Tell Harmal (Shaduppum) — Old Babylonian Ramp Mound & Temple Platform
Shaduppum · Tell Abu Harmal · Baghdad Mound
Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa) 1950–1750 BCE·Babylonian (Isin-Larsa)·🇮🇶 Baghdad Governorate, Iraq
About
About Tell Harmal (Shaduppum) — Old Babylonian Ramp Mound & Temple Platform
Old Babylonian fortified administrative town (c.1900–1750 BCE, Isin-Larsa to Hammurabi era) now Tell Harmal on Baghdad's eastern edge, dominated by central 25x25 m raised temple platform (ziggurat foot) and twin shrines of Nisaba and Khani. Massive defensive walls with bent-axis gate, scribal quarter with 3000 cuneiform tablets (legal, literary, mathematical), and priest houses on mound. Platform is terraced mudbrick podium 6 m high — reduced ziggurat type — with stair and temple atop. French-IRAQI excavations 1945–63 (Baqir-Mustafa).
Why it mattersRichest Old Babylonian tablet archive outside Nippur; model provincial Babylonian planned town with ziggurat-platform.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Original ancient name Shaduppum vs nearby Me-Turan distinction
Theories
- 01Military school for scribes; outpost after Rim-Sin Larsa control
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.1900–1750 BCE (Isin-Larsa to Old Babylonian)
- Period
- Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa) 1950–1750 BCE
- Culture
- Babylonian (Isin-Larsa)
- Builders
- Babylonian ( Larsa/Hammurabi sphere)
- Purpose
- Garrison and scribal-administrative centre guarding Diyala; temple-platform for Nisaba cult
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1900–1750 BCE (Isin-Larsa to Old Babylonian)
Initial construction
c. 1464 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
33.3094° N · 44.4667° E · 35 m · 2 mapped features
Central temple platform (ziggurat foot)
platform25x25 m mudbrick terrace with shrines of Nisaba
33.3094° N · 44.4667° EScribal quarter tablet house
archiveTablet-house with 3000 tablets, 30 m southeast of platform
33.3091° N · 44.4672° E