TELL
AGRAB
![](640px-Hammurabi%27s_Babylonia_1.svg.png)
Tell
Agrab is located east of ancient Eshnunna
![](640px-thumbnail.jpg)
Stamp
seal with Striding Figure Holding Batons, Drill Technique, Tell
Agrab. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago
Tell
Agrab (or Aqrab) is a tell or settlement mound 12.6 miles (20.3
km) southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq.
History
:
Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic
periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during the
Early Dynastic period that monumental building occurred, including
the Shara Temple. There is no evidence that it was occupied after
the end of the third millennium BC.
Archaeology
:
The site of Tell Agrab is encompassed by a 500 by 600 metres (1,600
by 2,000 ft) rectangle with a height of around 12 metres (39 ft).
Though it had been subject to illegal digging earlier, the site
was officially excavated in 1936 and 1937 by a team from the Oriental
Institute of Chicago which was also working at Eshnunna, Khafajah
and Tell Ishchali during that time. The dig was led by Seton Lloyd.
The primary excavation effort was on the large Early Dynastic temple,
which was dedicated to Shara according to a bowl inscription. Only
the western end of the Shara Temple was studied, the rest being
badly eroded. The temple was about 60 metres (200 ft) square and
was surrounded by a wall 6 metres (20 ft) wide with large supporting
buttresses. The presence of sling stones and a sappers tunnel indicated
an attack in the Early Dynastic era. Aside from a number of treasure
caches and cylinder seals found, the most notable find was a copper
chariot pulled by four onagers, one of the earliest examples known.
Gallery
:
![](446px-thumbnail.jpg)
Kneeling
Nude Male Holding Vase on Head, Tell Agrab, Shara Temple, Early
Dynastic period, 2900-2700 BC, calcite - Oriental Institute Museum,
University of Chicago - DSC07462
![](360px-Male_statue_from_Shara_Temple,_Tell_Agrab.jpg)
Fragment
of a Sumerian male statue from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq
Museum
![](535px-Head_of_a_Sumerian_woman_from_Tell_Agrab,_Shara_Temple.jpg)
Head
of a Sumerian woman from the Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
![](502px-Male_head_from_Shara_Temple,_Tell_Agrab,_Iraq.jpg)
Male
head from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
![](477px-Female_statuette,_fragment,_from_Tell_Agrab,_Iraq.jpg)
Female
statuette from Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
![](576px-Gilgamesh_in_a_Sculptured_Vase,_Shara_Temple,_Tell_Agrab,_Iraq.jpg)
Gilgamesh
wrestling two bulls, from Shara Temple, Tell Agrab, Iraq Museum
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Tell_Agrab