Mysteria
Verified33.6350° N · 44.8600° E · 45 m

Tell Haddad (Me-Turan) — Twin Mounds and Ekur Ziggurat Terrace

Haddad · Me-Turan · Tell Haddad · Meturan

Early Dynastic to Isin-Larsa (2600–1760 BCE)·Sumerian–Akkadian (Me-Turan / Simurrum)·🇮🇶 Diyala Governorate, Lower Diyala / Lake Hamrin, Iraq

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About

About Tell Haddad (Me-Turan) — Twin Mounds and Ekur Ziggurat Terrace

Twin-mound Late Early Dynastic to Isin-Larsa city (Me-Turan) on Diyala-Adhaim confluence engulfed by Hamrin reservoir fringe. Main mound holds 40x35 m ziggurat-platform terrace (Ur III rebuilt by Iddin-Sin of Simurrum) dedicated to Nanna/Sin, with niched staircase and oval-temple remnants underneath; second mound Tell al-Sib holds residential archive (Mesag archive, 800 cuneiform tablets on grain administration, Old Babylonian). Rescued by Iraqi Hamrin Dam project before flooding; tablets now in Baghdad.

Why it mattersHamrin frontier ziggurat documenting Zagros-polity Simurrum interaction with Ur; Mesag archive clarifies grain economy.

Open questions

Mysteries & theories

Mysteries

  1. 01Me-Turan vs Tutub political relation in Diyala

Theories

  1. 01Ziggurat as Zagros-facing bastion shrine before Elamite campaigns

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.2600–1760 BCE, ziggurat c.2112–2004 BCE (Ur III) rebuilt Isin-Larsa
Period
Early Dynastic to Isin-Larsa (2600–1760 BCE)
Culture
Sumerian–Akkadian (Me-Turan / Simurrum)
Builders
Ur III (Ibbi-Sin) and Simurrum kings
Purpose
Frontier cult terrace for Nanna (moon god) guarding Diyala crossing toward Zagros
Excavation
Excavated

  1. c.2600–1760 BCE, ziggurat c.2112–2004 BCE (Ur III) rebuilt Isin-Larsa

    Initial construction

  2. c. 1378 CE

    Major expansion

On the ground

Structures & features

33.6350° N · 44.8600° E · 45 m · 2 mapped features

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