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Woman head. Limestone, Khafaje, Early Dynastic II (c. 2700 BC), archaic Mesopotamia

Coordinates: 33°45′N 44°45′E / 33.75°N 44.75°E / 33.75; 44.75 Khafajah or Khafaje (modern Diyala Governorate in Iraq, on the Diyala River, a tributary of the Tigris) was the ancient town of Tutub in the city-state of Eshnunna. The site lies seven miles east of Baghdad and 12 miles southwest of Eshnunna.

[edit] History

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, meaning "castle of the glorious ones who ride the lion".

The history of Khafajah is known in somewhat more detail for a period of several decades as a result of the discovery of 112 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 tablet with the remainder being in the Iraq Museum.^[1]

[edit] Archaeology

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 of the god Sin 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.

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. ^{[2][3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Old Babylonian Public Buildings in the Diyala Region: Part 1 : Excavations at Ishchali, Part 2 : Khafajah Mounds B, C, and D (Publication Series 98), Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1990, ISBN 0918986621

[edit] See also

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Eshnunna

[edit] External links

• Oriental Institute slides of the site
• Archaeology of Khafah write-up at Brown University
• Two wrestlers balancing vessels (jars) on their heads- ca. 2600 B.C at Oriental Institute
• Bowl with mosaic inlays on outside - ca. 3000 B.C at Oriental Institute
• Plaque, decorated with three registers of relief, showing banquet scene with musicians - ca. 2600 B.C at Oriental Institute
• Digital tablet images from Tutub at CDLI