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Eshnunna |
Coordinates: Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in lower Mesopotamia. Although situated in the Diyala Valley north-east of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu.
The tutelary deity of the city was Tishpak (Tispak).
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Occupied from the Early Dynastic Period, Eshnunna was eventually drawn within the sphere of Third Dynasty of Ur, before achieving a short-lived political prominence - after Ur's decline and fall - within the first two centuries of the third millennium BC. At this time, Eshnunna again represented the focus of an independent polity of significant size and influence.
Because of its control over lucrative trade routes, Eshnunna did function somewhat as a gateway between Mesopotamian and Elamite culture. The trade routes gave it access to many exotic, sought after goods such as horses, copper, tin, and other precious stones and metals.
After being occupied by Elam, Eshnunna was ultimately conquered by Hammurabi, ruler of Babylon, and absorbed within the Old Babylonian Empire (sometimes called the First Babylonian Dynasty). Thereafter, the city appears but rarely within cuneiform textual sources, reflecting a probable decline and eventual disappearance.
| Ruler | Proposed reign | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Urguedinna | ~2000 BC | Governor under Shulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur |
| Kallamu | Governor under Shulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur | |
| Ituria | Governor under Shu-Sin of the Third Dynasty of Ur | |
| Ilushuilia | Governor under Ibbi-Sin of the Third Dynasty of Ur | |
| Nurakhum | Governor under Ibbi-Sin of the Third Dynasty of Ur | |
| Kirikiri | ||
| Bilalama | ||
| Isharramashu | ||
| Usurawasu | ||
| Ur-Ninmar | Governor | |
| Ur-Ningizzida | " " | |
| Ipiq-Adad I | " " | |
| Sarriia | " " | |
| Warassa | " " | |
| Belakum | " " | |
| Ibal-pi-El I | " " | |
| Ipiq-Adad II | ~1700 BC | Reigned at least 36 years |
| Naram-Sin | Son of Ipiq-Adad II, Contemporary of Shamshi-Adad | |
| Dannum-tahaz | Aproximate position | |
| Dadusha | Son of Ipiq-Adad II, Contemporary of Shamshi-Adad | |
| Ibal-pi-El II | Contemporary of Zimri-Lim of Mari, Killed by Siwe-palar-huppak of Elam who captured Eshnunna | |
| Silli-Sin |
The remains of the ancient city are now preserved in the mound of Tell Asmar, near Baqubah, excavated in the early 1930s by a Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago team led by Henri Frankfort with Thorkild Jacobsen. 12 3 4 5 6 7 8
Despite the long passage of time since the excavations at Tell Asmar, the work of examining and publishing the remaining finds from that dig continues to this day. 9
The Laws of Eshnunna consist of two tablets (found at Tell Harmal) and a fragment (found at Tell Haddad). They were written sometime around the reign of king Dadusha of Eshnunna and appear to not be official copies. When the actual laws were composed is unknown. They are similar to the Code of Hammurabi. 10
During the Early Dynastic period, the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar (Eshnunna) went through a number of phases. This included the Early Dynastic Archaic Shrine, Square Temple, and Single-Shrine phases of construction. They, along with sculpture found there, helped form the basis for the three part archaeological separation of the Early Dynastic period into ED I, ED II, and ED III for the ancient Near East. 11 A cache of 12 gypsum sculptures, in a geometric style, were found in Square Temple. They some of the best known examples of ancient Near East sculpture. 12
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