Greek travel-writers, however, the
  situation
  is quite the reverse. Herodotus, and to
  a
  lesser extent
  Ctesias, have bequeathed to us long and detailed descriptions, not
  only of the city and its buildings but of the 'manners and customs of
  the Babylonians'. ^^'^
  Textual information of this sort was of course available to the
  earliest explorers of the
  actual ruins in the
  19th century, from
  Claudius James Rich onwards. ^^^ gm; their actual excavation had
  to await the turn of that century, when Robert Koldewey and his
  German colleagues submitted the site to a systematic investigation,
  which lasted thirteen years. The results of their excavations are the
  third
  and by
  far
  the
  most
  important
  source
  of our
  present
  knowledge about Babylon. ^^^
  The German Excavation
  The patience and ingenuity which the German excavators devoted
  to their prolonged task at Babylon have been remembered with
  admiration by later generations of archaeologists and are manifest
  in the results of their work. Koldewey was well provided with
  architectural assistants, and there was some good-humoured rivalry
  between them and the epigraphic specialists upon whom he relied
  to
  interpret
  the evidence of the written
  texts. Yet
  it
  is
  to
  the
  collaboration
  of both
  that we owe
  the
  remarkably
  detailed
  information available today, regarding every aspect of a city of
  which, hardly
  a century ago, few traces remained visible above
  ground. Koldewey
  and Andrae between them were
  the
  first
  excavators in the Near Eastern field properly to understand the
  problems of stratification, and they were the first to train a gang of
  expert
  wall-tracers. From most
  points of view,
  their methods
  attained a higher standard of efficiency than anyone could have
  expected
  at
  that
  early
  period
  in
  the
  history of archaeological
  technique. Yet, with
  all this industrious activity and the expense
  223
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  The City
  which
  it involved, Koldewey,
  at
  least, could never afterwards
  regard
  his excavations
  at Babylon
  as having been
  in any
  sense
  completed. When he started he had estimated that five years would
  be necessary for the work, yet, fourteen years later in 191 3, one
  finds him writing in one of his reports that 'approximately one half
  of the work
  considered
  necessary
  or
  desirable
  has now been
  completed'. The German excavations at Babylon were in fact never
  afterwards resumed on any considerable scale.
  It should'be remembered that Koldewey's interest in the site was
  not originally confined to the ruins of the Neo-Babylonian town.
  He had hoped to find, buried beneath them, remains of the 2nd-
  millennium
  city which had been
  the
  capital of Hammurabi's
  empire. By the end of his
  first campaign, however, he already
  realized that in this respect a disappointment was in store, owing to
  the high level of the sub-surface water-table. Instead, therefore, he
  resolved to extend his excavations laterally over the whole area of
  the later
  city,
  in the hope of recovering
  as much of its plan
  as
  possible. This of course proved
  to be an immense
  task, which
  involved continuous residence at the site in all seasons, interrupted
  only by rare visits to his home.
  Some
  idea of the enormous
  scale on which the 6th-century
  fortifications
  of Babylon
  were
  built
  can
  be
  inferred
  from
  Herodotus' own first-hand account. He gives an overall description
  of the area enclosed by the walls, adding a characteristically careful
  explanation
  of
  their
  disposal
  and
  construction,
  with
  detailed
  dimensions which have proved to be approximately correct. One
  needs only to glance at the site-plans in the German publication to
  see the Greek traveller's impressions transformed into an accurate
  topographical record. ^^^
  The old 'Inner City' can be seen on the right bank of the Euphrates,
  making an irregular square, with sides rather more than a mile
  167 Babylon at the time of
  Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 bc)
  with fortifications extended to
  enclose the Summer Palace (a)
  in the north. (After R. Leacroft)
  224
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  J
  Babylon
  long.
  In Nebuchadnezzar's time
  these
  walls were extended
  to
  enclose a further large area on the western side of the river, and the
  square thus became
  a rectangle with
  a longest dimension of i^
  miles.
  In
  the western
  sector
  the excavations were
  restricted
  to
  soundings, whereby
  it was possible to establish the extent of the
  walls and to obtain some idea of the street planning. For the rest, the
  work was concentrated on the older part of the town to the east;
  and here a very careful study was made of the fortifications. They
  consisted of a double line of walls, the innermost of which had a
  thickness of 6.5 m and was probably higher than the outer one,
  which measured no more than 3.7 m. Both were built of sun-dried
  bricks and strengthened at intervals by projecting towers, doubtless
  with
  turrets
  projecting above
  the
  crenellated
  battlements. The
  space between them, as Herodotus had recorded, gave room for a
  protected military roadway
  at parapet
  level. At the foot of the
  outer wall there was a moat, which varied from 20 m to 80 m wide,
  leaving and returning to the river at either end. The 'scarp' or inner
  face of the moat was strengthened by a wall of kiln-baked bricks,
  set
  in
  bitumen.
  Koldewey
  also
  confirmed
  the
  testimony
  of
  Herodotus, that 'there was free passage for boats and craft of all
  kinds around the moat', and one
  is
  left to assume that
  it must
  168
  Plan of the old Inner City of
  Babylon, with the western
  suburb, showing the Procession
  Street and principal buildings.
  (From Hawkes, 1974)
  168
  225
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  Buildings
  therefore have been bridged where the main gateways occurred.
  There were in all nine of these, named after the patron gods of other
  cities to which the roads led, and they were provided with outer
  guard-rooms and roomy inner gate-chambers. Four of them were
  excavated.
  The whole of this inner fortification was built by Nabopolassar
  and Nebuchadnezzar between the years 625 and 562 bc. Along the
  east bank of the river, where streets came down to the waterside, a
  new wall was
  later built by Nabonidus with
  a broad quay
  for
  shipping at its foot.
  1 72
  The main palace of the Babylonian kings was situated in the
  northwest
  corner of the
  old
  city,
  at
  a
  point where
  the
  walls
  themselves were further protected by a colossal bastion overlook-
  ing the river and an external citadel.
  It was here also that the great
  171
  highway from the north passed through the famous 'Ishtar Gate'
  into
  the inner
  city, of which
  it became
  the main
  artery.
  This
  'Procession Street', along which the statues of the gods were carried
  at the time of the New Year's Festival, continued southward along
  the eastern wall of the palace, crossed a canal called Lihilhegalla and
  skirted the walls of the ziggurat enclosure, Etemenanki. At the city
  centre
  it turned westward, passing on
  its left the great temple of
  Marduk, Esagila, and came down to the Euphrates, which it crossed
  upon a bridge supported by five stone piers, to enter the western
  sector of the city.^^^
  Finally, we must refer to the outer enceinte, which created a
  huge extension of the city on the eastern bank. This great moated
  rampart was built to enclose, in the far north, Nebuchadnezzar's
  1 67
  'Summer Palace', and it returned to the river south ofthe inner city.
  It has sometimes been thought that it had been intended to repeat
  this outer triangle on the west side of the river, making the enlarged
  city into a gigantic square; but there
  is no evidence that this was
  ever done. The two short sides of the existing triangle measure 2^
  miles each
  ; so the complete square would have enclosed 6^ square
  miles of country.
  The northern highway rises steeply before reaching the Ishtar Gate
  so that the gate itself and the Procession Street are paved at a level
  several
  metres
  higher
  than
  the
  surrounding
  buildings.
  The
  pavement itself was of limestone slabs, over one metre square, and
  bordered with flags of red breccia. Beneath this, the Germans were
  able to expose the foundations of the gate and street-walls
  ; and they
  found
  that
  Nebuchadnezzar
  (as
  mentioned
  in
  his
  Steinplatten
  inscription), had carried them down to a depth of 15 m: almost as
  far
  as
  the
  clean
  soil beneath
  the mound.
  Since
  the quarrying
  activities
  of local
  builders
  before Koldewey's
  arrival had
  left
  practically nothing standing above pavement
  level,
  these foun-
  dations are today all that remains to be seen by modern visitors to
  the site. They did, however, enable the excavators to recover the
  plan of the gate itself, with its imposing towers and high vaulted
  inner chambers, as can be judged, by the remarkable reconstruction
  afterwards made in the Berlin Museum.
  226
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
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  169 Drawing of the restored
  Ishtar Gate, as seen from the
  north. The raised Procession
  Street is shown in section, with
  decorated foundations beneath
  it.
  (From Koldewey, 1926)
  1 70
  Relief figure of a sirrush
  dragon in moulded brickwork,
  from the facade of the Ishtar
  Gate at Babyloii. The rehefs
  were covered with brightly
  coloured glaze
  : brown and
  yellow on a background of
  peacock blue. Ht 92 cm
  Now, regarding the facade ornament for which these buildings
  are so justly famous: the whole of the gate itself and the adjoining
  walls of the Procession Street had outer faces ornamented with
  designs in brightly coloured glazed brickwork. Repeated at regular
  intervals were
  the
  figures
  of Hons,
  bulls and
  sirrush
  dragons,
  sometimes represented in flat glaze - at others in glazed rehef The
  reconstruction of these designs was made possible by the survival of
  a small section which remained standing at the base of one tower.
  As to the process by which
  this brick ornament was glazed and
  170
  227
  
  ^4!
  m^-.?^
  171
  Reconstructions in the
  Berlin Museum of (left) the
  ornamental fac^ades of the Ishtar
  Gate, and (right) a glazed brick
  panel from the outer face of the
  great throne-room, facing the
  third and largest courtyard in
  Nebuchadnezzar's palace
  assembled, Koldewey in his report speculates at great length, but
  with a certain lack of clarity. One is left to suppose that it resembled
  in most respects that used by the Assyrians at Khorsabad and in Fort
  Shalmaneser at Nimrud.
  The same form of facade ornament seems to have been used in
  certain parts of the royal palace ('Southern Citadel', as the Germans
  refer to it). A tall panel recovered from a wall outside the throne-
  room is of special interest, in that classical motifs are adapted to the
  design, suggesting that some contact now existed between Babylon
  and
  Greece.
  Otherwise,
  the
  planning
  and
  architecture of
  this
  building show no departure from Mesopotamian tradition except
  for its colossal size. There were five successive courtyards, arranged
  on a single axis, and the largest of these (63 x 58 m) in the centre of
  the building, was entered through a sort of 'Sublime Porte'. On its
  south side, and occupying rather more than its complete width, was
  the principal throne-room, which, Hke
  all the other important
  reception rooms, was thus given a northward exposure for the sake
  of coolness
  in summer. The remaining
  space was
  filled
  with
  domestic and
  administrative
  offices. One
  other
  feature,
  in
  the
  northeast corner of the building, aroused special interest. Here was
  a self-contained group of subterranean store-chambers,
  heavily
  vaulted and containing much fallen stonework.
  It was thought by
  the
  excavators
  that
  this
  curious
  structure
  might
  represent
  an
  emplacement on which the famous 'Hanging Gardens' could have
  been
  built,
  as described by Herodotus. Their theory was given
  228
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  increased credibility by the discovery at one point of a deep well,
  surmounted by a triple-shaft chamber, which might have accom-
  modated apparatus for drawing water for the gardens above. In
  more recent years, however, scholars have found reasons to doubt
  this interpretation.
  As we have already mentioned,
  the Procession
  Street,
  in
  its
  passage westward towards the bridge, passes between the ziggurat
  enclosure,
  Etemenanki and
  the Marduk Temple,
  Esagila, which
  respectively represent the hochtempel and
  tieftempel of Mesopot-
  amian
  religious
  convention.
  If one remembers
  that
  these two
  buildings must have demonstrated
  the culmination of
  a
  great
  architectural tradition, it is distressing to realize that for all practical
  purposes
  their
  physical
  remains
  are
  today
  non-existent.
  The
  ziggurat enclosure, more than 500 m square, has an inner and an
  outer temenos
  wall. Around these
  a complex of administrative
  buildings were successfully excavated
  ; but in the case of the great
  staged tower itself its structure had been totally quarried away by
  brick-robbers, so that all that could be learnt about it archaeologi-
  cally had to be inferred from the negative impression left in the
  ground - today a deep, marshy pit. Based on Herodotus and other
  ancient writers, a variety of reconstructions have been proposed, of
  which the most convincing are those which most closely resemble
  the Third Dynasty tower
  at Ur.^^^
  Esagila, on the other hand,
  presented a different problem.
  Its ruins were buried beneath 21m
  of later
  debris, topped by
  the
  Islamic
  shrine of Hajji Amran,
  and
  its excavation, which involved the removal of 30,000 cubic
  metres of earth, could be achieved only by tunnelling along the
  base of the walls. At least it was possible to determine the size of the
  172
  Plan of Nebuchadnezzar's
  palace, adjoining the Ishtar Gate.
  The throne-room, with its three
  portals and dependent suite of
  apartments, faces the great
  courtyard, which
  is approached
  from the east through a 'sublime
  porte'. The group of vaulted
  store-houses, once thought to
  have supported the 'Hanging
  Gardens',
  is located in the
  northeast corner of the building.
  (After Koldewey, 1925).
  a, Ishtar
  Gate;
  b, Ninmakh Temple
  /. - *-
  .--,
  V% -
  229
  
