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Iraq Government Excavations at ‘Aqar Qūf First Interim Report 1942–1943

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Taha Baqir
Taha Baqir*
Affiliation:
Curator of the Iraq Museum
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Extract

In May 1942 the Directorate-General of Antiquities decided to make soundings in the ancient site called ‘Aqar Qüf, whose ruined ziggurat is a familiar landmark in the plain about 20 miles to the west of Baghdad. There proved to be very little difficulty in tracing the four buttressed sides of the ziggurat itself, and on the south-east side the remains were found of a triple staircase of kiln-baked brick which had evidently led up to the summit, and corresponded closely to that of the Kassite ziggurat at Ur. Stamped bricks in the fabric of this staircase confirmed the identification of the site with the Kassite city called Dûr Kurigalzu.

Early in the following year the Excavations Committee of the Department, headed by Mr. Seton Lloyd, F.S.A., Technical Adviser, decided on further large-scale excavations at ‘Aqar Qūf. One reason for the selection of the site was an economic one. Owing to war-time transport difficulties it was essential that any excavating work should be in the vicinity of Baghdad. Secondly the work provided an opportunity both for visitors to Baghdad and Iraqis themselves to see an archaeological excavation in progress. Many hundreds of Allied troops visited the site while the work was in progress, and parties of school-teachers and students were frequently escorted round the ruins. Finally, the archaeological importance of the site has long been evident. It represents a period in the history of Iraq concerning which there are few sources of information, and whose chronology is still controversial. Furthermore, it is a period during which the international relations of the various Middle East States are extremely interesting, as witnessed, for example, by the Amarnah Letters'.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 1944 , supplement S1: Excavations at ‘Aqar Qūf 1942-1943 , January 1944 , pp. 3 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1942

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References

page 3 note 1 Woolley, , Ur Excavations, v, pl. 72Google Scholar.

page 3 note 2 Cf. Smith, Sidney, Early History of Assyria, p. 215, l. 19Google Scholar.

page 4 note 1 It lies about 30 km. west of Baghdad, latitude 33 21′ N., and longitude 44° 21′ E. The modern name may be derived from the Aramaic ‘aqar(a) = ruins and qūfa = beams.

page 4 note 2 Fossey, Manuel d'Assyriologie, I (Index); Sarre, and Herzfeld, , Archäologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigris-Gebiet, II, 96 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 4 note 3 Delitzsch, , Wo lag das Paradies? 208Google Scholar; Sarre and Herzfeld, op. cit. II, 97.

page 4 note 4 Beside this more familiar name of the city several other forms occur in cuneiform texts, such as Durgalzi (II R. 48, 21, c–d), Dur-(dingir)kur-gal (II R. 52, No. 2, 1. 52), and (alu) du-ur-ga-az-za-a-za (CT. XXII, No. 186, l. 8) which is probably the same city. A Sumerian form of the city may read as KUR-TI-KI or SAT-TI-KI. (K 4386; K 4337, col. 1, 25; VII, 7, 32). [Seep, II.]

page 4 note 5 Kurigalzu II is probably the same energetic ruler whose works of reconstruction were revealed by the excavations at Ur, and whose correspondence with the Pharaoh Amenophis III is mentioned in a letter from Burnaburiash II to Amenophis IV (British Museum Guide (1922), p. 126Google Scholar). It is also tempting to identify this same ruler with Kurigalzu, some of whose inscriptions were copied in Neo-Babylonian times (CT. IX, pl. 3; XXXVI, pls. 6–7).

page 4 note 6 Expedition of Tiglathpileser I (Luckenbill, , Records, I, §§ 295, 309, 390Google Scholar; Kahi, II, No. 71, l. 29; Synchronistic History, col. 11, l. 18; KB. 1, 198). The expedition of Tukulti-Ninurta II (Luckenbill, op. cit. 1, § 401, 408). Tiglathpileser III annexed the city to his domain (Luckenbill, ibid. 1, §§ 764, 782, 788, 805), So did Sargon II (Luckenbill, ibid. 11, § 118).

page 5 note 1 B.E. XII, 28; 11; Luckenbill, , Records, I, § 408Google Scholar.

page 5 note 2 In II R. 50. VIII/VII, 7a–b, the name of the ziggurat at Dur Kurigalzu occurs as É-GI-RIM/N, or É-GI-KIL.

page 8 note 1 It is interesting to note that there is a temple called É-GAŠAN-ama -kalla mentioned by Kurigalzu (the ‘Aqar Qūf Kurigalzu?) in C.T. XXXVI, Plate 6, 1. 29 as situated near Girsu, Adattu, Mangissu, and the Euphrates.

page 10 note 1 Woolley, , Ur Excavations, v, p. 48Google Scholar.

page 11 note 1 Woolley, op. cit., p. 49, note 1, referring to Ur Excavations, vol. VIII, on the temple, É-NUN-MAH.