Shaduppum


Shaduppum is an archaeological site in Baghdad Governorate. Nowadays, it lies within the borders of modern Baghdad.

History of archaeological research

The site was excavated by Iraqi archaeologist Taha Baqir of the Department of Antiquities and Heritage from 1945 to 1963, discovering about 2000 tablets. Stories about Creation, the flood, The epic of Gilgamesh, and other were inscribed on some of the tablets In 1997 and 1998, the site was worked by a team from Baghdad University and the German Archaeological Institute led by Peter Miglus and Laith Hussein. Many other illegally excavated tablets have found their way into various institutions.

Occupation history

Not much is known outside the Old Babylonian times, though clearly the location was occupied from at least the Akkadian period through the Old Babylonian period, when it was part of the kingdom of Eshnunna in the Diyala River area. It was an administrative center for the kingdom and its name means "the treasury."
The site featured a large trapezoidal wall and a temple to the goddess Nisaba and the god Khani. Among the tablets from Tell Harmal are two of the epic of Gilgamesh and two with parts of the Laws of Eshnunna as well as some important mathematical tablets.