Kisurra Explained

Kisurra
Alternate Name:	Tell Abu Hatab
Map Type:	Iraq
Relief:	yes
Coordinates:	31.8381°N 45.4806°W
Map Size:	200
Location:	Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq
Type:	settlement
Excavations:	early 1900s
Archaeologists:	Robert Koldewey
Condition:	Ruined
Ownership:	Public
Public Access:	Yes

Kisurra (modern Tell Abu Hatab, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian tell (hill city) situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, north of Shuruppak and due east of Kish.

History

The site has an area of about 46 hectares which is primarily Ur III and a northern extension of about 17 hectares which is primarily Early Dynastic II-III.

Early Bronze

Kisurra was established ca. 2700 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period. The southern end of the Isinnitum Canal was joined back into the Euphrates at Kisurra.^[1] The city lasted as a center for commerce and transport through the Akkadian, Ur III.

Several kings of Kisurra are known: Itur-Szamasz (who built the temples of Annunitum, Enki, and Adad), Manabaltiel (who built the temple of Ninurta and was a contemporary of Ur-Ninurta of Isin), Szarrasyurrum, Ubaya, Zikrum, Bur-Sin, and Ibbi-Szamasz.^[2]

Middle Bronze

The city continued to flourish into the Middle Bronze.

The Larsa ruler Rim-Sin (1822 to 1763 BC) reports capturing Kisurra in his 20th year of reign.

Babylonian Period

Cuneiform texts and excavation show a decline during the time of the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi (c.1792-1750 BC).^[3] The Samsu-iluna (1750 BC to 1712 BC), successor to Hammurabi, reports destroying Kisurra in his 13th year.^{[4] [5]}

Archaeology

German archaeologist Robert Koldewey with the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, who excavated at the site in 1902-1903, found many cuneiform tablets from Tell Abu Hatab.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} In 2016 the QADIS survey project, carried out an aerial and surface survey of the site.^{[10] [11]}

List of rulers of Kisurra

Ruler	Approximated dates	Notes and references
Itur-Szamasz
Manabaltiel
Szarrasyurrum
Ubaya
Zikrum
Bur-Sin
Ibbi-Szamasz

See also

• Cities of the Ancient Near East
• Tell (archaeology)

Further reading

• Anne Goddeeris, Tablets from Kisurra in the collections of The British Museum, Harrasowitz, 2009,
• Anne Goddeeris, The Economic Basis of the Local Palace of Kisurra, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 97, issue 1, pp. 47–85, 2007
• Blocher, Felix. “Zur Glyptik Aus Kisurra.” Forschungen Und Berichte, vol. 29, pp. 25–35, 1990
• Burkhart Kienast, Die altbabylonischen Briefe und Urkunden aus Kisurra, Steiner, 1978,
• E. J. Banks, Impressions from the Excavations by the Germans at Fara and Abu Hatab, Biblical World, vol. 24, pp. 138–146, 1904
• Burkhart Kienast, "Die altbabylonischen Briefe und Urkunden aus Kisurra, Volumes 1-2", Steiner, 1978 ISBN 9783515025928
• Witold Tyborowski, New Tablets from Kisurra and the Chronology of Central Babylonia in the Early Old Babylonian Period, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 102, iss. 2, pp. 245–269, 2012, ISSN 0084-5299

External links

• Old Babylonian text Corpus at Freiburger Altorientalische studies - in german
• Kisurra related Year Names at CDLI

Notes and References

1. http://www.jameswbell.com/geog001sumerianwaterways.html Sumerian Waterways
2. https://cdli.ucla.edu/tools/yearnames/HTML/T14K4.htm Kisurra ruler Year Names at CDLI
3. Rients de Boer, "Beginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-Abum and Sumu-La-El", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 70, pp. 53–86, 2018
4. Richardson, Seth, "EARLY MESOPOTAMIA: THE PRESUMPTIVE STATE", Past & Present, no. 215, pp. 3–49, 2012
5. Rogers, Robert William (1915) A History of Babylonia and Assyria. The Abingdon Press p435
6. Walter Andrae, Die Umgebung von Fara und Abu Hatab, Mitteilungender Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft, no. 16, pp. 24-30, 1903
7. Walter Andrae, Ausgrabungen in Fara und Abu Hatab. Bericht über die Zeit vom 15. August 1902 bis 10. Januar 1903, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft, no. 17, pp. 4-35, 1903
8. E. Heinrich, Fara: Ergebmisse der Ausgrabungen der Deustchen Orient Gesellschaft in Fara und Abu Hatab 1902/03, J.C. Hinrichs, 1931
9. Jabbar, Sattar A. "Excavations of German archaeological Expeditions In Al-Qadisiyah Governorate/Iraq (Isin, Tell Fara, Tell Abu Hatab)." for humanities sciences al qadisiya 22.1 (2019).
10. Marchetti, Nicolò, Al-Hussainy, Abbas, Benati, Giacomo, Luglio, Giampaolo, Scazzosi, Giulia, Valeri, Marco and Zaina, Federico., "The Rise of Urbanized Landscapes in Mesopotamia: The QADIS Integrated Survey Results and the Interpretation of Multi-Layered Historical Landscapes", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 109, no. 2, pp. 214-237, 2019
11. https://site.unibo.it/eduu/en/work-package-1-archaeological-cultural-and-environmental-research/results/nea83-3-marchetti-post-print.pdf/@@download/file/NEA83.3%20Marchetti%20post-print.pdf