Tell al-Rimah Ziggurat — Qattara High Temple
Tell al-Rimah · Qattara · Karana · Tell al-Rimah (Qattara / Karana)
Old Babylonian to Mitanni, c.1900-1400 BCE (Shamshi-Adad, Hammurabi, Mitanni)·Old Babylonian / Mitanni (Karana / Qattara)·🇮🇶 Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
About
About Tell al-Rimah Ziggurat — Qattara High Temple
Tell al-Rimah (ancient Qattara/Karana) south of Jebel Sinjar: massive tell 40 ha with high ziggurat mound 30 m high (200×200 m base) and lower town. Excavated by David Oates British School of Archaeology in Iraq 1964-71: Old Babylonian temple of Adad atop ziggurat, Mitanni palace (c.1400 BCE) with cuneiform archive of 500 tablets (letters to/from Zimri-Lim of Mari, Hammurabi), Assyrian temple later. Tablet archive is key for Old Babylonian diplomacy. High temple mudbrick ziggurat stair and glazed cones. North of Mosul plain, strategic Sinjar corridor.
Why it mattersKey Old Babylonian / Mitanni (Karana / Qattara) tell with stratified sequence and regional importance.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether high temple originally Adad or yet-unidentified deity before Mitanni
- 02Why Tell al-Rimah's Mitanni archive mirrors Mari yet no Mari tablets mention Qattara after Hammurabi
Theories
- 01Karana/Qattara as independent Mitanni vassal buffering Assyria and Babylon
- 02Ziggurat continuity from Shamshi-Adad to Mitanni temple rebuild
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1800 BCE (Shamshi-Adad I–Zimri-Lim era, Old Babylonian)
- Period
- Old Babylonian to Mitanni, c.1900-1400 BCE (Shamshi-Adad, Hammurabi, Mitanni)
- Culture
- Old Babylonian / Mitanni (Karana / Qattara)
- Builders
- Old Babylonian
- Purpose
- Ziggurat and high temple atop Tell al-Rimah (ancient Karana / Qattara) south of Jebel Sinjar — Mitanni palace archive beneath, ziggurat marking high temple of storm god Adad
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1800 BCE (Shamshi-Adad)
Foundation — high temple and ziggurat begun
c.1400 BCE (Mitanni)
Mitanni palace — archive deposited
1964
Oates BSAI excavations
On the ground
Structures & features
36.2571° N · 42.4493° E · 380 m · 2 mapped features
Ziggurat High Temple of Adad
zigguratMudbrick ziggurat 30 m high with stair and temple of Adad on summit, glazed cone decoration
36.2572° N · 42.4492° EMitanni palace archive (Level A)
palaceMitanni governor palace with archive room of 500 cuneiform tablets, diplomatic letters of Karana/Qattara
36.2570° N · 42.4494° E