SIPPAR
![](640px-Hammurabi%27s_Babylonia_1.svg.png)
Being
close to Babylon, Sippar was an early addition to its empire under
Hammurabi
Sippar
(Sumerian: Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later
Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its tell
is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah
in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some 60 km north of Babylon and 30
km southwest of Baghdad. The city's ancient name, Sippar, could
also refer to its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum (located at the modern
site of Tell ed-Der); a more specific designation for the city here
referred to as Sippar was Sippar-Yahrurum.
History
:
![](640px-thumbnail.jpg)
Clay
tablet and its sealed clay envelope. Legal document, listing of
land and their distribution to several sons. From Sippar, Iraq.
Old-Babylonian period. Reign of Sin-Muballit, 1812-1793 BCE. Vorderasiatisches
Museum, Berlin.
Despite the fact that thousands of cuneiform clay tablets have been
recovered at the site, relatively little is known about the history
of Sippar. As was often the case in Mesopotamia, it was part of
a pair of cities, separated by a river. Sippar was on the east side
of the Euphrates, while its sister city, Sippar-Amnanum (modern
Tell ed-Der), was on the west.
While
pottery finds indicate that the site of Sippar was in use as early
as the Uruk period, substantial occupation occurred only in the
Early Dynastic Period of the 3rd millennium BC, the Old Babylonian
period of the 2nd millennium BC, and the Neo-Babylonian time of
the 1st millennium BC. Lesser levels of use continued into the time
of the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian Empires.
Sippar
was the cult site of the sun god (Sumerian Utu, Akkadian Shamash)
and the home of his temple E-babbara(means "white house").
During
early Babylonian dynasties, Sippar was the production center of
wool. The Code of Hammurabi stele was probably erected at Sippar.
Shamash was the god of justice, and he is depicted handing authority
to the king in the image at the top of the stele. A closely related
motif occurs on some cylinder seals of the Old Babylonian period.
By the end of the 19th century BC, Sippar was producing some of
the finest Old Babylonian cylinder seals.
Sippar
has been suggested as the location of the Biblical Sepharvaim in
the Old Testament, which alludes to the two parts of the city in
its dual form.
Rulers
:
In the Sumerian king list a king of Sippar, En-men-dur-ana, is listed
as one of the early pre-dynastic rulers of the region but has not
yet turned up in the epigraphic records.
In
his 29th year of reign Sumu-la-El of Babylon reported building the
city wall of Sippar. Some years later Hammurabi of Babylon reported
laying the foundations of the city wall of Sippar in his 23rd year
and worked on the wall again in his 43rd year. His successor in
Babylon, Samsu-iluna worked on Sippar's wall in his 1st year. The
city walls, being typically made of mud bricks, required much attention.
Records of Nebuchadnezzar II and Nabonidos record that they repaired
the Shamash temple E-babbara.
Classical
speculation :
Xisuthros, the "Chaldean Noah" in Sumerian mythology,
is said by Berossus to have buried the records of the antediluvian
world here—possibly because the name of Sippar was supposed
to be connected with sipru, "a writing". And according
to Abydenus, Nebuchadnezzar II excavated a great reservoir in the
neighbourhood.
Pliny
(Natural History 6.30.123) mentions a sect of Chaldeans called the
Hippareni. It is often assumed that this name refers to Sippar (especially
because the other two schools mentioned seem to be named after cities
as well: the Orcheni after Uruk, and the Borsippeni after Borsippa),
but this is not universally accepted.
Archaeology
:
![](577px-Clay_cone_Sippar_Louvre_AO3277.jpg)
Hammurabi
clay cone from Sippar at Louvre
![](381px-Old_Babylonian_Cylinder_Seal,_formerly_in_the_Charterhouse_Collection_04.jpg)
Old
Babylonian Cylinder Seal, hematite. The king makes an animal offering
to Shamash. The style of this seal suggests that it originated from
a workshop in Sippar
Tell Abu Habba, measuring over 1 square kilometer was first excavated
by Hormuzd Rassam between 1880 and 1881 for the British Museum in
a dig that lasted 18 months. Tens of thousands of tablets were recovered
including the Tablet of Shamash in the Temple of Shamash/Utu. Most
of the tablets were Neo-Babylonian. The temple had been mentioned
as early as the 18th year of Samsu-iluna of Babylon, who reported
restoring "Ebabbar, the temple of Szamasz in Sippar",
along with the city's ziggurat.
The
tablets, which ended up in the British Museum, are being studied
to this day. As was often the case in the early days of archaeology,
excavation records were not made, particularly find spots. This
makes it difficult to tell which tablets came from Sippar-Amnanum
as opposed to Sippar. Other tablets from Sippar were bought on the
open market during that time and ended up at places like the British
Museum and the University of Pennsylvania. Since the site is relatively
close to Baghdad, it was a popular target for illegal excavations.
In
1894, Sippar was worked briefly by Jean-Vincent Scheil. The tablets
recovered, mainly Old Babylonian, went to the Istanbul Museum. In
modern times, the site was worked by a Belgian team from 1972 to
1973. Iraqi archaeologists from the College of Arts at the University
of Baghdad, led by Walid al-Jadir with Farouk al-Rawi, have excavated
at Tell Abu Habbah from 1977 through the present in 24 seasons.
In the 8th season a library of over 300 tablets was discovered but
few have yet been published due to conditions in Iraq. After 2000,
they were joined by the German Archaeological Institute. According
to Professor Andrew George, a cuneiform tablet containing a portion
of the Epic of Gilgamesh probably came from Sippar.
In
Sippar was the site where the Babylonian Map of the World was found.
Gallery
:
![](599px-Map_of_the_World_from_Sippar,_Mesopotamia,_Iraq._6th_century_BCE._The_British_Museum.jpg)
Map
of the World from Sippar, Mesopotamia, Iraq. 6th century BCE. The
British Museum
![](640px-Tablet_of_Nabu-apla-iddina,_9th_century_BCE,_from_Sippar,_Iraq._British_Museum.jpg)
Tablet
of Nabu-apla-iddina, 9th century BCE, from Sippar, Iraq. British
Museum
![](640px-Detail,_Sun_God_Tablet_from_Sippar,_Iraq,_9th_century_BCE._British_Museum.jpg)
Detail,
Sun God Tablet from Sippar, Iraq, 9th century BCE. British Museum
![](640px-Detail,_Kudurru_of_Ritti-Marduk,_from_Sippar,_Iraq,_1125-1104_BCE._British_Museum.jpg)
Detail,
Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125 - 1104 BCE. British
Museum
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sippar