Numerous studies addressing Mesopotamian historical geography have been written under the influence of a hypothesis according to which the Ekallatum monarch Išme-Dagan conducted his military actions only in the region to the east of the Tigris. Initial inquiry enables one to understand just how such a hypothesis could emerge. After all, Išme-Dagan's correspondence, found principally in the Royal Archives of Mari, is replete with references to his wars against the Turukkeans, a bellicose tribe who occupied and often controlled much of the land between the Tigris and the Zagros foothills, thus constituting a perennial threat along the Transtigridian frontier of Išme-Dagan's hegemony.
However, evidence gleaned from a closer inspection of all Išme-Dagan texts refutes this hypothesis. It is the purpose of this essay to attempt to demonstrate that such an investigation will disclose the fact that the dynast participated as well in noteworthy military actions to the west of the Tigris. As a consequence, a number of sites which traditionally have been situated to the east of the Tigris must now be localized in the Jezirah, that is, in the “island” of land bounded on the west and south by the Euphrates, on the east by the Tigris, and on the north by the Taurus mountains.