  173
  Pl^n of the Ninmakh
  Temple, also near the Ishtar
  Gate: a building characteristic of
  the Late Babylonian period,
  which has recently been
  reconstructed in situ. (After
  Macqueen, 1964)
  174
  Facades of Neo-Babylonian
  temples at the summit of the
  Harsagkalama mound at Kish,
  still standing up to 5.6 m high.
  Shown by foundation deposits to
  be the work of Nebuchadnezzar
  building, which measured 86 x 78 m. But conflicting conclusions
  about
  its planning become apparent when one observes that the
  reconstruction in the final report and the great scale-model in the
  Berlin Museum disagree, even in regard to the position of the main
  sanctuary. As to
  its traditionally rich fiarnishings, one must once
  more be content with the stories, among other marvels, of a seated
  statue of gold, 6 m high, and a throne of gold, weighing i8y tons.
  In addition to the Ninmakh Temple adjoining the Ishtar Gate,
  which
  has
  already been mentioned,
  a number of other minor
  shrines were excavated. They can all be seen to conform to the now
  generally accepted arrangement of entry, courtyard and sanctuary,
  all on
  the same
  axis,
  but with
  variously developed
  subsidiary
  chambers.
  In some
  respects more
  mteresting were
  the
  private
  dwelling-houses, some with pretentious appointments of a
  sort
  which one would expect in a capital city. Like town-houses in all
  periods of Mesopotamian history their ground-floor rooms had no
  outward exposure and obtained
  light from
  a
  central
  court. A
  strange form of external facade ornament - if so it may be called - is
  frequently to be seen in buildings of this sort, and would appear to
  have been an innovation in Neo-Babylonian times. Successive tiers
  of bricks are set at a slight angle to the true line of the wall-face,
  creating
  a 'dog-tooth' pattern of vertical
  ridges.
  It
  is
  a practice
  which may originally have been adopted when an irregular shaped
  site resulted in a disparity between the oblique angle of the outer
  wall and the rectangular rooms which
  it contained. For the
  rest,
  Herodotus had spoken of houses with 'two or three storeys' and,
  though the excavators found this difficult to confirm,
  it could at
  least
  be
  seen
  that,
  like
  the much
  earlier houses
  excavated by
  Woollcy at Ur, these too must have been provided with rooms on
  an upper floor, entered and lighted from a wooden gallery around
  the
  court. -'^'^
  Private
  chapels,
  sometimes with
  burials
  beneath
  them, suggested another aspect of Babylonian domestic life.
  Evidence of large-scale building activities in the time of the Neo-
  babyloman
  kings
  is by no means
  limited
  to
  the
  capital
  itself
  Something
  has
  already
  been
  said
  about
  Nebuchadnezzar's
  ambitious
  reconstruction
  o{ the
  city
  walls
  at
  Ur,
  with
  their
  imposing gateways and protected harbours for ships trading on the
  Euphrates. On a new site in the city, a huge building known as the
  Palace of Bel-shalti-nannar also appeared at this time;^^' while at
  Kish, on the Harsagkalama mound
  colossal temples were
  built,
  whose walls
  still remain standing many metres high. At almost
  every other Sumerian
  city
  derelict
  stacks of kiln-baked
  bricks.
  
  Babylon
  : The Last Mesopotamian Monarchy
  stamped with Nebuchadnezzar's name, testify to his repair ofsome
  ancient shrine and the belated renewal of its splendour.
  In summarizing
  the
  results of the prolonged
  excavation
  at
  Babylon,
  it
  is indeed surprising to find so httle to record in the
  realm of sculpture or among the various products of contemporary
  craftsmanship. The German excavators would have been the first to
  admit their considerable disappointment in this respect; and
  it
  is
  reflected
  in the commentary of a more recent writer. He says
  'There
  is
  a
  scarcity of works
  of
  this
  period, which makes
  it
  impossible to estimate its artistic achievement', and he addsf
  There was an intense literary activity, and
  it was from Neo-Babylonian
  sources that the Hellenistic world acquired its knowledge of astrology and
  other Mesopotamian sciences; but Neo-Babylonian art did not affect the
  West.
  It was from Assyria that Greece and Etruria obtained their models
  during
  their
  'orientalizing
  period',
  through
  the
  intermediacy
  of the
  Phoenicians. ^^^
  In more recent years, new discoveries related to the theme of this
  book have continued to be reported with gratifying regularity,
  though the locations
  at which they were made - often beyond
  the immediate territories of the old Mesopotamian kingdoms -
  may point to a new widening of historical perspective. One pri-
  mary instance may here be cited of an excavation, still in progress,
  whose relevance in this respect may be thought to have particular
  significance.
  At the site called Mardikh,
  3 1 miles south of Aleppo in Syria,
  the ruins have been found of the ancient city ofEbla, some ofwhose
  rulers in the 3rd millennium bc were already known by name.
  At
  a
  slightly
  later
  period,
  contemporary
  with
  the
  Larsa
  and
  Amorite
  dynasties of Babylon,
  architecture and sculpture have
  been found, which rivals in interest and accomplishment that cur-
  rently known in Mesopotamia. But an even greater discovery has
  now been added to these: an archive of 3rd millennium tablets
  numbering many
  thousands, some of them
  each with over
  a
  thousand lines of writing. Here then
  is a completely new field of
  philological study. Written in
  a hitherto unfamiliar language of
  the West Semitic type, their transcription has been facilitated by
  the inclusion among them of plentiful vocabularies with Sumerian
  equivalents. But, quite apart from their linguistic significance, the
  archaeological setting in which they were found may in itself sug-
  gest a genuine 'breakthrough' into a new realm of discovery. The
  point which they serve to make clear
  is, in the excavator's own
  words - that 'south Mesopotamia was not the sole progenitor of
  literacy and civilization for the whole Near East
  ; similar processes
  were operating over
  a much wider
  area, from
  the Levant
  to
  Elam'.293
  Meanwhile, one new source of information, often relevant to
  the
  earlier periods of Mesopotamian
  cultural development,
  has
  recently been the rescue operations, conducted over areas about
  to be flooded by new dams on the great rivers and their tributaries.
  A typical instance of a site discovered in this way
  is Tell Moham-
  med Arab, in the Eski Mosul dam area, which promises to be the
  Postscript
  231
  
  Postscript
  type-site
  for
  further study of the
  controversial
  'Ninevite
  Five'
  period (see p. 132), contemporary with the Sumerian cities in the
  south.
  Similarly,
  in Syria excavations above the Tabqa dam on
  the Euphrates, east of Aleppo, have revealed strikingly impressive
  sites of the Uruk period. At Habuba Kebira, German excavators
  have found the remains of a huge enceinte, extending at least half-a-
  kilometre along the river and enclosing a dense network of streets.
  A major north-south roadway
  leads up
  to
  an
  acropolis (now
  known
  as
  Tell
  Kaunas), where
  their
  Belgian
  colleagues have
  exposed the remains of temples, planned like the 'White Temple'
  at Uruk
  (ill. 18) or the 'Painted Temple' at 'Uqair
  (ill. 22). Others,
  by contrast, are of the so-called 'cruciform' type, recalling the now-
  famous examples at Uruk itself (ill. 20).
  These
  discoveries,
  together
  with
  the
  appearance
  in
  south
  Anatolia of plentiful Uruk-type and 'Ubaidian material, have once
  more been taken to suggest a northern origin for the Uruk culture.
  This issue has however been further confused by a simultaneous
  discovery in the Hamrin basin, north of Baghdad. At Abada, near
  Khaniqin
  (once more during
  a
  rescue operation),
  a
  prehistoric
  settlement, contemporary with the earliest occupations
  at Eridu
  and
  Samarra,
  revealed
  strikingly
  well-preserved
  architecture,
  including a temple complex, incorporating multiple units of the
  'cruciform'
  type, which
  appears
  to be repeated nearby
  in
  less
  pretentious buildings - apparently common dwellings. The dis-
  crepancy
  in date between the occupation of this village and the
  occurrence of 'cruciform' sanctuaries mentioned above, presents
  a problem which will now need to be considered. (Jasim (1983).)
  Over the past century, as we have attempted to show in these
  pages,
  the
  Mesopotamian
  contribution
  has
  been
  studied
  with
  devoted thoroughness. As
  a
  specialized
  subject,
  the
  possibilities
  which
  it offers are still unlimited
  ; but clearly
  it has everything to
  gain from collateral research among the remoter byways of Near
  Eastern antiquity.
  232
  
