Tell Ingharra (Eastern Kish) — Ziggurat and Temple Oval Terrace
Ingharra · Kish East · Hill A of Kish · Inkhara
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (3000–1750 BCE)·Sumerian–Akkadian (Kish)·🇮🇶 Babil Governorate, Kish, Iraq
About
About Tell Ingharra (Eastern Kish) — Ziggurat and Temple Oval Terrace
Eastern mound of the Sumerian city-state Kish (3200–2200 BCE), once Sargon's capital, dominated by Early Dynastic III 60x45 m Temple Oval ziggurat-like terrace and later 3-stair Old Babylonian ziggurat of Zababa. Oval enclosure 45x30 m with niched facade — earliest terraced temple form — surrounded by palace A (corridor of 30 m). Cuneiform tablets of Kish archive and plano-convex bricks (Jemdet Nasr). Excavated Oxford-Field Museum 1923–33 (Langdon, Mackay) and Japanese 1988–89.
Why it mattersEarliest contested ziggurat precursor (Oval Temple); seat of first historical dynasty after Flood in King List; Kish culture namesake.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Kish's original Sumerian vs Semitic ethnicity
- 02Oval shape symbolic vs defensive
Theories
- 01Oval as sacred animal pen or cosmic mountain; Sargon's Kish origin legend tied to gardener myth
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.3000–2300 BCE (Jemdet Nasr to Akkadian), rebuilt Old Babylonian
- Period
- Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (3000–1750 BCE)
- Culture
- Sumerian–Akkadian (Kish)
- Builders
- Sumerian (Kish) / Babylonian
- Purpose
- City-state temple platform for Tutu/Zababa war god; citadel of first post-flood kingship in Sumerian King List
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3000–2300 BCE (Jemdet Nasr to Akkadian), rebuilt Old Babylonian
Initial construction
c. 1417 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
32.5420° N · 44.6050° E · 32 m · 2 mapped features
Temple Oval terraced platform
terraceOval 45x30 m niched terrace inside double enclosure wall, central temple
32.5420° N · 44.6050° EZiggurat of Zababa
zigguratOld Babylonian stair-ziggurat 60x45 m behind Palace A, north mound
32.5428° N · 44.6042° E