Zabala (Sumer)

City with Inanna as deity

Zabala
𒍝𒈽𒀕𒆠

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Zabala

Shown within Iraq

Alternative name| Tell el-Buzekh
Location| Dhi Qar Province, Iraq
Region| Mesopotamia
Coordinates| 31°44′36″N 45°52′36″E﻿ / ﻿31.74333°N 45.87667°E﻿ / 31.74333; 45.87667
Type| Settlement
History
Periods| Jemdet Nasr, Early Dynastic, Sargonic, Ur III, Isin-Larsa
Site notes
Excavation dates| 2001, 2002
Archaeologists| Haider Al-Subaihawi
Foundation figurine of Warad-Sin for Inanna, found at Zabalam.

Zabala, also Zabalam (𒍝𒈽𒀕𒆠 zabalamki, modern Tell Ibzeikh (also Tell el-Buzekh or Tell Ibzaykh), Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) was a city of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia, located in what is now the Dhi Qar governorate in Iraq. In early archaeology this location was also called Tel el-Buzekh. Locally it is called Tell Bzikh. Zabala was at the crossing of the ancient Iturungal and Ninagina canals, 10 kilometers to the northwest of Umma. The city's deity was Inanna of Zabala.[1] A cuneiform tablet from Zabala contains one of only a few metro-mathematical tables of area measures from the Early Dynastic Period.[2]

## History[edit]

The first mentions of Zabala are in seals from the Jemdet Nasr period including a list of early sites - Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Uruk, Kes, and Zabalam.[3] The earliest historical record, a bowl inscription, indicates that Zabala was under the control of Lugalzagesi of Umma. This is further supported by tablets from that period.[4] The city is also known to have been under the control of Me'annedu, father of Lugalzagesi.[5]

### Akkadian Period[edit]

In the Sargonic Period, Rimush of Akkad reports Zabala as attempting to rebel against the control of the Akkadian Empire:[6]

> "Rimuš, king of the world, in battle over Adab and Zabalam was victorious, and 15,718 men he struck down, and 14,576 captives he took. Further, Meskigala, governor of Adab, he captured, and Lugalgalzu, governor of Zabalam, he captured. Their cities he conquered, and their walls he destroyed. Further, from their two cities many men he expelled, and to annihilation he consigned them"

> — Adab and Zabalam Inscription of Rimus.[6][7]

Shar-kali-sharri and Naram-Sin both reported building a temple to the goddess Inanna in Zabala. [8]

### Post-Akkadian Period[edit]

After the fall of Akkad, Zabala came into the sphere of the city-state of Isin as reported by the year names of several rulers including Itar-pisa and Ur-Ninurta. The town was later subject to Abisare of Larsa, whose year name reported the building of the "Favorite of Inanna of Zabalam" canal.[9]

### Ur III Period[edit]

During the Ur III period, Zabala was controlled by the Ur governor in Umma which was the capital of Umma Province.[10]

### Babylonian Period[edit]

Cuneiform texts state that Hammurabi built Zabala's temple Ezi-Kalam-ma to the goddess Inanna.[11] The temple of Inanna in Zabalam is the subject of hymn 26 in the temple hymns of Enheduanna.

## Archaeology[edit]

Basse Mesopotamie DA

The site, which covers an areas of about 61 hectares, was first identified during the South Mesopotamian Mound Survey in 1954.[12] Beginning in the early 1900s, a great deal of illegal excavation occurred in Zabala.[13] An example of writing from the time of Hammurabi was removed from Zabala during this period.[14] This activity reached a new height in the 1990s, at which time the Iraqi State Organization of Antiquities and Heritage authorized an official excavation, the first at the site. Two seasons of excavation, in 2001 and 2002, occurred under the direction of Haider Al-Subaihawi. Several public and religious buildings were uncovered, a number of cuneiform tablets and an inscribed stone foundation cylinder of Warad-Sin, king of Larsa were found. A bronze sculpture (canephor, which is a form of Caryatid ), from Warad-Sin which mentions his father Kudur-Mabuk was also found.[15][16] A further outbreak of archaeological looting at Zabala broke out after the 2003 War in Iraq.[17]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Powell, M. A. "Evidence for Local Cults at Presargonic Zabala." Orientalia, vol. 45, 1976, pp. 100–104
2. ^ Feliu, Lluís. "A New Early Dynastic IIIb Metro-Mathematical Table Tablet of Area Measures from Zabalam" Altorientalische Forschungen, vol. 39, no. 2, 2012, pp. 218-225
3. ^ Green, M.W., A note on an archaic period geographical list from Warka, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, pp293-4, 1977
4. ^ Powell, Marvin A., "Texts from the Time of Lugalzagesi Problems and Perspectives in Their Interpretation", Hebrew Union College Annual, vol. 49, pp. 1–58, 1978
5. ^ Armando Bramanti, "Three Administrative Texts from the Time of Me’annedu", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 69, pp. 33–47, 2017
6. ^ a b Hamblin, William J. (2006). Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC: Holy Warriors at the Dawn of History. Routledge. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1-134-52062-6.
7. ^ "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
8. ^ [1] Mari A. Gough, Historical Perception in the Sargonic Literary Tradition: The Implications of Copied Texts, Rosetta, University of Birmingham
9. ^ [2] Archived 2009-03-06 at the Wayback Machine The Rulers of Larsa, M. Fitzgerald, Yale University Dissertation, 2002
10. ^ [3] Archived 2006-05-12 at the Wayback Machine The ruling family of Ur III Umma. A Prosopographical Analysis of an Elite Family in Southern Iraq 4000 Years ago, J.L. Dahl, UCLA dissertation, 2003
11. ^ Tablet MS 1876/1 in the Schøyen Collection
12. ^ [4]A. Goetze, "Archaeological Survey of Ancient Canals", Sumer, vol 11, iss. 2, pp 127-128, 1955
13. ^ Armando Bramanti, "Three Administrative Texts from the Time of Me’annedu", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 69, pp. 33–47, 2017
14. ^ "A Stray Sumerian Tablet: Unravelling the story behind Cambridge University Library's oldest written object". 13 March 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
15. ^ Al-Subaihawi, H. 2003/4 Archaeological Prospecting in Site Buzeikh, 2001–2002 (in Arabic). Sumer 52: 169–200
16. ^ Fahad, Saad S.. "Two Unpublished Texts from Zabalam (Ibzikh) Dated to the Reign of Warad-Sin", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 68, pp. 3-8, 2016
17. ^ al Hamdani, A. (2008): Protecting and Recording our Archaeological Heritage in Southern Iraq, NearEastern Archaeology, vol. 71, pp. 221–230

## See also[edit]

* Cities of the ancient Near East

## References[edit]

* Andrew George, House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamian Civilizations, Vol 5), Eisenbrauns, 1993, ISBN 0-931464-80-3
* B. Alster, Geštinanna as Singer and the Chorus of Uruk and Zabalam: UET 6/1 22, JCS, vol. 37, pp. 219–28, 1985

## External links[edit]

* CDLI background on Zabala Archived 2011-08-09 at archive.today
* Year Names of Naram-Sin of Akkad
* Year Names of Abisare of Larsa
* Translation of Temple Hymns of Enheduanna Archived 2005-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Post 2003 war looting at Zabala Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine