Tell Agrab
تل عقرب · Agrab · Temple of Shara at Agrab · Eski Agrab
Late Uruk to Akkadian (c.3400–2200 BCE; temple peak ED II–III 2750–2350 BCE)·Uruk → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic Sumerian (Diyala) → Akkadian·🇮🇶 Diyala Governorate, Diyala plain (southern Diyala trio), Iraq
About
About Tell Agrab
Frankfort's southernmost Diyala city whose oval Shara Temple (Early Dynastic c.2700 BCE, 60×45 m on high terrace) produced the famous hoard of 12 seated stone votives — banquet-box inlays, bull lyre inlay, and nude goddess plaques that define ED miniature carving. The 'Saw Temple' saw-tooth niche front anticipates classical dentil, while a late ED–Akkadian residential quarter preserves the clearest copper-worker houses (crucible debris, stone molds) on the Diyala edge.
Why it mattersCompletes Frankfort's Diyala triple sequence (Eshnunna–Khafajah–Agrab) and sharps temple-oval typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why oval-enclosed — precursor to Khafajah oval or independent?
- 02Workshop copper source — Diyala lode or imported Ingots from Oman?
Theories
- 01Copper molds show ingot-to-blade sequence so Agrab was final forging station before Eshnunna arsenal
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Late Uruk c.3400 BCE; Shara Temple I c.2950 BCE; ED II–III and Akkadian occupation
- Period
- Late Uruk to Akkadian (c.3400–2200 BCE; temple peak ED II–III 2750–2350 BCE)
- Culture
- Uruk → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic Sumerian (Diyala) → Akkadian
- Builders
- Shara cult custodians (ED lugal of Agrab, name lost); later Akkadian soldiers
- Purpose
- Shara warrior-god cult terrace (oval wall sacred elsewhere) plus copper workshop suburb serving Eshnunna
- Abandoned
- c.2200 BCE (Akkadian empire collapse; Diyala urban shrinkage)
- Rediscovered
- 1936–37 Delougaz/ Frankfort Oriental Institute season C
- Excavation
- Excavated
1936
Delougaz finds Shara Temple votive hoard under collapsed cella bench
c.2600 BCE
Saw-tooth niche façade added — earliest geometric ornament
On the ground
Structures & features
33.5600° N · 44.6300° E · 33 m · 3 mapped features
Shara Temple oval enclosure
temple60×45 m oval with inner podium and saw-tooth façade
33.5603° N · 44.6305° EVotive cache beneath cella bench
cache12 stone and shell votives including banquet plaque
33.5602° N · 44.6303° ECopper workshop quarter
workshopED houses with crucible slag and stone molds
33.5598° N · 44.6308° E
Gallery