Tell Zurghul

Tell Zurghul, also spelled Tell Surghul, is an archaeological site in Dhi Qar Governorate (Iraq). It lies on an ancient canal leading from Lagash of which is lies 10 km to the south-east.[1] Its ancient name was the cuneiform read as Niĝin (or Nina or Ninua). The city god was Nanshe, who had temples there (E-sirara) and at nearby Girsu.

Tell Zurghul
Tell Zurghul
Shown within Near East
Tell Zurghul
Tell Zurghul (Iraq)
LocationDhi Qar Province, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates31°22′36.53976″N 46°29′44.61918″E
TypeSettlement
Area70 ha
History
Founded3rd millennium BC

Archaeology

According to the current excavators Tell Zurghul covers 70 hectares with two mounds, one 15 meters high (Mound A) and the other (Mound B), about 150 meters to the south, to 5 meters. The western edge of the site has a 200 x 150m feature (Area C) yet unidentified.

On January 31, 1885, the site, then called Surghul, was visited by William Hayes Ward.[2][3] During the winter of 1913-14 Comte Aymar de Liedekerke-Beaufort visited Surghul.[4] In 1926 the site was visited during an archaeological survey of southern Mesopotamia by Raymond P Dougherty of Yale University under the auspices of the American Schools of Oriental Research. He reported that it covered 200 acres and had two mounds, on 45 fet high and the other 25 feet high. There was a deep cut in the larger mound from the German excavations. The few scattered finds were mainly pottery shards, flint saw blades and broken bricks. Some bricks and a cone had an inscription of Gudea. The mounds were surrounded by water.[5] In the 1970s American archaeologists working at nearby Lagash visited twice collecting 4 bricks and 12 cones.[6]

The first excavations, by Robert Koldewey, occurred January 4 to February 1887 under the auspices of the Royal Prussian Museums for Berlin. Besides digging long deep trenches in Area A and Area B he collected 16 clay cones. A number of graves, both interments and cremations, were examined. Unfortunately, as often happens in these early works, very little is available in the way of excavation records from Koldewey's efforts.[7][8][9][10] Beginning in 2015 Zurghul has been excavated by Italian Archaeological Expedition, under the auspices of Sapienza University of Rome and Perugia University, led by Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro. The most recent excavation season was in 2019.[11][12]

Area A

In the excavations led by Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro in 2015-2016, an open area of 15m by 10m was opened at the base of Area A, at its southern side. This area was selected due to its topographical location in a central area of Tell Zurghul, and for the presence of gypsum bricks that had been revealed due to erosion from the rain.

This excavation revealed different architectural layers belonging to a large mud-brick building, which has been identified so far as two main historical phases, as well as a large courtyard with a beaten earth floor to the west of the building, delimited by an outer wall. Part of the building contains a room with a partially preserved western and northern wall, the northern wall being made of Riemchen mud-bricks, whilst the upper part of the western wall was made of gypsum bricks. Several jars typical of the Jemdet Nasr period were found deposited within the room, as well as goblets in an inner room.

In the courtyard, a tannur oven with a bench was recovered, as well as several conical bowls containing residue of organic matter alongside several flint blades and an obsidian blade. Traces of an installation thought to be a small table were also detected immediately south of the tannur. This area has thus been interpreted as a production area, specifically one for the cooking of food. [13]

Area D

Area D is located at the top of Mound A, on its southern slope. The site was first excavated by Koldewey in 1887, where due to the use of a large sounding trench, heavy erosion of the upper strata was observed in later excavation.

In 2015-2017, Nadali and Polcaro sought to locate the location of the temple complex Sirara, dedicated to the goddess Nanshe.[14] The temple was said to be built by Gudea, and described as the “Mountain Lifted Above All (Other) Houses”. The south-eastern foot of Mound A was found to contain inscribed cones and bricks from Gudea, hypothesised to have slid down from the original location of the temple at the top of the mound over time.[15]

Nadali and Polcaro opened a 11 x 10m trench to the south of Koldewey's sounding trench in order to analyse the nature and stratigraphy of Mound A. The excavations revealed two phases of terracing and levelling. This artificial terracing of mud with baked brick fragments contributed to the shape of Mound A. Pottery and other materials found on these platforms were attributed to the Akkad/ Ur III period, corresponding to the rule of Gudea.[16] The excavations also demonstrated an accumulation of strata that may be explained by the continuous destruction and rebuilding of the sacred site.

