Tell Harmal
Shaduppum · Tell Harmal Shaduppum
Old Babylonian (c.2000–1750 BCE; peak c.1800 BCE)·Isin-Larsa → Old Babylonian (Amorite-Eshnunna)·🇮🇶 Baghdad Governorate, Diyala Plain, Iraq
About
About Tell Harmal
Best-preserved Old Babylonian planned town (2.25 ha, 150×150 m orthogonal walled) with twin temples (Šara, Bēlet-Agade), admin complex (3000 tablets including algebraic quadratic maths), and bastioned gate. Baqir excavations 1945–63 revealed intact OB urban plan, edubba school and geometric problem texts illuminating Babylonian algebra.
Why it mattersType-site Old Babylonian provincial administration and Babylonian mathematics — quadratic tablets.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why rapid abandonment c.1750 BCE?
- 02Eshnunna vs Babylonian grid influence?
Theories
- 01Hammurabi Diyala buffer colony (Miglus)
- 02Edubba scribal school frontier (Robson)
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.2000 BCE
- Period
- Old Babylonian (c.2000–1750 BCE; peak c.1800 BCE)
- Culture
- Isin-Larsa → Old Babylonian (Amorite-Eshnunna)
- Builders
- Amorite rulers of Shaduppum (Eshnunna sphere)
- Purpose
- Settlement and ceremonial centre
- Abandoned
- c.1750 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1945 (Taha Baqir)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1800 BCE
Shaduppum planned walled town built — temples, admin block
c.1750 BCE
Fall to Hammurabi; abandonment
1945–1963
Taha Baqir excavations; 3000 tablets
1950s
Neugebauer publishes mathematical tablets
On the ground
Structures & features
33.3083° N · 44.4250° E · 35 m · 3 mapped features
Shara Temple and Bēlet-Agade Temple Precinct
templeTwin OB temples Šara and Bēlet-Agade, baked-brick cella, courtyard, altar and foundation figurines
33.3086° N · 44.4252° EAdministrative Complex and Edubba Archive
archiveCentral admin block yielding 3000 cuneiform tablets — economic, legal and algebraic school texts
33.3080° N · 44.4248° EFortified Town Wall and Orthogonal Street Grid
fortificationPreserved 6-m bastioned mudbrick wall with gateway and orthogonal streets
33.3088° N · 44.4246° E