  Notes on the Text
  1 The best commentary on the
  geography of Iraq
  is in Brice
  (1966, chs.
  II and 21).
  2 But
  see
  Roux
  (i960,
  pp.
  20-31).
  3
  Lees
  and
  Falcon
  (1952,
  pp.
  24-39).
  4 Jacobsen (i960), pp.
  174-83).
  His
  theory
  is
  at
  present
  sub
  judice.
  5
  See Adams (1958, pp. 101-4).
  6
  See Jacobsen (1958a, p. 1251).
  7
  See Oates, D. (1968, fig. 2, p.
  14).
  8
  See chronological table in So-
  lecki (1971, fig.
  8, p. 182).
  9
  See
  Van
  Zeist
  (1977)
  and
  (1982).
  9a
  Subsequent
  excavations
  at
  Zarzi are reported in Wahida
  (1981).
  10 Garrod (1930, p.
  8).
  11
  Solecki (1971); note in parti-
  cular map 2, on p.
  17.
  12
  Their work is fully reported in
  Braidwood and Howe (i960).
  13
  Childe
  (1950),
  quoted
  in
  Singh (1974, p. 4).
  14 ^ambel
  and
  Braidwood
  (1980).
  15
  Mellaart (1967).
  16
  Singh (1974); for a fuller ac-
  count
  see Mellaart
  (1975)
  or
  D. and J. Oates (1976).
  17
  Lamberg-Karlovski (1974).
  18 Braidwood (1974b).
  19
  Mortensen (1964, p. 32
  ff.).
  20 Braidwood (i960, p.
  173).
  21 An analysis and discussion of
  all these soundings is presented
  in Perkins
  (1949), and by A.
  Porada in Ehrich (1965).
  22 The
  German
  reports
  have
  been published at great length,
  mostly in the series Uruk Vor-
  I'dujige
  Berichte
  (titles
  vary),
  and Abhandlungen der Deutsche
  Orient Gesellschaft, in progress
  since 1929. An almost up-to-
  date summary in English is to
  be found in Mallowan (1970,
  ch.
  8/1,
  p.
  360
  ff.),
  and
  in
  Frankfort and Davies
  (1971,
  ch. 12). But note also the more
  recent find of a
  level IVa-b
  palace,
  in
  Lenzen
  (1974,
  p.
  III).
  23
  Mackay (193 1) and elsewhere.
  24
  See Lloyd and Safar (1947, p.
  84 ff. and 1948, p. 115 ff.); also
  Lloyd (1947 and 1948).
  25
  Delougaz and Lloyd (1942).
  26
  These
  and
  other
  proposed
  changes in stratigraphical ter-
  minology
  are
  well
  shown
  diagrammatically by E. Porada
  in Ehrich (1965, p. 176).
  27 Heinrich (1957).
  28
  Safar (1950, p. 27 ff).
  29 Van Buren (1972).
  30
  Ziegler (1953)-
  31
  Oates, Joan (i960, pp. 32-50).
  32
  See
  'Excavations
  in
  Iraq,
  1971-72', Iraq, 34, pt 2 (1972),
  p. 149.
  33
  Lloyd and Safar (1943, p. 131
  ff.).
  34
  Heinrich (1957).
  35
  Van Buren
  (1952,
  p. 76
  ff.).
  Also see Moorey (1975).
  36
  Riemchen in German, meaning
  'prismatic',
  is the name used
  by
  the
  excavators
  for
  the
  small, rectangular mud bricks
  characteristic
  of
  the
  Uruk
  period.
  37 Delougaz and Lloyd (1942).
  38
  Mostly
  accounts
  and
  in-
  ventories.
  39 A full discussion of this script
  will be found
  in Falkenstein
  (1936).
  39a
  See Schmandt-Besserat (1977).
  40 Roux (1964, p. 82).
  41
  General
  reference books
  for
  cylinder-seals
  are
  Frankfort
  (1939),
  Porada
  (1948)
  and
  Amiet (1961).
  42 Some fine examples are illus-
  trated in Frankfort (1955, pi.
  i
  ff.).
  42a A basic work on the subject is
  Porada (1948).
  43
  Well
  illustrated
  in Delougaz
  (1952).
  44
  E.g. in Frankfort (1951).
  45
  See Falkenstein (1965,
  p. 269
  ff.).
  46
  See
  Lamberg-Karlovsky
  (1974)-
  47 Cf Kramer (1963, p. iii
  ff.).
  48 Cf D. and J. Oates (1976,
  p.
  136).
  49
  See Lloyd (i960).
  50
  Oates, Joan (1976, pp. 20-31),
  with map,
  fig.
  i,
  p.
  23, and
  Burkholder (1972, pp. 264-9).
  The writer
  is indebted to Dr
  Oates
  for
  the
  further
  infor-
  mation which follows.
  233
  
  Notes on the Text
  51
  For a comparative analysis in
  detail of the
  evidence from
  these excavations, in northern
  Iraq, see Mellaart (1975). Also
  to
  be recommended
  is
  the
  site-by-site
  commentary
  in
  Mallowan
  (1970,
  ch.
  8/2,
  p.
  376 ff.).
  52
  Mallowan and Rose (1935). A
  subsequent
  excavation
  at
  Arpachiyah by Ismail Hijara is
  reported in Iraq 42/2 (1980).
  53
  See Speiser (1935) and Tobler
  (1950).
  54
  Herzfeld (1950).
  55 Thompson
  and
  Mallowan
  (1932, p. 71
  ff.).
  56
  Lloyd and Safar (1945,
  p. 255
  ff.).
  57 Summary reports in English:
  Munchajef and Merpert (1969
  onwards).
  58
  Prehminary
  reports:
  Kirk-
  bride (1972 onwards).
  59 Of the animal bones 68-5%
  were onager and 15-9%
  ga-
  zelle.
  60
  See Braidwood et al. (1952, p.
  Iff.).
  61
  Preliminary
  reports
  by
  B.
  Abu-al-Soof and
  others
  in
  Sumer, 21 (1965) to 24 (1968).
  62
  See Oates, Joan (1966).
  63
  See
  Oates, Joan
  (1969)
  and
  Braidwood (1944, pp. 47-72).
  64
  E.g.
  at Yanik Tepe in Azar-
  baijan
  : Burney (1964). But see
  Hijara (1980).
  65 Cf Mallowan (1970, ch.
  8/2,
  footnote no. 2 on p. 383).
  66
  See Mallowan (1947, p.
  i
  ff.).
  67
  See
  Braidwood
  (1944,
  pp.
  47-72).
  68
  Typical examples of Samarra
  and Tel Halaf painted pottery
  are well illustrated in colour in
  Strommenger (1964, pi.
  II).
  69
  Lloyd (1938, p. 123
  ff.).
  70
  See Ucko (1968).
  71
  Munchajef
  and
  Merpert
  (1971, pi. V, fig. 2 and pi. VII,
  fig.
  10).
  72
  Oates, Joan (1969a) and illus-
  trations reproduced in Singh
  (1974, figs. 59a-d, 60 and 61).
  73
  Typical
  figurines from
  these
  two
  sites
  are
  illustrated
  side-
  by-side
  in
  Strommenger
  (1964, pi. 6).
  74
  See Speiser (1935,
  pi. CXLII,
  p. 36) and Barnett (1966).
  75
  Syria
  and
  Iran
  are
  covered
  rather more fully in Mellaart
  (1975)-
  76 Two of these are illustrated in
  colour in Strommenger (1964,
  pis.
  Ill and IV).
  77
  See Le Breton (1957, p. 79 ff.),
  with diagrams of comparative
  chronology.
  78
  See
  Lamberg-Karlovsky
  (1970).
  It should be noted that
  recent excavations in Susiana
  and
  at Deh Luran have now
  complicated
  the
  Susiana
  se-
  quence
  and
  its
  relationship
  with Iraq, as may be gathered
  from new synchronisms men-
  tioned
  by
  Oates
  in
  Curtis
  (1983).
  79 Jacobsen
  (1939). Simply pre-
  sented in Woolley (1965, pp.
  21-6).
  80 A useful Enghsh translation is
  Sandars (i960).
  81
  There
  is
  a summary
  of the
  evidence
  in Gadd
  (1971,
  ch.
  13, P- 93)-
  82
  Sollberger
  (i960,
  p.
  69
  ff.).
  Recently found
  tablets from
  Abu Salabikh are closely com-
  parable with those from Farah
  (written by scribes with Ak-
  kadian
  names). Cf
  Postgate
  in Curtis (1983), p. 50.
  83
  Hall and Woolley (1927)-
  84
  See Kramer (1965).
  85
  Delougaz
  and
  Lloyd
  (1942,
  fig.
  115,
  p.
  134),
  and
  alter-
  native dating in Ehrich (1954,
  table on p.
  176).
  86
  This subject has been exhaus-
  tively
  studied
  in
  Mallowan
  (1964,
  p. 62
  ff.). At Kish he
  noted
  several
  alternative
  'Flood-levels'.
  87
  See Kramer (1956, p. 290).
  88
  See Sollberger (1954-6,
  p.
  10
  ff.).
  89
  See Edzard (1959, p. 9
  ff.).
  90
  See Kramer (1952).
  9
  The relevant final pubHcations
  of the Khafaje excavations are,
  Delougaz
  (1940)
  and
  De-
  lougaz and Lloyd (1942).
  92
  For burials, see Delougaz et al.
  (1967).
  93
  Delougaz and Lloyd (1942).
  94
  Delougaz and Lloyd (1942).
  95
  Woolley's preliminary reports
  were
  published
  under
  the
  heading 'Excavations
  at Ur',
  in
  the
  Antiquaries Journal,
  3
  (1923),
  to
  14
  (1934), and
  re-
  pubhshed in
  a single volume
  by Benn, London (Woolley
  1954). Of
  the
  final
  publi-
  cations,
  Woolley
  (1934),
  Woolley (1939) and Woolley
  (1974)
  are
  relevant
  to
  this
  chapter.
  96
  Site-plans
  are reproduced
  in
  colour
  in Hawkes
  (1974,
  p.
  173)-
  97
  For the identity of these anim-
  als,
  see Dyson
  (i960,
  p.
  102
  ff.).
  98 Cf Gadd (i960, p. 51).
  99
  See Hall and Woolley (1927)-
  100
  See Delougaz (1938, p.
  iff.).
  loi
  Mackay (1929)
  : also Waterlin
  and Langdon (1930-4).
  102
  See Moorey (1966, p. 83) and
  Lloyd (1969, p. 40).
  103 De
  Sarzec
  and
  Heuzey
  (1884-1912).
  104 Jacobsen (1958, pp. 127-9).
  234
  
