Tell al-Rimah was the Ancient Near East

Ancient Near East

The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia...

 city of Karana or Qattara in the Sinjar

Sinjar

Sinjar is the name of a town and district in northwestern Iraq's Ninawa Governorate near the Syrian border. Its population at the time of the 2006 census was 39,875....

 region west of Nineveh

Nineveh

Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....

.

History

While it appears that the site was occupied in the 3rd millennium, it reached its greatest size and prominence during the 2nd millennium and in the Neo-Assyrian period. The second millennium activity was primarily during the Old Babylonian

Old Babylonian

Old Babylonian may refer to:*the period of the First Babylonian Dynasty *the historical stage of the Akkadian language of that time...

 and Mitanni

Mitanni

Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...

 times.

At various times, Tell al-Rimah has been linked with either Qatara or Karana, both cites known to be in that area during the 2nd millennium.

Archaeology

The region was originally surveyed by Seton Lloyd

Seton Lloyd

Seton Howard Frederick Lloyd, CBE , was an English archaeologist. He was President of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara , Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology in the Institute of Archaeology, University of London...

 in 1938. The site of Tell al-Rimah was excavated from 1964 to 1971 by a British School of Archaeology in Iraq

British School of Archaeology in Iraq

The British Institute for the Study of Iraq is the only body in Britain devoted to research into the ancient civilizations and languages of Mesopotamia....

 team led by David Oates.
A large temple and palace from the early 2nd millennium were excavated as well as a Neo-Assyrian building. A number of Old Babylonian

Old Babylonian

Old Babylonian may refer to:*the period of the First Babylonian Dynasty *the historical stage of the Akkadian language of that time...

 tablets contemporary with Zimri-Lim of Mari

Mari, Syria

Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...

 were found
as well as other objects. Tell al-Rimah also is known for having a 3rd
millennium example of brink vaulting. The most notable artifact found was the stele of Adad-nirari III

Adad-nirari III

Adad-nirari III was King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. He was the son and successor of Shamshi-Adad V, and was apparently quite young at the time of his accession, because for the first five years of his reign his mother Shammuramat acted as regent, which may have given rise to the legend of...

 which mentioned an early king of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

External links

• Rimah digital tablets at CDLI