Tell Drehem
Puzrish-Dagan · Drehem
Ur III (c.2112–2004 BCE; peak Shulgi–Ibbi-Sin c.2050 BCE)·Ur III state (Third Dynasty of Ur)·🇮🇶 Qadisiyah Governorate, South of Nippur, Iraq
About
About Tell Drehem
Ur III state cattle redistribution centre Puzrish-Dagan (Drehem) — Shulgi's royal livestock agency (c.2050 BCE) processing thousands of cattle/sheep for Ur and Nippur temples. Surface 380×240 m mound produced 15,000+ Ur III administrative tablets (mostly unprovenanced market) with detailed bureaucratic accounting; Iraqi soundings confirm archive magazine and stockyard enclosures.
Why it mattersUr III state economy type-site — bureaucratic livestock agency revealing centralized redistribution.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Scale of Ur III animal flows?
- 02How to reconstruct looted tablet provenance?
Theories
- 01State centralization vs. temple economy (Steinkeller, Englund)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2112 BCE
- Period
- Ur III (c.2112–2004 BCE; peak Shulgi–Ibbi-Sin c.2050 BCE)
- Culture
- Ur III state (Third Dynasty of Ur)
- Builders
- Ur III kings Shulgi, Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin
- Purpose
- Settlement and ceremonial centre
- Abandoned
- c.2004 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1889 (de Sarzec surface)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2050 BCE
Shulgi founds Puzrish-Dagan royal cattle centre
c.2004 BCE
Abandoned with Ur III collapse
1889
de Sarzec surfaces; tablets flood antiquities market
1909–1911
Iraqi soundings confirm archive building and pens
On the ground
Structures & features
31.5600° N · 45.2300° E · 15 m · 3 mapped features
Central Archive Building (Puzrish-Dagan Tablets)
archiveUr III tablet magazine yielding 15,000+ livestock account tablets (Shulgi Year 40 – Ibbi-Sin)
31.5603° N · 45.2302° EStockyard Enclosures and Droveway
enclosureMudbrick cattle pens and droveway, southern sector, with feeding troughs
31.5607° N · 45.2295° EAdministrative Quarter and Sealing Deposit
settlementNorthern administrative houses with cylinder-seal impression bullae and tablet debris
31.5596° N · 45.2303° E