  Notes on the Text
  105
  See Crawford (1974, P- 29 ff-)-
  106
  Parrot (1948).
  [07
  For
  easy
  reference,
  see
  site-
  plan in Hawkes (i974, P- I74)-
  108
  For
  preliminary
  reports,
  see
  Haines (1956, 1958, 1961), and
  Hansen and Dales (1962).
  109 SeeHansen (1965, pp. 201-13).
  no
  See Hansen (1963).
  1 1
  For plan in colour, see Hawkes
  (1974. p. 181).
  1 1
  See Andrae
  ( 1 922)
  . The results
  of
  this
  excavation
  are sum-
  marized
  in
  English
  in Mal-
  lowan (1971, ch.
  16,
  p. 298),
  and in French (with plan)
  in
  Parrot (1946, p. 224 ff. and fig.
  52).
  113 Cf Edzard (1959, p. 9 ff-)-
  114
  Preliminary
  reports
  on
  A.
  Parrot's
  excavations
  at Mari
  appeared annually in Syria and
  other journals, from 1935 on-
  wards. Their final publication
  is
  in
  the
  series
  Mission
  Archeologique
  de
  Mari,
  of
  which vol.
  I (1956), vol. 2, pts
  1-3
  (1958), vol.
  3 and vol. 4
  (both 1967) are relevant. Vol.
  2, pt 2 and vol. 4 are reviewed
  in
  English
  in
  Mallowan
  (1969). The
  Ishtar Temple
  is
  described (with plan) in Mal-
  lowan (1971, p. 291
  ff.).
  115
  See Moortgat
  (1959
  et
  seq.).
  The
  results
  are
  discussed
  in
  Mallowan
  (1966a)
  and Mal-
  lowan (1971, ch. 16).
  116 Mallowan (1971, ch.
  16).
  117
  E.g. Moortgat
  (1959
  et
  seq.)
  and elsewhere.
  118 Cf Ehrich (1965, p. 162).
  119 Cf Frankfort (1954, p. 23
  ff.).
  All
  Early Dynastic sculpture
  from the Diyala
  sites
  is pub-
  lished by the same writer
  in
  Frankfort (1939 and 1943).
  120
  Andrae (1922).
  121
  SeeFrankfort (1939 and 1943).
  122
  Illustrated in Frankfort (i954»
  pi. 9b).
  123
  Illustrated in Frankfort (1954,
  pi.
  13).
  124
  See Frankfort (1939, footnotes
  on pp. 51 and 54).
  125
  Well
  illustrated
  in
  Strom-
  menger (1964, pis. 88-100 and
  in colour, pi. XX).
  126
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  p.
  401)
  refers to this individual, prob-
  ably
  rightly,
  as
  'he'. But
  see
  also Barnett
  (1969,
  p.
  96). A
  statue from
  the same
  prov-
  enance,
  showing
  a
  headless
  couple holding hands, repre-
  sents
  a convention occasion-
  ally seen elsewhere.
  127
  Frankfort (1954, pi. 26b).
  128
  See Hansen (1963, p. 146).
  129
  Frankfort (1954, pi. 33b).
  130
  Frankfort (1954, pi. 33a).
  131
  Hansen
  (1963). He
  detected
  two main phases in their stylis-
  tic development, equating the
  first with the earlier half of the
  'ED ir period, and the second
  with
  a
  transitional phase ex-
  tending
  to
  cover 'ED
  llla'.
  This suggests a sub-division of
  the
  'ED
  ir
  period,
  which
  would conform
  to
  the Ger-
  man
  system
  of chronology
  outlined above on p. no.
  132
  Hansen (1963, pi. VI). See also
  below, p. 131.
  133
  Illustrated in detail in Strom-
  menger (1964, pis. 66-9)
  134
  Lamberg-Karlovsky (1974, p.
  283).
  135
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pis.
  38-9).
  See
  also
  Delougaz
  (i960).
  136
  The making and use of these
  bricks
  is
  explained
  in
  De-
  lougaz (1933)-
  137
  E.g.
  in
  Sin Temple
  VIII
  at
  Khafaje,
  in
  level
  VIII of the
  Inanna Temple at Nippur and,
  most notably, in Palace 'A' at
  Kish.
  138
  Delougaz and Lloyd (1942, pi.
  23)-
  139
  Delougaz and Lloyd (1942, pi.
  12).
  140 Delougaz
  and
  Lloyd
  (1942,
  fig. 203, p. 263).
  141
  Haines (1961).
  142
  Delougaz,
  Hill
  and
  Lloyd
  (1967, pi. 36).
  143 Strommenger (1964, fig. 17, p.
  391)-
  144
  Safar (1950, fig.
  3).
  145
  Parrot (1972, fig. 2, p. 285).
  146 The seals of all three phases are
  described
  and
  illustrated
  in
  Frankfort (1939).
  147
  These two
  figures
  were
  as-
  sociated
  by
  an
  earlier
  gen-
  eration of archaeologists with
  Gilgamesh and his companion
  Enkidu of the famous
  epic;
  but the equation is today trea-
  ted with some reserve. Com-
  pare Frankfort (1939, p. 62).
  148 The
  most
  important
  com-
  mentary on objects under this
  heading
  is
  to
  be
  found
  in
  Woolley (1934).
  149 The
  most
  satisfying
  recon-
  struction of such a headdress is
  perhaps to be seen in the Iraq
  Museum exhibit, mounted by
  an Iraqi sculptor on an imag-
  inary head and shoulders.
  It is
  shown here,
  ill.
  85.
  See
  also
  Maxwell-Hyslop (i960).
  150
  Frankfort (1954, pi. 20a).
  151
  Best
  illustrated
  in
  Strom-
  menger
  (1964,
  pi.
  72,
  and
  colour pis. X and XI).
  152
  Parrot
  (1962,
  pis.
  11
  and
  12
  and fig. II, p. 164).
  153 Compare
  the
  top
  left-hand
  figure in the 'Peace Scene' of
  the 'royal standard',
  ill. 87.
  154
  Barnett (1969). The anatomy
  of
  these
  instruments,
  in
  re-
  lation to the known principles
  of Sumerian music, was
  first
  discussed in Galpin (1929). A
  235
  
  Notes on the Text
  more up-to-date commentary
  on them
  is
  to
  be found
  in
  Rimmer (i960).
  155
  Strommenger (1964,
  pi. XIV
  in colour).
  156 A long and very detailed study
  of
  Early
  Dynastic
  pottery,
  with
  colour
  illustrations
  of
  painted
  wares,
  at
  this
  and
  earlier periods, may be found
  in Delougaz
  (1952).
  See
  also
  Strommenger (1964,
  pis. VIII
  and IX).
  157 SeeMalIowan(i964, p. I42ff.).
  158 Strommenger (1964, pi. 41).
  159
  George Roux
  (1964)
  com-
  petently
  summarizes
  earlier
  information on
  this
  subject.
  Further evidence is now avail-
  able, e.g. in the form of texts
  from Abu Salabikh, mention-
  ed in note 82.
  160
  Saggs (1962, p. 272
  ff.).
  161
  These
  two
  rock
  reliefs
  are
  discussed
  stylistically
  in Bar-
  relet
  (1959,
  p.
  20).
  See
  also
  Strommenger (1936, p. 83
  ff.).
  162
  Hilprecht (1903).
  163
  Scheil (1902).
  164
  Banks (1912).
  165
  Waterlin
  and
  Langdon
  (1930-4).
  See
  also
  Moorey
  (1966,
  pp.
  18-51) and Lloyd
  (1969, pp. 40-8).
  166
  Woolley (1934)-
  167
  Delougaz,
  Hill
  and
  Lloyd
  (1967, p. 186
  ff. and pi. 37).
  168
  Delougaz,
  Hill
  and
  Lloyd
  (1967, p. 196
  ff.). The present
  writer, who was
  responsible
  for the excavation of the Nor-
  thern
  Palace
  at
  Tell Asmar,
  finds
  the
  argument
  for
  this
  theory
  unconvincing.
  De-
  lougaz dates the building to a
  so-called
  'Proto-Imperial'
  period, defined by Th. Jacob-
  sen,
  in
  Assyriological
  Studies,
  no. II, table II, as lasting from
  the
  reign
  of
  the
  Lagashite
  king,
  Entemena,
  to
  the
  first
  years of Sargon-of-Akkad.
  169
  Delougaz,
  Hill
  and
  Lloyd
  (1967, pi. 64).
  170
  Delougaz,
  Hill
  and
  Lloyd
  (1967, p. 54
  ff. and pi. 20).
  171 Mallowan (1947, p. 26
  ff. and
  63
  ff.). Plan also reproduced in
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  fig.
  18,
  p. 403).
  172 Mallowan
  (1932,
  pi.
  L),
  also
  (1936),
  p.
  104
  ff.
  and
  pis.
  V-VII. Illustrated in colour in
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pis.
  XXII-XXIII).
  173
  Originally
  pubhshed
  in
  Memoires
  du
  Delegation
  en
  Perse, vol.
  I, 1900, pi. X.
  174
  E.g. two fragments published
  in
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pis.
  114-15).
  175
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pis.
  1 18-19), also discussed in Bar-
  relet (1959). The same might
  be said of a fragmentary nude
  statue, bearing a dedication to
  Haram-Sin,
  more
  recently
  found
  near Dohuk
  and
  il-
  lustrated
  in
  J.
  Oates
  (i979),
  P-35.
  1 76 Compare Akkadian seals illus-
  trated
  in
  Frankfort
  (1939),
  Moortgat
  (1940)
  and
  Wise-
  man (n.d.).
  177
  See Frankfort (1934).
  178
  Frankfort
  (1933,
  pp.
  47-53,
  figs. 30-3), also Gadd (i933),
  and Corbieau (1937, p.
  i
  ff.).
  179
  Starr (i939)-
  180 Lambert and Tournay (195 1).
  181 De Sarzec and Heuzey (1884-
  1912), also Parrot (1948).
  182 What follows
  is partly taken
  from an abbreviated account
  in Parrot (1946, pp. 127 ff.).
  183
  These statues were
  first pub-
  lished in de Sarzec and Heuzey
  (1884-1912).
  They
  are
  well
  illustrated
  in
  Strommenger
  (1964, pis. XXVI and 133-7).
  184
  Crawford (1974) and the ac-
  companying footnotes.
  185
  Woolley 's
  preliminary
  re-
  ports,
  as has been
  said, were
  pubhshed
  immediately
  after
  the
  end
  of
  each
  season's
  !
  digging.
  Mallowan,
  in
  his
  '
  introduction to the Memorial
  Volume,
  Iraq,
  vol.
  22, pub-
  lished
  soon
  after
  Woolley 's
  death
  in
  i960,
  recalls how
  these articles were often 'writ-
  ten on board ship as he travel-
  led home'.
  For
  the
  titles of
  volumes
  in
  the
  final
  publi-
  cation
  {Ur
  Excavations),
  see
  Bibliography.
  186
  See
  Woolley
  (1974,
  pis.
  53
  and 61).
  187
  See
  Woolley
  (1939).
  Woolley's several perspective
  restorations have been widely
  published
  and
  are
  well
  known.
  188
  The only parallels in architec-
  tural history for
  this practice
  are to be seen in the mausolea
  of Augustus and Hadrian
  at
  Rome. See Bannister-Fletcher
  (1961, p. 237, figs, b and c).
  189
  See Woolley and Mallowan
  (1974, pl- 54)-
  190
  See
  Frankfort,
  Lloyd
  and
  Jacobsen (1940, pl.
  i passim).
  191 A good account of Mesopot-
  amian history in the 2nd mil-
  lennium BC
  is to be found in
  Roux (1964).
  192
  Published
  as
  the
  Archives
  Royales
  de
  Mari,
  Paris
  1950
  onwards
  (transliterations and
  translations).
  193
  See D. Oates (1968, p. 31
  ff.).
  194
  See Parrot (1938, pp. 308-10).
  195
  See McEwan (1958).
  196
  Frankfort et al. (1940).
  197
  Turner (1968).
  198
  Frankfort et al. (1940, pl. 7).
  199
  Frankfort (1936, p. 74 ff.).
  200
  See Smith and Baqir (1946);
  Baqir (1948 and
  1959); Gur-
  ney (1950).
  236
  
