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  PENGUIN BOOKS

  ANCIENT IRAQ

  Dr Georges Roux was born at Salon-de-Provence in 1914. The son of an officer in the French Army, at the age of nine he accompanied his parents to the Middle East where he lived for twelve years in Syria and Lebanon before returning to France in 1935. He graduated in medicine at the University of Paris and practised in that city for several years; but he had by then become so interested in Ancient Near Eastern History that in his spare time he read assyriology at the École du Louvre and the École des Hautes Études, subsequently pursuing his oriental studies side by side with his medical career. In 1950 he joined the Iraq Petroleum Company as a medical officer and served for two years in Qatar and seven years in Iraq. His original research work in southern Mesopotamia and the articles he wrote for specialized periodicals such as Sumer and the Revue d'Assyriologie have won him admission to the restricted circle of professional archaeologists and assyriologists.

  Dr Roux now lives in Burgundy.

  ANCIENT IRAQ

  GEORGES ROUX

  THIRD EDITION

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  PENGUIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  First published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd 1864

  Published in Pelican Books 1966

  Second edition 1980

  Third edition reprinted in Penguin Books 1992

  21

  Copyright © George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1964, 1980, 1992

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the editor has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  ISBN: 978-0-14-193825-7

  CONTENTS

  LIST OF PLATES

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  LIST OF TABLES

  LIST OF MAPS

  FOREWORD TO THE THIRD EDITION

  INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION

  1. THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING

  The Twin Rivers

  Regional Variations

  Trade Routes

  2. IN SEARCH OF THE PAST

  The Buried Cities of Iraq

  Dating the Past

  Archaeological Research in Iraq

  3. FROM CAVE TO FARM

  Palaeolithic

  Mesolithic

  Neolithic

  4. FROM VILLAGE TO CITY

  The Hassuna Period

  The Samarra Period

  The Halaf Period

  The Ubaid Period

  5. BIRTH OF A CIVILIZATION

  The Uruk Period

  The Jemdat Nasr Period

  The Sumerian Problem

  6. THE GODS OF SUMER

  The Sumerian Pantheon

  Tales of Creation

  Life, Death and Destiny

  7. AN AGE OF HEROES

  From ‘Adam’ to the Deluge

  The Great Flood

  Dynasties of Supermen

  The Story of Gilgamesh

  8. THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD

  The Archaeological Context

  The Sumerian City-states

  Early Sumerian Rulers

  Outline of History

  9. THE AKKADIANS

  The Semites

  Sargon of Akkad

  The Akkadian Empire

  10. THE GREAT KINGDOM OF UR

  Ur-Nammu and Gudea

  Shulgi, Amar-Sin and the Sumerian Empire

  The Fall of Ur

  11. THE AMORITES

  Isin, Larsa and Babylon

  Eshnunna and Assur

  Mari and the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia

  12. HAMMURABI

  The Statesman

  The Lawgiver

  13. IN THE DAYS OF HAMMURABI

  The God in his Temple

  The King in his Palace

  The Citizen in his House

  14. NEW PEOPLES

  The Indo-Europeans

  Asia Minor and the Hittites

  Hurrians and Mitannians

  Syria and Egypt

  15. THE KASSITES

  Hammurabi's Successors

  Iraq under Kassite Rule

  16. KASSITES, ASSYRIANS AND THE ORIENTAL POWERS

  Egypt versus Mitanni

  The Time of Suppiluliumas

  Assur and Susa versus Babylon

  17. THE TIME OF CONFUSION

  Israelites and Phoenicians

  The Neo-Hittites

  The Aramaeans

  The Dark Age of Mesopotamia

  18. THE RISE OF ASSYRIA

  Genesis of an Empire

  Ashurnasirpal

  Shalmaneser III

  19. THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE

  Assyrian Eclipse

  Tiglathpileser III

  Sargon II

  20. THE HOUSE OF SARGON

  Sennacherib

  Esarhaddon

  Ashurbanipal

  21. THE GLORY OF ASSYRIA

  The Assyrian State

  The Assyrian Army

  Assyrian Arts

  22. THE SCRIBES OF NINEVEH

  Mesopotamian Science

  Mathematics and Astronomy

  Medicine

  23. THE CHALDAEAN KINGS

  The Fall of Nineveh

  Nebuchadrezzar

  The Fall of Babylon

  24. THE SPLENDOUR OF BABYLON

  Babylon, the Great City

  The New Year Festival

  Economic Life

  25. DEATH OF A CIVILIZATION

  The Achaemenian Period

  The Hellenistic Period

  The Parthian Period

  EPILOGUE

  LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

  BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NOTES

  CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES

  MAPS

  INDEX

  PLATES

  Alabaster head of a woman (or goddess) found at Uruk.

  Archaic inscription on clay tablet from Uruk.

  Harp from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. (Courtesy British Museum)

  Head-dress and necklaces found in Royal Cemetery at Ur.

