Khafajah

Khafajah
Tutub
Shown within Iraq
Alternate name Khafaje
Location Diyala Province, Iraq
Region Mesopotamia
Coordinates 33°21′16.83″N 44°33′20.71″E / 33.3546750°N 44.5557528°E / 33.3546750; 44.5557528Coordinates: 33°21′16.83″N 44°33′20.71″E / 33.3546750°N 44.5557528°E / 33.3546750; 44.5557528
Type tell

Khafajah or Khafaje (ancient Tutub) is an archaeological site in Diyala Province (Iraq). It was part of the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies 7 miles (11 km) east of Baghdad and 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Eshnunna.

History of archaeological research

Khafajah was excavated for 7 seasons in the early 1930s primarily by an Oriental Institute of Chicago team led by Henri Frankfort with Thorkild Jacobsen and Pinhas Delougaz. For two seasons, the site was worked by a joint team of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the University of Pennsylvania.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Khafajah and its environment

Khafajah lies on the Diyala River, a tributary of the Tigris. The site consists of four mounds, labeled A through D. The main one, Mound A, extends back as far as the Uruk period and contained an oval temple, a temple of the god Sin, not surely and a temple of Nintu. The Dur-Samsuiluna fort was found on mounds B and C. Mound D contained private homes and a temple for the god Sin where the archive tablets where found in two heaps.

Occupation history

Limestone human head found at Khafajah, Early Dynastic II (c. 2700 BC)
Cylinder seal found at Khafajah, Jemdet Nasr period, (3100–2900 BC)

Khafajah was occupied during the Early Dynastic Period, through the Sargonid Period, then came under the control of Eshnunna after the fall of the Ur III Empire. Later, after Eshnunna was captured by Babylon, a fort was built at the site by Samsu-iluna of the First Babylonian Dynasty and named Dur-Samsuiluna.

Ruler Proposed reign Notes
Abdi-Erah circa 1820 BC Ruler of Eshnunna, Contemporary of Sumu-abum of Babylon
Adi-madar Ruler of Eshnunna
Sumina-arim
Iku-pi-Sin
Isme-bali
Tattanum Contemporary of Belakum of Eshnunna
Hammi-dusur circa 1800 BC Contemporary of Sumu-la-El of Babylon
Warassa Ruler of Eshnunna

Material culture

The history of Khafajah is known in somewhat more detail for a period of several decades as a result of the discovery of 112 clay tablets (one now lost) in a temple of Sin. The tablets constitute part of an official archive and include mostly loan and legal documents. The Oriental Institute of Chicago holds 57 of the tablets with the remainder being in the Iraq Museum.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Diyala Project at the University of Chicago
  2. ↑ OIC 13. Tell Asmar and Khafaje: The First Season's Work in Eshnunna 1930/31, Henri Frankfort, Thorkild Jacobsen, and Conrad Preusser, 1932
  3. ↑ OIC 16. Tell Asmar, Khafaje and Khorsabad: Second Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Henri Frankfort, 1933
  4. ↑ OIC 17. Iraq Excavations of the Oriental Institute 1932/33: Third Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Henri Frankfort, 1934
  5. ↑ OIC 19. Oriental Institute Discoveries in Iraq, 1933/34: Fourth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Henri Frankfort with a chapter by Thorkild Jacobsen, 1935
  6. ↑ OIC 20. Progress of the Work of the Oriental Institute in Iraq, 1934/35: Fifth Preliminary Report of the Iraq Expedition, Henri Frankfort, 1936
  7. ↑ OIP 44. Sculpture of the Third Millennium B.C. from Tell Asmar and Khafajah, Henri Frankfort, 1939
  8. ↑ OIP 53. The Temple Oval at Khafajah, Pinhas Delougaz, with a chapter by Thorkild Jacobsen. 1940 (also as ISBN 0-226-14234-5)
  9. ↑ Harris Rivkah, The Archive of the Sin Temple in Khafajah (Tutub)", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 9 no. 2, 1955

Further reading

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