  Notes on the Text
  201
  See Woolley (1954, fig-
  12, p.
  176).
  202
  E.g.
  in
  Woolley
  (1935.
  pl-
  12).
  203
  Preliminary
  reports
  in
  Syria
  (1935-67)
  and
  Annales
  Ar-
  cheologiques de Syrie (1951-67).
  Final publication
  : see Bibliog-
  raphy under Parrot.
  204
  Illustrated
  in
  colour,
  e.g.
  in
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pis.
  XXVIII
  and XXIX)
  and
  in
  Parrot (1961).
  205
  See Barrelet (1950).
  206
  See Parrot (1967a).
  207 Annual reports by Oates, D.
  in Iraq, 27-34 (1965-72).
  208
  See Oates, D. (1967, p. 70 ff.).
  He
  refers
  to
  similar
  facade
  ornament at Ur, 'flanking the
  entrance
  to
  the
  bastion
  of
  Warad-Sin, which was
  built
  c. 1830 Bc'. Cf Woolley (1939,
  P- 42-3).
  209
  See Oates, D. (1973, p. 183).
  210
  All
  these
  sculptures
  are well
  illustrated
  in
  Strommenger
  (1954,
  figs.
  148-54). But
  see
  J.
  R.
  Kupper
  in
  Revue
  d'Assyriologie,
  15
  (1971),
  p.
  113
  ff.
  211
  The
  'Burney
  Plaque',
  illus-
  trated
  here,
  ill.
  118,
  and
  in
  Frankfort (1954, fig. 56).
  212
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pl.
  xxvii).
  213
  Strommenger (1964, fig. 170).
  214
  Baqir (1944, 1945 and 1946a).
  215
  Baqir (1946a).
  216
  Baqir (1946a, pis. XI-XIV).
  217
  E.g. Frankfort (1954, pl. 71).
  218
  Baqir (1945, pis. 17 and 21).
  219
  Frankfort (1954,
  pis. 70b and
  70c).
  220
  Starr (1938).
  221
  For
  once,
  a
  very
  revealing
  analysis
  of
  their
  contents
  is
  appended to the main publi-
  cation (Starr 1938, vol. I, p. 528
  ff.).
  222
  Starr
  (1938,
  general
  plan
  in
  folder).
  223
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  fig.
  40,
  P- 430).
  224
  Frankfort
  (1954,
  fig.
  64,
  p.
  142);
  also
  Mallowan
  (1939,
  pp.
  887-94),
  and
  Ceccini
  (1965).
  225
  Strommenger (1964, fig.
  179,
  bottom row).
  226
  Pubhshed by W. Andrae
  in
  Wissenschaftliche
  Veroffen-
  lichungen
  der
  deutschen
  Orient
  Gesellschaft,
  no.
  10
  (1909),
  no. 23
  (1913), no. 24
  (1913),
  no. 39
  (1922), no.
  58
  (1935),
  and summarized by him
  in
  Andrae (1938).
  227
  Andrae's
  site
  plan
  is
  repro-
  duced in Strommenger (1964,
  fig. 46, p. 434).
  228
  Earlier
  excavators
  at
  Ashur
  had
  included
  Rich,
  Layard,
  Place,
  Rassam
  and
  finally
  George Smith of the
  British
  Museum. See Lloyd (1955).
  229
  Reproduced in Strommenger
  (1964,
  fig.
  47,
  p.
  435), from
  Andrae (1938).
  230
  Andrae
  (1925).
  Examples
  il-
  lustrated
  in
  Frankfort
  (1954,
  pis. 74 A-B).
  231
  Frankfort (1954, p. 65).
  232
  See
  Frankfort
  (i939)
  and
  Porada (1948).
  233
  Weber (1920, p. 105, no. 531).
  234
  Moortgat
  (1944,
  P-
  43,
  figs.
  45b and 46).
  235
  See
  Jacobsen
  and
  Lloyd
  (1935). For other rock-reliefs
  of Sennacherib, see Bachmann
  (1927)-
  236
  Lloyd (1947 with illustrations,
  and 1955).
  237
  For the site of Nimrud and its
  surroundings,
  see Mallowan
  (1966b,
  vol.
  I,
  ch.
  i)
  and
  Oates, D. (1968, ch.
  3).
  238
  Layard's two principal books
  are Layard (1950 and 1953).
  239
  Rassam's
  excavations
  are
  re-
  corded, as a rule rather briefly,
  in Rassam (1897).
  240
  Loftus (1857).
  241
  Botta and Flandin (1849-50).
  242
  Place (1867-70).
  243
  See Gadd (1936, p.
  57). These
  two
  figures
  were
  purchased
  from
  the
  French
  Consular
  Agent in 1849 and sawn into
  four
  pieces
  each. They were
  transported safely by sea from
  Basrah to London, though the
  ship was reported to be 'well
  down in the water'.
  244 An early survey was pubhshed
  in Jones (1857).
  245
  See Finch (1948,
  p. 9
  ff.) and
  Madhloum (1967 or 1968).
  246
  See plan in Layard (1853, vol.
  I, facing p. 67).
  247
  See
  plan
  of Ashurbanipal's
  palace in Rassam (1897, facing
  p.
  8);
  for
  Balawat,
  King
  (191 5), also Barnett (1973) and
  D. Oates on more recent ex-
  cavations in Iraq, 36 (1974).
  248
  See Loud (1936).
  249
  SeeLoudand Altmann (1938).
  250
  Since
  Loud
  and
  Altmann
  (1938)
  is
  a
  heavy
  volume,
  Loud's plans may more con-
  veniently be consulted in e.g.
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pp.
  445-7)-
  251
  See Turner (1970, P- I77 ff-)-
  252
  Reproduced
  in
  Frankfort
  (1954, fig. 32, p. 79)-
  253
  For the bit hilani, see Frankfort
  (1952)-
  254
  See Loud and Altmann (1938,
  p.
  19)-
  255
  Reproduced
  in
  Frankfort
  (1954, fig. 40, p.
  103).
  256
  Reproduced
  in
  Frankfort
  (1954, pl. 82).
  237
  
  Notes on the Text
  257 The
  pair of bulls from Gate
  'A', now at the entrance to the
  Iraq Museum, measured 44 m
  square and weighed over 20
  tons.
  The
  single
  bull,
  with
  head
  facing
  sideways,
  from
  the
  throne-room
  entrance,
  now in the Oriental Institute
  Museum, Chicago, was 47 m
  square, and
  the
  largest
  frag-
  ment weighed 14 tons. Other
  fragments remain in situ of an
  even
  larger
  bull,
  measuring
  5-5 m square.
  258
  Frankfort (1954, pi. 87).
  259
  Frankfort (1954, pi- 9o)-
  260
  Frankfort
  (1954,
  fig.
  41,
  p.
  104).
  261
  Strommenger
  (1964,
  pi.
  209-14).
  262
  King (1915).
  263
  See Barnett (i973, P- 442 and
  notes).
  264
  Thureau-Dangin and Dunand
  (1936).
  265
  See Parrot (1961, pis. I-IV and
  figs. 109-20, 266 and 336-48).
  266 Some of the best photographs
  are those taken by Max Hir-
  mer
  to
  illustrate
  Strom-
  menger (1964).
  267
  Strommenger (1964, pi. 241).
  268
  E.g. Madhloum (1964).
  269
  See Mallowan (1966).
  270
  See
  plan
  of
  the
  citadel
  in
  Mallowan (1966, fig.
  i, p. 32).
  271
  See Mallowan
  (1966,
  vol.
  i,
  facing p.
  128).
  272
  See Mallowan
  (1966,
  vol.
  i,
  Frontispiece).
  273
  See
  Plenderleith's
  report,
  quoted by Mallowan:
  Mal-
  lowan (1966, p. 139).
  274
  Preliminary
  reports
  by
  D.
  Oates
  in
  Iraq and
  Illustrated
  London News from
  1957
  to
  1963.
  Finally
  pubhshed
  in
  Mallowan (1966, vol. 2).
  275
  See Turner (i960, p. 68
  ff.).
  276
  Well
  illustrated
  in
  Illustrated
  London
  News,
  i
  December
  1962.
  277
  See Mallowan
  (1966,
  vol.
  2,
  fig- 373, P- 453)-
  278
  In
  the
  second
  volume
  of
  Mallowan's
  major work on
  the excavations at Nimrud, he
  deals with two groups of ivor-
  ies, one from rooms NW.15,
  SW.2
  and
  SW.7,
  the
  other
  from rooms SW.12, SW.37.
  This
  last
  is one of the
  eight
  magazines
  -
  each
  almost
  30 m
  long - of which
  the
  storage
  space
  in
  the
  South-
  west courtyard
  is composed.
  The remainder are marked on
  the
  plan
  'partly
  excavated'.
  See Mallowan (1966, folding
  plan no.
  8).
  279 The
  final
  publication of the
  ivories
  (Commentary,
  cat-
  alogue
  and
  Plates),
  has
  ap-
  peared in
  a succession of fas-
  cicles
  under
  the
  title
  Ivories
  from
  Nimrud
  (1966,
  1970,
  1974). Many more are to be
  expected
  as the Iraqi excava-
  tions continue to be pubhshed.
  280
  Barnett (1957).
  281
  It has been compared
  to
  the
  'Chinoiserie' phase of Enghsh
  ornament in the i8th century.
  282
  See Gadd (1958, p. 35
  ff.).
  283
  Herodotus {History, Bk
  i, ch.
  lOi
  ff.), and Xenophon {Cyr-
  opaedia, Book VII, ch. V,
  10),
  maintain that Cyrus diverted
  the course of the Euphrates, so
  that his troops could enter the
  city along
  its dry
  bed. Kol-
  dewey
  (in
  F.
  Wetsel,
  Die
  Stadtmauern von Babylon, Leip-
  zig 1930,
  p.
  53), was inclined
  to beUeve
  that something of
  this
  sort
  did
  in
  fact happen.
  Others have doubted
  it.
  284
  Herodotus' account (Bk
  i, ch.
  178
  ff.),
  is very fully discussed
  and compared with the exca-
  vators'
  findings
  in
  Ravn
  (1942),
  a
  book
  in
  English
  which
  is
  unfortunately
  difficult to obtain. Koldewey's
  semi-popular
  account
  of
  his
  work
  appeared
  in
  1914,
  poorly translated into EngHsh.
  A
  better summary
  is
  to
  be
  found in MacQueen (1964).
  285
  See Lloyd (1947).
  286
  Koldewey's own reports ap-
  peared in the Mitteilunger der
  deutschen
  Orient
  Gesellschaft
  (MDOG),
  in
  the
  years
  bet-
  ween 1899 and 1932.
  287
  For the site plan before exca-
  vation,
  see Koldewey
  (1925,
  fig.
  i), and for the inner city
  after excavation, ibid., fig. 256.
  288
  Herodotus {History, Bk
  i, ch.
  186),
  describes
  how
  this
  bridge
  was
  built
  by
  'Ni-
  tochris'.
  289
  Various
  reconstructions
  are
  illustrated
  side-by-side
  in
  Ravn (1942, pis. 14 and 15).
  290
  Discussed fully in Ravn (1942,
  p. 67
  ff.).
  291
  Woolley's
  plan of the Neo-
  Babylonian
  temenos
  at Ur
  appears in Woolley and Mal-
  lowan (1962, pi. 60), and that
  of
  the
  Bel-Shalti-Nanuar
  palace in
  ibid.,
  pi. 70. For the
  plan of the outer city wall, see
  Hawkes (i974, P- i73)-
  292
  Frankfort (1954, p- 108).
  293
  Matthiae (1980).
  294 The
  journals
  Iraq,
  Annales
  archeologiques
  de
  Syrie
  and
  Anatolian
  Studies pubHsh
  re-
  gular reports on current arch-
  aeological work.
  I
  238
  
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  Photographic Acknowledgments
  The photographs used for the undermentioned illustrations are reproduced
  by courtesy of:
  Aleppo Museum, photo courtesy Director-General of Antiquities, Syria,
  ii6; Aleppo Museum, photo Hirmer
  Verlag, Munich,
  152;
  Alinari-
  Giraudon,
  153;
  Director,
  Archaeological Museum,
  Istanbul,
  117;
  Archaeological Museum, Tehran, photo Delegation Fran<;aise en Perse,
  48; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 24; Berlin Museum, 120, 129, 170, 171
  R. J. Braidwood and the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago,
  7;
  Trustees of the British Museum, 27, 44, 61, 71, 78, 87, 88, 91, 100, loi, 122,
  130,
  132,
  133, 146-51,
  155,
  159,
  163; British School of Archaeology in
  Iraq, 46, 156, 162, 165, 166; British School of Archaeology, Jerusalem, 4;
  Brockhampton Press, 9, 18, 106, 134; Damascus Museum, photo Hirmer
  Verlag, Munich, 66; Directorate-General of Antiquities, Baghdad, Iraq,
  II, 121, 158; Henri Frankfort (1939b), 28, 29; Hirmer Verlag, Munich, 41,
  79,
  80,
  83,
  98,
  99,
  105,
  174;
  Iraq Museum,
  Directorate-General
  of
  Antiquities, Baghdad, Iraq, 67,
  81,
  84,
  85, 90,
  123,
  124; Iraq Museum,
  Baghdad, photo Hirmer Verlag, Munich,
  15,
  16, 25, 26, 86, 93, 97; Iraq
  Museum, Baghdad, photo courtesy
  Director,
  Oriental
  Institute, Uni-
  versity of Chicago,
  64,
  70; Diana Kirkbride (Mrs Hans Helbaek),
  5;
  Professor Seton Lloyd,
  14, 21-3, 72,
  119, 145; Louvre, photo Archives
  Photographiques,
  96;
  Louvre,
  Conservateur-en-Chef
  des
  Antiquites
  Orientales, 138; Louvre, photo Editions Ides et Calendes, Neuchatel, 65;
  Louvre, photo Giraudon, 68
  ; Louvre, photo Hirmer Verlag, Munich, 69,
  89, 102, 108; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund (i960), 164; Dr
  Moortgat-Correns, 62
  ; Dr Joan Oates, 45
  ; Director, Oriental Institute,
  University of Chicago,
  49,
  53,
  55,
  63;
  Professor Andre
  Parrot,
  112;
  Trustees of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 131; Sotheby's, 118; University
  Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
  107; Visual Publi-
  cations Ltd, 109, 144.
  245
  
