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Ancient Tell Harmel (Shaduppum)

Located in the suburbs of Baghdad, Tell Harmel has been identified as ancient Shaduppum, an administrative centre for the surrounding area, ruled by Eshnunna in the early centuries of thc 2nd millennium BC before Hammurabi's conquest. This small walled town, covering only circa 1.7 hectares, was excavated almost completely by the Iraqis in 1945. Excavated buildings include sevral temples, one with an entrance guarded by life-size terracotta lions; a residential area of private houses and some shops have also been excavated. The site produced a large collection of tablets, mostly administrative, but also literary texts and lexical lists of zoological and botanical terms; a famous mathematical text anticipates Pythagoras' theorem. The ancient name apparently means 'place of writing' and the town may have been a centre for priests and scribes ... (AHSFC)

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium