Sippar-Amnanum
Encyclopedia
north of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
.
History
Sippar-Amnanum was the sister city (or suburb in some eyes) of SipparSippar
Sippar was an ancient Near Eastern city on the east bank of the Euphrates river, located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah in Iraq's Babil Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30 km southeast of Baghdad....
.
Little is known of its history, if any, before the Old Babylonian period
The chief deity of Sippar-Amnanum was Annunitum (or Anunit) a warlike aspect of Istar
Istar
Istar can refer to:* One of the Istari, the "wizards" in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world.*Istar, a fictional city set in the fantasy world of Krynn in the Dragonlance setting of the Dungeons & Dragons game....
favored by the Akkadians. She is the daughter of
Enlil
Enlil
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
. According to the Cylinder of Nabonidus
Cylinder of Nabonidus
The Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar is a long text in which king Nabonidus of Babylonia describes how he repaired three temples: the sanctuary of the moon god Sin in Harran, the sanctuary of the warrior goddess Anunitu in Sippar, and the temple of Šamaš in Sippar...
the temple Eulmash of
Anunitu (Amnanum) was rebuilt by that Neo-Babylonian king. The cylinder also
reports that the temple had earlier been built by Shagarakti-Shuriash, a
king of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. Presumably the temple
had been destroyed in the interim by Shutruk-Nakhkhunte of Elam
Elam
Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq...
when he destroyed Sippar
Sippar
Sippar was an ancient Near Eastern city on the east bank of the Euphrates river, located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah in Iraq's Babil Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30 km southeast of Baghdad....
.
Note that there is some confusion on the cities name since Sinkashid,
a king of Uruk
Uruk
Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient dry former channel of the Euphrates River, some 30 km east of modern As-Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Uruk gave its name to the Uruk...
, refers to himself in an inscription as
"King of the Amnanum", where Amnanum is thought to be a tribal
group.
Archaeology
The site of Tell ed-Der, along with SipparSippar
Sippar was an ancient Near Eastern city on the east bank of the Euphrates river, located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah in Iraq's Babil Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30 km southeast of Baghdad....
, was excavated by Hormuzd Rassam
Hormuzd Rassam
Hormuzd Rassam , was a native Assyrian Assyriologist, British diplomat and traveller who made a number of important discoveries, including the clay tablets that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest literature...
in the early 1880s. Most of the tablets ended up in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. As was often the case in the early days of archaeology, excavation records were not made, particularly find spots. This makes it difficult
to tell which tablets came from Sippar-Amnanum as opposed to Sippar. More Tell ed-Der tablets were purchased from locals by E. A. Wallis Budge
E. A. Wallis Budge
Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...
while he was in the region after brief attempts to dig there. Since the site is relatively close to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, it was a popular target for illegal excavations.
More recently, Tell ed-Der was excavated between 1970 and 1985 by the Belgian Archaeological Expedition to Iraq.
The "House of Ur-Utu" was excavated in the mid-1970s. This residence, of the kalamahhum-priest of Annunitum, held around 2000 cuneiform tablets forming a household archive spanning several centuries. Most of the tablets were contemporary with the reigns of Ammisaduqa and Ammi-ditana
Ammi-Ditana
Ammi-Ditana was a king of Babylon who reigned from 1683-1640s BC. He was preceded by Abi-Eshuh. Year-names survive for the first 37 years of his reign, plus fragments for a few possible additional years...
of the First Babylonian Dynasty
First Babylonian Dynasty
The chronology of the first dynasty of Babylonia is debated as there is a Babylonian King List A and a Babylonian King List B. In this chronology, the regnal years of List A are used due to their wide usage...
.
The destruction of the house by fire helped preserve the tablets. Also found at Tell ed-Der were letters to another official, Ikunpisha, which were from kings Sumu-abum
Sumu-abum
Sumu-Adama was the first King of the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned from 1830-1817 BC. He is credited with founding the city of Babylon .-References:...
and Sumu-la-El
Sumu-la-El
Sumu-la-El was a King in the First Dynasty of Babylon. He reigned ca.1817 BC - 1781 BC.-References:...
of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
.