  Index
  Numerals in italics refer to the
  illustrations
  A'Annipadda, 91, 103
  Abargi, 79
  Abbevillian, 21
  Abu-al-Soof, B., 72
  Abu-Shahrain, Tell, see Eridu
  'aceramic periods', 32
  Achaemenids, 222
  Acheulian, 21
  Adab, 90, 139
  Adad-Nirari
  I, 179
  Adad-Nirari II, 187
  Adad-Nirari III, 194
  Afghanistan, 82, 85
  Agade, 137-9, 150, see also
  Akkad
  Agga of Kish, 92, 93
  Agrab, Tell, 36, 98; Shara Temple,
  98, 33, 120, 74, 142; sculpture,
  113, 117, 70, 120, 128, 86
  Akalamdug, 102, 103
  Akkad, 20, 137; Akkadian period,
  36, 66, 6g, 97, 106, 109, 135
  ff.,
  137, 139; archaeology, 139;
  graves at Ur, 139; language,
  137; sculpture, 93, 138, 142, g6,
  144; seals, 144, g8
  Alalakh (Atchana), 158, 177
  Aleppo, 29, 188, 231
  Ah Kosh, 33
  altars, 184
  Altmann, C. B., 144
  Al 'Ubaid, see 'Ubaid
  Amanus, 138
  Anah, 19
  Andrae, W., 10, 90, 108, 112, 126,
  181
  Anu Area, see Uruk
  apkallu, 186
  'Aqar Quf, 161, 121, 174
  Aral Sea, 23
  Arabia, 188
  Arabian Desert, 13
  Arabian Gulf, 15,3^, 37, 64, 138,
  149, 160, 188
  'Ark', the, 13
  Arpachiyah, 65-7, 74, j6
  Arrapha, 177, 187, see also Kirkuk
  'arsenal', 202, 216, 161
  Ashur, 10, 16, 107, 108, 135,
  I37» I57» i79ff-. i26, 127; Ishtar
  Temple, 108, 112, 120, 127,
  181
  ; other temples and palaces,
  i8iff., 127, 128
  Ashur-banipal, 191, 199
  Ashur-etililani, 194
  Ashur-nasirpal, 183, 188, 193;
  'Stela of, 156, 212
  Ashur-rabi
  II, 187
  Asiab, Tepe, 27, 32
  Asmar, Tell, 36, 39, 160; Abu
  Temple, 94, 97, 120; Archaic
  Temple, 97; Single Shrine
  Temple, 97; Square Temple,
  97, 54, 112, 113, 64; Gimil-Sin
  Temple and palaces, 155, 106,
  161
  ; houses, 141
  ; Northern
  (Akkadian) Palace, 122, 140,
  141, 94; sculpture, 112, 113, 64
  'assembly, general', 88
  Assyria, 19, 65, 107, passim;
  Assyrian empire, ijf
  Aurignacian, 21, 22, 25
  Azarbaijan, 32, 33, 158
  Babylon, 10, 57, 157; city of, 224;
  Northern Palace, 228, 229, 171,
  172; Summer Palace, 224, 167;
  walls of, 223ff., 167, 168; First
  Dynasty of, 157
  Babylonia, 18, 172
  Baghad,
  18, 55, 80; antique
  dealers of, 93, 149
  Baghouz, 72, 79
  Bahrein, 64, ji, 138
  Bahriyat, see Isin
  Balawat, Gates of, 201, 206, 130,
  151
  Balik, 108
  Baluchistan, 118
  Bandar Abbas, 33
  Banks, E. H., 139
  'banqueting scene', 116, 79, 87
  Baradost, 24, 25
  Barnett, R. D., 131, 219
  basketwork, 31
  Bau, 127
  Bavian, 1^6, 191
  Bedouin, 138
  Beidha, 27, 29, 3
  Beldibi, 24
  Bel-shalti-nannar, Palace of, 230
  Belshazzar, 222
  Berlin Museum, 226, 230
  Berossus, 88
  Billa, Tell, 177
  Bisitun, 24, 3
  Bismaya, 139
  bit akitu,
  1 8 1-3, 203
  Black Sea, 23
  Botta, E., 192, 138, 196, 197
  bow-drill, 61
  Braidwood, R. J., 25, 26, 30, 33,
  35,71
  Brak, Tell, 66, 76, 147; Eye
  Temple, 76, 39, 77, 46, 85;
  Akkadian Palace, 95, 141, 142
  bricks, 'cigar-shaped', 73
  gypsum, 52; 'hog-backed', 28;
  kiln-baked, 119, 152; 'plano-
  convex', 119, 73\ riemchen, 21;
  stamped, 153, 230; sun-dried,
  41,72
  British Museum, 58, 59, loi, 131,
  149, 194, 196, 197, 199, 219
  'brocade style', 124
  'bucranium', 80
  burials, 46, 47, 72, 74, 81, 82, 96,
  99ff., 139, 183, 230; infant, 92;
  pigmented, 47
  'Burnt Palace', 196, 160, 219
  Burushanda, 138
  Bus Mordeh, 33
  canals, 17
  Cappadocia, 158, 177
  Carchemish, 16, 158, 188, 222
  Carmel, Mount, 22, 23, 26
  Caspian Sea, 23
  Caucasus, 85
  246
  
  Index
  Cauvin, J., 29
  cedar, 204
  cemeteries, 45, 64, 86
  Chagar Bazar, 158
  Chalcolithic period, 32, 33, 35, 65,
  69, 72, 77
  Chaldea, 188, 191, 218
  chariot burials, 106
  Chemchemal, 33, 35
  Chicago, Oriental Institute of, 91,
  93,96
  Childe, Gordon, 26
  Choga Mami, 66, 72, 73, 83, 43
  Choga Mish, 87
  Chuera, 109, 62
  Cilicia, 188
  cire perdue, 86, 128
  city-states, 135
  'Cliff, the', 12
  climate, 17
  coastline, 15
  composite objects, 131
  'cone-mosaic', 50-2, 21, 54, 129
  continuity (rehgious beliefs), 63
  Coon, Carleton, 24
  copper, 25, 30
  Crawford, V. E., 150
  Crete, 138, 177
  Crimean War, 192
  crop-yields, 18
  Cros, G., 149
  Ctesias, 223
  Ctesiphon, Arch of, 115
  cult statues, 108, 112, 114
  Cyaxares, 191
  cylinder-seals, 59; ProtoHterate,
  59,60, 28, 29; ED II and III,
  124, 125, 78-81, 127; Akkadian,
  144, g8; Mitannian, 177;
  Middle Assyrian, 184, 130-j
  Cyprus, 138, 218
  Cyrus, 222
  Cambel, H., 30
  Catal Hiiyiik, 27, 30, 6
  Cayonii, 27, 30
  Dagan, 138; Temple of, 167
  Dalma, 33
  Damascus, 188, 221
  Darband-i-Gawr, 138
  date-palms, 19
  Deh Luran, 33
  Delougaz, P., 94, 103, 114
  'Deluge' text, 201
  democracy, Sumerian, 88, 89
  de Morgan, J., 86, 142
  Dilmun, 188
  Diwaniyah, 107
  Diyala, 18; Diyala sites, 36, 55,
  91-3, 99, 107, 108, 112, 141,
  160, 161
  Diyarbakir, 30, 80, 138
  domes, 67, 74, 99
  domestication of animals, 26, 32,
  33
  domestication of plants, 26, 31,
  33, 34
  doors, 119, 208, 130, 131
  Dumuzi, 57
  Dur-Kurigalzu, 160, 172, iSj see
  'Aqar Quf
  Dur-Sharrukin, see Khorsabad
  Eanna Precinct, see Uruk
  Eannatum, 106, 116, 149
  Early Bronze Age, 65
  Early Dynastic period, 36, 66, 88,
  99, 107, 108, no; pottery, 132,
  133, 92; sculpture, 112, 113,
  passim, 64 passim; seals, 124,
  78-81
  ; sites, 92ff.
  ; terminology,
  91, no
  Ebih-il, 114
  Ebla, 231
  E-dub-lal-makh, 153
  Egypt, 62, 184, 188, 191, 221, 222
  einkorn, 30
  ekal masharti, 216, 161
  Elam, 85, 138, 142, 147, 151,
  157-9, 191, 155
  elephant, Syrian, 221
  Elazig, 16
  En, 88, 89
  Enki, 57
  Enlil, 57, 103, 107, 117
  Enmeberagisi, 93
  Enmerkar, 93
  ensi, 88, 89, 122
  Enuma Elish, Epic of Creation, 167
  E-nun-makh, 153
  Erech, 45
  Eridu, 15, 39ff., 57, 66, 81;
  cemetery, 45-7; palaces, 122,
  123, 77; temples, 39,
  8, 10, 43,
  11, 32,7s; pottery, 36, 39,
  12,
  44,45
  Eshnunna (Tell Asmar), 96, 157-9
  Etana, 144
  E-temen-anki, 226, 229
  Ethiopia, 191
  Euphrates, 12, 16,
  19, 72, 99,
  105-7, 114, 138, 158, 222, 230;
  crossings, 80
  'extensive' cultivation, 18
  'eye' or 'spectacle' idols, 77, 46, 85
  'Eye Temple', 77, 39
  Eynan (Ain Mallaha), 28
  Faish Khabur,
  19, 2
  Farah, 90-2; 'Farah period', no
  Fertile Crescent, 19
  fireplaces, 72
  fish, 19; offerings, 16, 55
  Flandin, E., 196, 197
  'Flood', the, 90-2, 106; floods,
  river, 16
  'Flowing-vase goddess', 166, 113,
  167, 169, 120, 172, 203
  'Fort Shalmaneser', 161, 216;
  throne-base, 162, 218; glazed
  brick, 218
  foundation deposits, 124
  foundations, sand, 94, 33, 96;
  Babylon, 169
  Frazer, Sir James, 57
  French excavations, 86, 105, 108,
  124, 147, 157, 192, 193, 138
  Gadd, C.J., 88
  gaming-boards, 129
  Ganj Dareh Tepe, 32
  Garrod, A.
  E., 21-3, 25, 26
  Gasur, 147
  Gawra, Tepe, 66, 67; 'acropolis',
  67, 75, 32; 'round house', 75, 37
  'Gawra period', 67, 75, 38, 76, 81,
  82, 85, 47
  gazelles, 29, 35
  German excavators, 38, 108, no,
  178, 193, 223
  Gilgamesh, 48, 49, 90, 91, 92, 93
  Epic, 103
  Gi-par-u, 153
  Girsu, 107, 103, 150
  glazed ornament, 183, 218, 227,
  170, 171
  glockentopf, 81
  Godin Tepe, 87
  Grai Resh, 66, 81
  Gravettian, 21-3, 25
  Greek art, 221, 228, 230; writers, 88
  Gudea, 147, 101, 102, 149, 150
  Gula, 186
  Guran, Tepe, 27, 32, 34
  Gutians, 139, 147
  Guzan, see Halaf
  Hacilar, 27
  Haines, R. C, 107
  247
  