  Gold dagger from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. (Courtesy British Museum)

  Fragment of the Stele of the Vultures, from Telloh. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  Bronze head of Sargon (?), from Nineveh. (Courtesy Iraq Museum)

  Statue of Gudea, ensi of Lagash, from Telloh. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  The ‘Stele of victory’ of Narâm-Sin.

  Central stairs of the ziqqurat of Ur. (Courtesy Robert Harding Associates, London)

  Statue of Ebih-Il, from Mari. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  Votive dog, from Telloh. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  Head of a god, from Jabbul, Syria. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  Sculptured upper part of the ‘Code of H
ammurabi’, king of Babylon. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  Façade of the temple of the Kassite king Karaindash in Uruk. (Courtesy Iraq Museum, Baghdad)

  Relief from Tell Halaf. (Courtesy Prof. W. Caskel, Cologne)

  Assyrian statue at Nimrud. (Photograph by the author)

  Specimen of Assyrian writing on stone, from Nimrud. (Courtesy Iraq Petroleum Company)

  Stele of Esarhaddon, from Zenjirli. (Courtesy Vorderasiatische Museum, Berlin)

  Assyrian scene of war. Relief from Nineveh. (Courtesy Louvre Museum)

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  1. Stone tools from Iraqi Kurdistan.

  2. Typical buildings and objects from the Hassuna, Halaf and Ubaid periods.

  3. Examples of decorated pottery from the Neolithic to Jemat Nasr period.

  4. Diagrammatic section through the archaic levels of Uruk.

  5. Cylinder-seals from the Uruk period.

  6. Cuneiform signs through the ages.

  7. Investiture of Zimri-Lim as King of Mari by the goddess Ishtar.

  8. The world as seen by the Sumerians.

  9. The oval temple of Khafaje.

  10. The ‘helmet’ of Meskalamdug, King of Ur.

  11. The ziqqurat of Ur in the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

  12. The temple of Ishtar-kititum at Ischâli.

  13. The palace at Mari (second millennium B.C.).

  14. A private house at Ur.

  15. Examples of the so-called Khabur and Nuzi potteries.

  16. Terracotta from Dûr-Kurigalzu.

  17. Nimrud during the 1956 excavations.

  18. Principal sites in the vicinity of Mosul.

  19. Citadel of Dûr-Sharrukin (Khorsabad).

  20. Babylonian ‘Map of the World from the 6th century B.C.

  21. The central part of Babylon.

  CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES

  I. Prehistory

  II. Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900 – 2334 B.C.)

  III. Dynasties of Akkad, Gutium and Ur III (c. 2334 – 2004 B.C.)

  IV. Isin-Larsa, Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian Periods (c. 2000 – 1600 B.C.)

  V. Kassite Period (c. 1600 – 1200 B.C.)

  VI. Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian Periods (c. 1150 – 750 B.C.)

  VII. Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods (744 – 539 B.C.)

  VIII. Achaemenian and Hellenistic Periods (539 – 126 B.C.)B.C.)

  IX. Parthian and Sassanian Periods (126 B.C. – 637 A.D.)

  MAPS

  1. Near and Middle East in Early Antiquity.

  2. Southern Mesopotamia.

  3. Northern Mesopotamia and Ancient Syria.

  4. The Assyrian Empire.

  FOREWORD

  TO THE THIRD EDITION

  By the time this third edition of Ancient Iraq is published twelve years will have elapsed since the second edition (1980). During this relatively short period, Mesopotamian studies have made tremendous strides. In archaeology, generally brief but fruitful international ‘rescue excavations’ have been carried out on some 140 tells, prompted by the building of three main dams on the Euphrates, the Tigris and one of its tributaries, radically altering our evaluation of prehistoric periods in particular, whilst digging was started, resumed and/or extended on such well-known sites as Mari, Isin, Larsa, Tell el-Oueili, Uruk, Tell Brak, Abu Salabikh and Sippar, to mention only the main ones. At the same time, Assyriologists were busy deciphering the inscriptions discovered in these excavations as well as revising and re-publishing hundreds of texts partially or inadequately published long ago, thereby modifying and improving our knowledge of the political, socio-economic and cultural history of ancient Mesopotamia. This was not routine work but a highly successful, unprecedented and, of course, computer-assisted revolution.

  In 1980 I retired from my employment with a leading British pharmaceutical company. Having more time at my disposal and access to the university libraries of Paris, I wrote in my native language ‘La Mésopotamie’ (Le Seuil, 1985), largely based on Ancient Iraq but more comprehensive and relatively up-to-date. I realized then that some parts of my ‘British baby’ were badly in need of correction and improvement, and I had no difficulty in obtaining the agreement of Penguin Books (may the god Nabû bless them!) for an even more thoroughly revised and considerably enlarged third edition of Ancient Iraq, which indeed is now one step ahead of the French book on several points.

