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A MESOPOTAMIAN TRADITION? AN ANCIENT MAP RELATED TO THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM OF THE OLD ELAMITE PERIOD FROM TAPPEH GĀRĀN, DEH LURAN PLAIN, IRAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2023

Mohsen Zeynivand  and
Fereshteh Sharifi
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Abstract

To Professor James Neely

In respect and admiration

Almost 50 years after landmark archaeological activities in the Deh Luran plain in southwestern Iran by Frank Hole, Kent Flannery, James Neely, and Henry Wright, the area was re-surveyed in 2016 and 2019 to assess the destruction of archaeological sites as a result of agricultural and expanded irrigation activities. During the surface survey on Tappeh Gārān two inscribed objects were found. The inscriptions yield some information on the economic and political importance of Tappeh Gārān in the Old Elamite Period. Textual evidence indicates that throughout the 3th to the 1st millennia BCE, Mesopotamian rulers frequently invaded Elam and seized its principal centres, especially Susa. As the main corridor between Elam and its western neighbors, the Deh Luran plain is a major route between the two, especially in regards to the acquisition of raw materials by the Mesopotamians, including different kinds of stone and bitumen. Further, the abundance of water and fertile soil made the Deh Luran plain a desirable target for Mesopotamian polities. The inscribed objects from Tappeh Gārān consist of writings in Akkadian and geometric patterns that we think illustrate the outline of an agricultural scheme.

بعد ما يقرب من 50 عامًا من النشاطات الأثرية التاريخية في سهل دهلوران Deh Luran في جنوب غرب إيران التي قام بها كل من فرانك هول وكنت فلنري وجيمس نيلي وهنري رايت، تمت إعادة مسح المنطقة في عامي 2016 و 2019 لتقييم تخريب المواقع الأثرية نتيجة للزراعة والتوسع في أنشطة الري . خلال المسح السطحي تابی کاران تم العثور على لوحين . تقدم الألواح بعض المعلومات عن الأهمية الاقتصادية والسياسية تابی کاران Tappeh Gārān في العصر العيلامي Elamite القديم . تشير الأدلة النصية إلى أنه خلال الفترة الممتدة من الألفية الثالثة إلى الألفية الأولى قبل الميلاد، غزا حكام بلاد ما بين النهرين Mesopotamia بشكل متكرر عيلام واستولوا على مراكزها الرئيسية، وخاصة سوسة. باعتبارها الممر الرئيسي بين عيلام وجيرانها الغربيين، إن سهل دهلوران هو طريق رئيسي بين هاتين المنطقتين، خاصة فيما يتعلق بحصول بلاد ما بين النهرين على المواد الخام، بما في ذلك أنواع مختلفة من الحجر والبيتومين . علاوة على ذلك، فإن وفرة المياه والتربة الخصبة جعلت سهل دهلوران هدفًا مرغوبًا للأنظمة السياسية في بلاد ما بين النهرين . تتضمن الألواح من تابی کاران كتابات باللغة الأكادية Akkadian وأنماط هندسية نعتقد أنها توضح الخطوط العريضة لمخطط زراعي .

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 85 , December 2023 , pp. 193 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2023

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Footnotes

To Professor James Neely

In respect and admiration

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