  Index
  Hajyi Firuz, 33
  Hajji Muhammad, 36, 45, 66, 81
  Halaf, Tell, period, 27, 67, 74;
  pottery, 66-8, 43, 79, 44, 80, 81
  Hall, H. R., 107
  Hamad, 13
  Hammurabi, 157, 171, 108; 171,
  159, 184
  'Hanging Gardens', 228, 172
  Hansen, D. P., 116
  Hariri, Tell, see Mari
  Harmal, Tell, 160; laws of, 162;
  lions, 171, iig
  Harran,
  13, 191, 222
  Harsagkalama, 105
  Hashhamer, ijo
  Hassuna, 25, 34, 35, 66, 69-70;
  pottery, 'Standard', 69, 77, 40,
  79; 'Archaic', 69, 77, 79
  Hatra, 70
  Hazar Golii, 16
  Hazar Merd, 22, 23, 3
  Hebrew scriptures, 92, 223
  Herodotus,
  18, 223, 229
  Herzfeld, E., 68, 72
  Hiba, Tell al-, 106, ioj, 150
  Hill, Harold, 162, log
  'hilly-flanks zone', 19
  Hilprecht, H. V., 139
  Hittites, 160, 187
  Homs, 158
  Howe, B., 25
  Hurrians, 138, 149, 158, 159
  'husking-trays', 70
  lakhdunlim, 158
  Ibiqadad II, 161
  Idi-ilum, 169
  Ilushuilia, 161
  'Imdugud-Sikurru period', no,
  117
  Imgur-Enlil, 201
  Inanna, 49, 57, 25, 59, 107
  India, 188
  Indo-European, 160
  inlaid ornament, 129, 130
  Iran, 26, 32, 80, 85, 87
  Iraq, Antiquities Directorate, 25,
  39, 69, 151, 174; modern, 12,
  18, 25; Museum, 52, 69, 102,
  142, 144, 203, 208; northern, 19
  Iron Age, 188
  irrigation,
  16, 17, 31, 33, 72
  Ischali, 160, 161, log
  ishakku, 106
  Ishtar, 49, 108, 100
  Ishtar Gate, 226, i6g, iji
  Ishtar-Kititum Temple, 161, log
  Israel, 194
  Istanbul Museum, 138
  ivory, 215, 2i9ff.
  Jacobsen, Th., 18, 88, 89, 106, 150
  'Jaffar phase', 33
  Jarmo, 25 33,
  7, 35, 66, 71, 72;
  ancient environment, 35
  Jazirah,
  2,
  14, 19, 70, 77
  Jehu, 194
  Jemdet Nasr, 38; period, 36, 38,
  40, 49, 54, 55, 66, 71, 72; seals,
  2g\ pottery, 61, 62, 10
  Jericho, 27, 28, 33
  Jerusalem, 222
  Jews, 222
  Jonah, 198
  Jordan, 28
  Jordan, J., 38, 60
  Kalhu (Calah), see Nimrud
  Kanesh, 158
  Karaindash, Temple of, 172
  Karim Shahir, 22, 23
  Karkheh,
  15, 86
  Karun,
  15, 86
  kaunakes, 114, 130, 144, 171
  Kayseri, 138
  Keban dam, 6
  Kenyon, K. M., 28
  Kermanshah, 24, 3, 32
  Khabur,
  10, 76
  Khafaje, }6, 55, 58, 92, 94, 103,
  120; houses, 142; Oval Temple,
  36, 94, 51-3; pottery, 132;
  sculpture,
  1 12-14, ^75 Sin
  Temple, 36, 40, 55, 93, 30, 120
  Khanikin, 19
  Khosr, 196, ij6
  Khuzistan, 15, 85, 87
  'king' figure, 58-60
  King-Hst, 88, 49, 90, 92, 93, 105,
  106, 108, 139
  kingship, 88, 135
  King-of-Battle, epic of, 138
  Kirkbride, D. (Mrs H. Helbaek),
  29, 70, 72
  Kirkuk, 33, 7i, H?, i^7
  Kish, 36, 38, 90, 92, 105, 120, 139,
  230, 174
  Koldewey, R.,
  10, 90, 188, 223ff.
  kudurru, 122, 175
  Kufah, 13
  Kiiltepe, 158
  Kurdistan (Iraq), 19, 21, 25, 26, 32
  Kurigalzu, 153, 174
  Kurnah, disaster, 197
  Kiiyiinjik, 25
  ; Ishtar Temple, 69,
  142; sounding at, 69, 198, 141
  Lacheman, E. R., 178
  Lakish, siege of, 134, 211
  lamassu, 141, 202
  Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., 118
  land, ownership of, 122
  langraum, 162
  Larsa, 57, 90, 157, 159; period,
  160, 161
  Law, Antiquities, 10
  Layard, A. H., 192, 137, 194, 140,
  195 passim
  lead, 70
  Le Breton, L., 87
  Leiden, conference at, 38
  Lenzen, H. J., 48
  Levant, 26, 27, 32, 188, 131, 219
  Lilith, 171, 118
  limmu-lists, 187
  'Lion Hunt', 199
  Lloyd,
  S., 39, 52, 69
  Loftus, W. K., 196, 140, 160
  Loud, G., 89, 144, 202ff.
  Louvre, the, 116, 138, 144, 147,
  159
  lugal, 88, 89
  Lugal-zaggesi, 137
  Lullubi, 138
  Luristan, 138
  Mackay, E., 105
  Magan, 138, 149
  Magdalenian, 22, 24
  Makran, 38
  Mallowan, M. E. L., 10, 25 passim
  Malyan, 87
  Mandali, 72
  Manishtusu, 138, 142
  Mardikh, Tell, 231
  Marduk, 57, 222, 226
  Marduk-apal-idinna (Merodach-
  baladon), 189
  Marduk-nasir, 122
  Mari,
  10, 19, 90, 107, 108, 135,
  136, 157; archives, 158; Ishtar
  Temple, 108, 157; inlays, 130,
  8g, 131; murals, 116, 113;
  palace, 122, 124,
  i64ff., 111,
  112; 'Palais Presargonique', 124
  marsh-dwellers, 25, 41, 58
  Matarrah, 71
  248
  
  Index
  mausoleum (Ur III), 15 1-3, 105,
  155
  Medes, 191, 222
  megaron, 38, 76, 109
  Mellaart, J., 30, 31
  Meluhha, 138
  Memphis, 191
  Mersin, 31
  Mesannipadda, 91, 92, 106, 108,
  no
  'Mesilim' period, no
  Meskalamdug, 102, 103, 107, 6g,
  117, 127, 90, 142; style, no
  Mesolithic, 27
  Mesopotamia, 12, 2; northern, 65,
  67, 107, 108
  metal, 65, 81, 113, 82, 83, 127,
  128, 86
  Metropolitan Museum, 106, 150
  Mitanni, 160,
  I76ff., 186
  M'lefaat, 22
  Mohenjo-daro, 118, 147
  'Mona Lisa', 214, 158
  Moorey, P. R.
  S., 105
  Moortgat, A., 40, 109, no
  Mosul, 68, 70, 167, 189, 196, 197
  Mousterian, 21, 22, 24
  mudhif, 41
  Muqayyar, see Ur
  mural paintings, 31,
  6, 52, 71, 55,
  166, 113
  Mureybet, 27, 29
  Mursilis
  I, 160
  musical instruments, 100, 116, 87,
  131, 90
  Muski, 187
  Mycenae, 67
  Nabonidus, 222, 226
  Nabopolassar, 191, 222, 226
  Nabu Temple, Khorsabad, 202
  Nimrud, 196, 140
  Nairi peoples, 187
  Nannar, 57, 153, 156
  Naram-Sin, 138, 139; Stela of,
  138, 142, 96
  Nasiriyah, 15
  Natufian, 26, 28, 29, 5
  'natural habitat zone', 26
  Neanderthal, 21, 14
  Nebi Yunus, 198, 141, 199, 216
  Nebuchadnezzar
  (Nebuchadrezzar), 99, 151
  Neo-Babylonian period, 106, 151,
  222ff.
  Neohthic man, 21
  ; period, 27, 28,
  31-3, 70, 77; 'Revolution', 26
  New Year's Festival, 127, 182,
  183, 187, 226
  New York University, 106
  Niffer, see Nippur
  Nimrud, 16, 188, 192, I93ff., 139,
  140, 141
  ; buildings, 2i2ff.
  ivories, 214, 215, 2i9ff., 163-6
  Nineveh, 16, 25, 65, 189, 190,
  136, 197, 141; 'Ninevite One',
  69; 'Ninevite Five', 132, 134;
  fall of, 198; population, 214;'
  sounding at, 66, 69
  Nin-gal, 153, 156'
  Ningirsu, 117, 127, 147, 149, 150
  Nin-khursag, 57, 103, 167
  Ninmakh Temple, 230, 173
  Ninni-Zaza, 167
  Nintu, 57, 114
  Ninurta, 57, 196
  Nippur, 36, 57, 91, 107, 137, 139
  Nisibin, 160
  Noah, Babylonian, 92
  Noldeke, N., 38
  nomads, 26, 29
  Nusku, 184
  Nuzi, 177
  Oates, D., 167, 216
  Oates, D. and J., n, 30, 75
  Obelisk, 'Black', 194
  obsidian, 32, 70
  Old Testament, 12, 171, 188, 189,
  214, 221-3
  Oman, 138
  omens, 44
  onager, 71, 33, 128, 86
  opferstdtten, 55
  Oppenheim, Max von, 66
  orthostats (slabs), 203
  palaces, 106, 122, 140, 155, 161,
  76, 106, 141, 142, 144, 171,
  172, 200
  Palaeolithic period, 21, 22, 24;
  terminal, 27
  Palegawra, 22, 3, 25
  Palestine, 22, 219
  parapet design, 184, 186
  Parrot, A., 10, 108, 150, 157, 164
  Parthian period, 179
  Pennsylvania, 176
  Perigordian, 22
  Persians, 222
  phalanx, 116, n7
  Pliny, 12
  'polos' headdress, 114
  pottery, Halaf, 66-8, 43, 79, 44,
  80, 81; Eridu, 36, 39, 12, 44,
  45; S. 'Ubaid, 37-9, 44, 12, 13,
  45, 47; N. 'Ubaid, 65-7, 75, 80,
  81; Protoliterate, 61,
  10, 132;
  ED
  I and
  II, 132, 92; ED III,
  134
  Predynastic, 65
  'Pre-pottery Neolithic', 28, 30, 33
  Pre-Sargonid period, 91, 108, in
  priests, 57, 28, 112, 83; ham, 44
  private houses, 141, 162, 110, 230
  Procession Street, 226,
  1 68, 227,
  172
  Proto-Elamite script, 87
  ProtoHterate period, 40, 54, 55,
  67, 82, 103, 118, 124
  Proto-NeoHthic, 28
  Pu-abi, 125
  Puzur-Ishtar, 169
  Qal'at Sharqat, 107
  Qatnah, 158
  Que, 188
  ram ornament, 132, 90
  Rapiqu, 141
  Rassam, H., 49
  Ras Shamra, 80
  Rawa, 19
  Rawlinson, G., 194
  'reception suite', 124
  reed architecture, 41, 9, 59, 28, 29
  rehgion, 43, 55, 57, 122, 172
  Reza'iyeh, see Urmia
  Rich, C. J., 223
  rietnchen, 118
  Rimah, Tell, 158,
  i67ff., 114, 113
  Rimush, 138
  rivers, 12,
  2, 15
  rock reliefs, 138
  Romania, 62
  roofs, 119, 204
  Rowanduz, 24, 3
  Rowton, no
  'sacred herd', 59
  'sacred marriage', 88, 127, 182
  sacrifices, 44
  Safar, Fuad, 39, 52, 69, 150
  Saggs, H. W. F., 44, 88, 122
  Sak(;agozii, 31
  salinization, 17
  249
  
