DER
(SUMER)
![](Meso2mil-English.jpg)
Mesopotamia
in 2nd millennium BC
Der
(Sumerian: ALUDi-e-ir [citation needed], uruBAD3.ANki) was a Sumerian
city-state at the site of modern Tell Aqar near al-Badra in Iraq's
Wasit Governorate. It was east of the Tigris River on the border
between Sumer and Elam. Its name was possibly Durum.
History
:
Der was occupied from the Early Dynastic period through Neo-Assyrian
times. The local deity of the city was named Ishtaran, represented
on Earth by his minister, the snake god Nirah. In the late 3rd millennium,
during the reign of Sulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Der was mentioned
twice. The Sulgi year name 11 was named "Year Ishtaran of Der
was brought into his temple", and year 21 was named "Year
Der was destroyed". In the second millennium, Der was mentioned
in a tablet discovered at Mari sent by Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad; the
tablet includes a reminder to Yasub-Yahad king of Der about the
military help given to him for fifteen years by Yarim-Lim, followed
by a declaration of war against the city in retaliation for what
Yarim-Lim described as evil deeds committed by Yasub-Yahad.
Rim-Sin
I of Larsa reported destroying Der in his 20th year. Ammi-Ditana
of Babylon also recorded destroying the city wall of Der in his
37th year, that he said had been built earlier by Damqi-ilishu of
the Sealand Dynasty. In 720 BC the Assyrian king Sargon II moved
against Elam, but the Assyrian host was defeated near Der by the
combined army of king Humban-Nikash I of Elam and king Marduk-apla-iddina
II of Babylon. Following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539
BC, the Cyrus Cylinder mentions repatriating the people and restoring
the sanctuary of the god of Der, among other cities.
![](BM_22470_Statue_dedicated_to_the_goddess_Nin-shubur_of_the_city_of_Der_by_Enzi_and_his_son_Amar-kiku_(2400_BCE).jpg)
Statue
dedicated to the goddess Ninshubur of the city of Der by Enzi and
his son Amar-kiku (2400 BCE), British Museum, BM 22470
Archaeology
:
While it appears that no excavation has occurred at Der, several
notable objects have been discovered nearby, including a kudurru
(discovered in Sippar) which confirmed the name of the site. The
site itself has been heavily damaged by water over the centuries
and was considered not worth excavating.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Der_(Sumer)