At present, there is no archaeological evidence reported at Area D that can be identified as the Sirara temple without a doubt. One hypothesis is that stratification of the mound began in the early 3rd millennium BCE, before Gudea (who ruled in the 2nd millennium BCE) refurbished the site and built Sirara on top. [14]

History

Excavations have found stratified evidence of occupation in the Ubaid period, Late Uruk period, Early Jemdet Nasr, and Early Dynastic I period.[17] Out of context finds and textual evidence support a strong occupation in the Early Dynastic III Period of the First and Second Dynasties of Lagash. The former is represented by inscriptions of Enmetena and the latter by those of Gudea who was responsible for major rebuilding of Sirara, the temple of the goddess Nanshe originally built by Ur-Nanshe.[18] The city was recorded as having been destroyed by the Elamites about the time of the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur. ‘The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur' has Nanshe declaring "Alas, the destroyed city, my destroyed temple!".[19] The excavators have speculated that the paucity of Early Dynastic III remains is the result of that destruction.

See also

References
  1. Jeremy A. Black, "A Note on Zhurgal", Sumer, vol. 46, pp. 71-83, 1989-90
  2. W.H. Ward, "Report on the Wolfe Expedition to Babylonia, 1884–85", Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, 1886
  3. Nippur, or Explorations and Adventures on the Euphrates; the narrative of the University of Pennsylvania expedition to Babylonia in the years 1888-1921, Volume 1, John Punnett Peters, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897
  4. Comte A. de Liedekerke-Beaufort, "Excursion archéologique en Mésopotamie", Babyloniaca, vol. 7, pp. 105-116, 1914
  5. Raymond P. Dougherty, "Searching for Ancient Remains in Lower ’Irâq: Report of an Archaeological Survey Made in Southern Babylonia during the First Quarter of 1926.", The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 7, The American Schools of Oriental Research, pp. 1–93 1925,
  6. R. D. Biggs, "Inscriptions from al-Hiba–Lagash. The first and second seasons.", BiMes, vol. 3, Malibu, 1976
  7. S. K. Huh, "Studien zur Region Lagaš. Von der Ubaid- bis zur altbabylonischen Zeit.", AOAT, vol. 345, Müns, 2008
  8. R. Koldewey, "Die altbabylonischen Gräber in Surghul und El Hibba", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, vol. 2, pp. 403-430, 1887
  9. "Surghul Und El Hibba 1887". in Walter Andrae ed Babylon: Die versunkene Weltstadt und ihr Ausgräber Robert Koldewey, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 38-44, 2012 https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111507194.38
  10. H. V. Hilprecht, "German Excavations at Surghul and El-Hibba, under Moritz and Koldewey. The Excavations in Assyria and Babylonia", Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 280-288, 1904, https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512816891-012
  11. Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro, "The Italian archaeological excavations at Tell Zurghul, Ancient Nigin, Iraq: final report of the seasons 2015-2017", Quaderni di Vicino Oriente, vol. 16, Roma Sapienza Università di Roma, 2020 ISBN 8898154151
  12. Davide Nadali and Andrea Polcaro and Lorenzo Verderame, "New Inscriptions of Gudea from Tell Surghul/Niĝin, Iraq", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 106, no. 1, pp. 16-21 2016, https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2016-0002
  13. Nadali, Davide., & Polcaro, Andrea. (July 17, 2017). In the Field: Tell Zurghul. The International Association for Assyriology. Retrieved from https://iaassyriology.com/in-the-field/
  14. Nadali, Davide. "Davide Nadali, 2020, Area D: stratigraphy and architecture of the "Mountain Lifted Above all (Other) Houses" at Tell Zurghul, ancient Nigin, Iraq". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. Nadali, Davide; Polcaro, Andrea; Verderame, Lorenzo (2016-06-28). "New Inscriptions of Gudea from Tell Surghul/Niĝin, Iraq". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie. 106 (1): 16–21. doi:10.1515/za-2016-0002. ISSN 1613-1150.
  16. Pappi, Cinzia. "In the Field: Tell Zurghul – The International Association for Assyriology". Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  17. D. Nadali and A. Polcaro, "The early stages of the Sumerian City at Tell Zurghul: new results from recent excavations.", Origini-XXXIX: Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche-Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 75-100, 2017
  18. D. Nadali and L. Verderame, "Fragments Of The Third Miillennium BC From Nigin.", Iraq, vol. 83, pp. 105-118, 2021 doi:10.1017/irq.2021.10
  19. P. Michalowski, "The Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur.", Eisenbrauns, 1989 ISBN 978-0-931464-43-0
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