  Index
  Samarra, period, 70, 71, 73
  ;
  pottery, 66, 68, 71, 72, 77, 41,
  42, 78, 80
  Sammuramat, see Semiramis
  Sarab, Tepe, 32; 'Venus', 32
  Sargon-of-Akkad, 91, 135, 137,
  139, 142
  Sargon II, 189, 196
  Sarzec, E. de, 106, 147, 149, 150
  Sawwan, Tell-es-, 35, 66, 71, 73,
  35, 74, 45
  'scarlet ware', 132, 134, g2
  scribes, 90, 122
  sculpture, 31, 56; Protoliterate, 56,
  58, 23, 26, 59, 27, 112, 6j;
  Early Dynastic, 59, 97, 108,
  109, 62, III, 112, 64; Mari,
  114, 65, 66; relief, 114, 67-g,
  115-17, 70, 71; Akkadian, 95,
  138, '142, g6, g7, 144; Gudea,
  47, 101, 102, 149; Ur III, 107,
  155; second millennium, 108,
  1 16-19, 122-4, 184, i2g; Late
  Assyrian, 204ff.,
  i46ff.; metal,
  83, 128, 86, 93
  Scythians, 191
  Sea-Land, 160
  'Sea-of-the-West', 138
  Semiramis, 196
  Sennacherib, 179, 190, 191
  Shaduppum, see Harmal
  Shalmaneser
  I, 160
  Shalmaneser III, 179, 188; Fort,
  216, 161
  Shamash, 57, 81, 108
  Shamash Gate, 198, 141
  Shamshi-Adad, 158, 164, 167, 174,
  179, 181, 196
  Shanidar, Cave, 22, 23, 5
  Shar-gali-sharri, 139
  Shatra, 106
  Shatt-al-Arab, 86, 107
  Sha'ur, 86
  Shaushattar, 176, 178
  Shell, v., 139
  Shilwi-Teshup, 178
  ships, 138
  Shubad, see Pu-abi
  Shubat-Enlil, 158
  Shuruppak, see Farah
  Shu-Sin, 155, 106, 161
  Shutruk-nakhkhunte, 142
  Sialk, 87
  silver-mines, 138
  Sin, 57, 93; of Harran, 222
  Sinjar, 70, 77, 81, 158, 167
  Sinkara, see Larsa
  Sin Temple (Khorsabad), 203
  Sippar, 57, 90, 139, 142
  sirrush, 227,
  1 70
  Smith, G., 192, 201
  Solecki, 23
  Solutrian, 22, 24
  Soviet archaeologists, 70
  Speiser, E. A., 67
  stamp-seals, 67, 70, 85, 47
  Standard (Ur), 103, 130, 87, 88
  Starr, R. F., 176, 178
  'steatite bowls', 117, 71
  'Steinplatten' inscription, 223
  Stela of Hammurabi, 108
  Stela of Ur-nammu, 155
  'Stela-of-the-Vultures', 106, 116,
  6g, 142
  Stone Age, Old, 21, 22, 25
  stones, gem-, 82
  stone, building-, 119, 203
  Strabo, 12
  suchgrahen, 179
  Sumer,
  15, 18
  Sumerians, 37, 39, 107; origins,
  62, 63, 137
  'Summer Palace', 226, 167
  Susa, 32, 86; pottery, 86, 48, 137,
  142, 144, 171
  Susiana (periods), 27, 85, 87
  Syria,
  10,
  16, 29, 85, 108, 138,
  157, 177, 186, 219, 231
  Syrian Desert, 20, 136
  Tabal, 188
  tablets, archaic, 55, 56, 24;
  cuneiform, 49, 122, 157; ivory,
  214
  Tammuz, 57, 59
  Tarsus, 31
  Taurus, 17, 26, 138, 188
  Tell Afar, 70
  Telloh, 106, 107, 6g, 147, 149, 150
  temples, 119; Eridu, 41,
  10, 43,
  49, 50; Early Dynastic, 93, 30,
  98, 108, 119; Ur III, 155, io6\
  Larsa period, 161, log; second
  millennium, 167, 114; Mid-
  Assyrian, 126, 127,
  1 8 iff.
  ; Late
  Assyrian, 196, 202, 203, 160;
  Neo-Babylonian, 230, 174;
  'platform', 52, 103,-105, 119;
  size, 121; function, 122
  terminology (Uruk period), 40;
  pre-Sargonid, no
  'terrazzo pavements', 30
  'Tete au Turban', 150
  texts, written, 9
  'tholoi', 67, 74, j6, 75
  Thomas, Felix, 197
  tieftempel, 153, 181, 229
  Tigl^th-Pileser
  I, 183;
  III, 186,
  188, 189
  Tigris,
  12,
  16, 93, 106, 108, 179,
  190, 193
  Til Barsip (Tell Ahmar), 188, 208
  Tilla, Tehip and Shurki, 177
  timber, 138, 204
  'tortoise jars', 81
  'tree-of-life', 155, 206
  T-shaped buildings, 73, 35
  'Tummal' inscription, 92
  Tutub, see Khafaje
  Tyre, 131, 208
  'Ubaid, Tell Al, 25, 36, 37, 47,
  103
  ; culture, 47; Nin-khursag
  Temple, 36, 37, 90, 103, 60,
  105; 'northern', 65-7, 75, 80,
  81; period, 27, 36, 38, 63;
  pottery, 37-9,44, 12, 13, AS,
  47; settlement, 36, 37, 63, 31,
  103, 60; small objects, 46
  Uhaimir, 105
  Umma, 107, 116
  Umm Dabaghiyah, 35, 66, 70, 71,
  33, 72, 34, 73, 77
  'Uqair, Tell, 36; Painted Temple,
  36, 52, 22, 25; Jemdet Nasr
  chapel, 36, 54; 'Ubaid
  settlement, 36, 52, 63; small
  objects, 14
  Ur-of-the-Chaldees, 15, 57, 81,
  90; soundings, 36-8; site, 151;
  walls, 56, 230; First Dynasty,
  103, no; Royal Tombs, 90, 92,
  99, loi, 58, sg, 102,
  103,. 106,
  107, no, 116, 151, 87, 88, go,
  127, 129; Third Dynasty, 99,
  150, 151; ziggurat, 151, 152,
  104; Mausoleum, 15 1-3, 103,
  155; other buildings, 153
  Urartu, 187, 188, 220
  Ur-baba, 147, 149
  Urbartutu, 92
  Urmia, 22, 32, 188
  Ur-Nammu, 142, 150, 151, 155,
  107, 130
  Ur-Nanshe, 106, 68, 149; (singer)
  114, 66
  Ur-Ningirsu, 149
  Uruk (Warka), 27, 36, 48ff., 17;
  period, 27, 36, 38; terminology,
  40, 63, 66; Anu area, 36,
  17,
  18,
  49; Eanna Precinct, 36, 38,
  17,
  49-51, 20, 54; White Temple,
  250
  
  Index
  36, 17,
  18, 52, 54; Pillar Hall,
  50, ig, 52; Riemchengebdude, 55:
  Stone-cone-mosaic Temple, 51,
  55
  Utnapishtim, 92
  Utu, 57
  Utu-hegal, 150
  Van, Lake, 16, 25, 188
  van Loon, M., 29
  vaulting, 115, 169, 204
  j
  Wadi-al-Natuf, 26
  walls, enclosure and defensive, 72,
  i
  151, 179, i^i, 224; wall-
  tracing, 94; wall-plaques, 114,
  67, 68
  Warka, see Uruk
  Washshukanni, 160, 176
  Watelin, C. H., 139
  weapons, 82, 127, 177
  wheeled vehicles, 106, 128, 86, 8
  178
  windows, 119
  winged bulls, 202, 145, 146
  wooden vessels,
  3
  Woolley, C. L., 25, 99ff. and
  passim
  Wright, H. E., 25
  writing, 55, 24, 87, 90, iii, 137
  Yahya, Tepe, 33, 37, 118 ^
  Yarim Tepe, 70, 72, 83
  Yorghan Tepe, 176
  Zab, Greater,
  19, 118
  Zab, Lesser, 19, 193
  Zagros Mountains, 13,
  17, 20, 22
  Zarzi, 22, 23, 5, 25
  Zawi Chemi, 22
  ziggurats, 39, 49, 203
  ; Ur, 99,
  107, 139, 151, 152, 104, 156,
  157; Kish, 105, 106; Ashur,
  181, 126; 'Aqar Quf, 121, 174;
  Babylon, 226, 229
  Zigi, 177
  Zimrilim, 124, 158; Palace of,
  i64ff.
  Ziusudra, 92
  zone sacre, 124
  Zu, 144
  251
  
  7
  5/3///fe
  
  AHGHAECLOGY OF MESOPOTAMIA
  DS69.5
  L58/1984
  85603232-56
  *
  WBx
  Boston Public Library
  WEST ROXBURY
  BRANCH LIBRARY
  The Date Due Card in the pocket indi-
  cates the date on or before which this
  book should be returned to the Library.
  Please do not remove cards from this
  pocket.
  
  Ancient Mesopotamia, the "valley of the twin rivers," Tigris and
  Euphrates, was the cradle of civilization in the Near East. Here,
  among the Sumerians, the earliest experiments were made in writing
  and mathematics, organized religion and the communal administration
  of city-states. For over a century, archaeologists have sought to
  uncover remains of the
  first human settlements and the great towns
  into which they later developed. Today, several thousand books and
  articles concerned with the archaeology of Mesopotamia are in
  existence, yet curiously no recent attempt has been made until this
  present study to provide an up-to-date synthesis of their conclusions.
  The chronological sweep extends from the Stone Age down to the
  conquest of Babylon by Cyrus th^ Gre?.t in
  ' 39 bc.
  ^^l.ing in the pre-
  dynastic millennia, the rise and
  fall of Suiixji and Akkad,
  Hammurabi's united kingdom, Assyria and the empire which
  it
  bequeathed to the later Babylonian kings. Professor Lloyd's method
  is
  to analyze systematically the wealth of material produced by major
  and minor excavations since 1900 and the developments thus revealed
  in the realms of art, architecture, religion and social history.
  For the revised edition the text has been updated throughout,
  incorporating' an account of recent discoveries and expanded notes
  and bibliography.
  During a career of thirty-five years in the Near Eastern
  field, Seton
  Lloyd excavated a score of important
  sites, including several in
  Mesopotamia. Among his many books dealing with the archaeology
  of this area are Ar" of the Ancient Near East, Foundations in the Dust
  (recently reissued in a n^vised edition by Thames and Hudson) and
  Mounds of the Ancient Near East. He has been successively
  Archaeologies Adviser to the Iraq Government (1959-49), Director
  of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (1949-61) and
  Professor of
  \)C estern Asiatic Archaeology in the University of
  London (1962-69).
  ^'His first-hand acquaintance with the subject is unequalled, and the result is a
  resounding success
  .
  .
  . a model of lucidity and balance.''
  Nicholas Postgate,
  ^;;//^////)/
  ^' Sure to become the graduate student's constant companion, as well as a
  standard reference for interested laypersons." Eibrary Journal
  ;
  ^'
  i
  with 174 illustrations
  ON THE cov^K•. Lifc-size head in bronze of
  an. Akkadian king (photo Maji Hirmer)
  Thames and Hudson
  —^
  500 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK,' NEW YORK
  lO I lO
  ^^
  *o'
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  ?
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