  To the persons listed in the Introduction who encouraged and helped me in various ways I wish to add, for the second edition, Professor W. G. Lambert in England, Professors S. N. Kramer and J. B. Pritchard in the USA, Professor J. Bottéro, Madame Florence Malbarn-Labat and M. J. P. Grégoire in France and, for this edition, Professors David and Joan Oates, J. V. Kinnier-Wilson and H. W. F. Saggs in England, M. Olivier Rouault, Madame Sylvie Lackenbacher and Professor Dominique Charpin in France, Madame Duchesne-Guillemin in Belgium and Professor A. K. Grayson in Canada. Last but not least, I wish to thank my wife Christiane for the innumerable tasks she performed to assist me.

  Saint Julien du Sault, France, November 1991.

  INTRODUCTION

  TO THE FIRST EDITION

  This is a revised version, substantially enlarged and entirely rewritten, of the series of articles which appeared between September 1956 and January 1960 in Iraq Petroleum, the now defunct magazine of the Iraq Petroleum Company, under the title The Story of Ancient Iraq. Written in Basrah with no other source of documentation than my own personal library, these articles suffered from many serious defects and were far from even approaching the standards required from a work of this nature. In my view, whatever merit they possessed resided more in the lavish manner in which they were printed and illustrated than in the quality of their content. Yet, much to my surprise, the ‘Story’ received a warm welcome from a large and distinguished public. From Japan to California, a number of persons who, directly or indirectly, had access to the magazine took the trouble to write to the editor or myself asking for back numbers, spare copies or reprints, and suggesting that these articles be put in book form. I have now at last complied with their wish and I must say that, had it not been for the encouragement I received from their indulgent appreciation, I would never have had the courage to embark upon such a task.

  For the unexpected success of these articles I can find only one reason: imperfect as they were, they helped to fill a regrettable gap. The Tigris-Euphrates valley – the region once called Mesopotamia and now mostly in Iraqi territory – forms a large, coherent, well-defined geographical, historical and cultural unit. Throughout antiquity, its inhabitants – Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Assyrians – shared the same brilliant civilization and played the leading role in Near Eastern politics, art, science, philosophy, religion and literature. During the last hundred years an enormous amount of archaeological research has been carried out in Iraq proper and in the eastern provinces of Syria. Impressive monuments have been unearthed, and museums have been filled with works of art and inscribed tablets recovered from the buried cities of Mesopotamia. No less remarkable results have been achieved in the field of philology: little by little, the two main languages of ancient Iraq – Sumerian and Akkadian – have yielded their secrets, and tens of thousands of texts have been translated and published. In university libraries the number of books and articles devoted to one aspect or other of Mesopotamian archaeology, history and civilization is positively staggering. Yet while several excellent and detailed histories of ancient Egypt, Iran, Syria, Palestine and Anatolia are offered to scholars or laymen, until H. W. F. Saggs in 1962 published The Greatness That Was Babylon it was impossible to find one single recent general history of ancient Iraq in English or, to my knowledge, in any other language.

  That professional people are reluctant to undertake such a task can easily be understood. To deal thoroughly and competently with all the aspects of a civilization which had its roots in prehistory and lasted for more than thirty centuries would keep several scholars fully occupied for
years and would fill many large volumes. Moreover, as almost every new discovery alters our knowledge of the past, even such a work would be in danger of becoming obsolete within a decade. Assyriologists and archaeologists in general prefer to plough their own fields. Most of their works are accessible only to other scholars or to advanced students. Those among these specialists who aim at a wider audience write on the subjects they know best. ‘Popular’ books, such as Woolley's monographs on Ur, Parrot's publications on Mari or Kramer's editions of Sumerian epics and myths cannot be too highly praised, but they are spotlights illuminating small areas in a very large picture. The layman often fails fully to appreciate their value simply because he is unable to place the sites, monuments, events or ideas described in their proper chronological or cultural context. Historians, on the other hand, have adopted precisely the opposite attitude. The works of L. King (A History of Sumer and Akkad, London, 1910; A History of Babylon, London, 1915), Sidney Smith (Early History of Assyria, London, 1928), A. Olmstead (History of Assyria, New York, 1923), B. Meissner (Babylonien und Assyrien, Heidelberg, 1925) and L. Delaporte (La Mésopotamie, Paris, 1923), excellent in their time and still very useful, though on many points outdated, have never been replaced. Instead, the French and Germans and, to a lesser extent, the British have given us, in more recent years, vast syntheses embracing either the whole of Western Asia or the entire Near East (Egypt included), or even the totality of the ancient world. E. Meyer's Geschichte des Altertums (1913 – 37), H. Schmökel's Geschichte des alten Vorderasien (1957), or the chapters written by G. Contenau and E. Dhorme for Peuples et Civilisations (1950), by L. Delaporte for Les Peuples de l'Orient Méditerranéen (1948) and by G. Goossens for the Encyclopédie de la Pléiade (1956), or again, the monumental Cambridge Ancient History (1923 – 5), of which a revised edition is being prepared, are invaluable monuments of erudition and lack neither detail nor perspective. But it is the kind of perspective one can expect in an art gallery where even a masterpiece tends to lose its individual character among other paintings. No matter what place they give to Mesopotamia, these books fail to do full justice to the remarkable cohesion and continuity of her history and civilization.