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An Areal Location of AgadeAuthor(s): Christophe Wall-RomanaSource: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Jul., 1990), pp. 205-245Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/546244 .
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8/16/2019 An Areal Location of Agade
2/42
AN AREAL
LOCATION
OF AGADE*
CHRISTOPHE WALL-ROMANA, Berkeley, California
...
Et
la Ville est
de
verre sur son
socle
d'~b'ne,"
Saint-John Perse, "Pluies"
I. INTRODUCTION
IT
was more than
a
century
ago
that the
existence of the
city
of
Agade
was
established
by
the
discovery
of cuneiform tablets
citing
its
name.'
Its
location,
however, has remained a vexing puzzle and a hindrance to Assyriologists ever since,
especially
to those
concerned
with
the
early
periods.
Agade
is
probably
the first
Mesopotamian
city
for
which the term
"capital"
is
appropriate.
So
prestigious
did
it
become that
its
very
name
appeared
in the
royal
titulary
down
to the
time of
Cyrus,
and
it
was also
adjectivized
to
describe
a
variety
of
objects
and
notions,
the most
important
of which
is what is still
known
today
as the
Akkadian
language.2
Despite
the fact
that it
remained
a
prominent
city
for
nearly
1,500
years,
its
geographic setting
is not
as well
established as that
of some less
important
cities whose
locations are also not
precisely
known. All
that is known
today
* I wish to thank Anne Draffkorn Kilmer for
reading
drafts of
this
paper
and
providing
me with
both
valuable sources
and
suggestions.
My
thanks
also
go
to the
Reverend Matthew
White,
for his
help
with texts
in
Italian;
to Steven
Eldred,
who
reworked
both
the
maps
and
legends;
and
to
my
wife
Margaret,
without whom I
could
never con-
template writing
in
English.
Needless to
say,
I alone am
responsible
for the
views
expressed
in this
article.
Works
frequently
cited have been
abbreviated
as
follows:
BBst L. W. King, Babylonian Boundary-
stones
and Memorial
Tablets in the
British
Museum
(London,
1912).
CK
McGuire
Gibson,
The
City
and Area
of
Kish
(Miami,
1972).
HC
R. McC.
Adams,
Heartland
of
Cities
(Chicago, 1981).
Hirsch
H.
Hirsch,
"Die
Inschriften der
Kinige
von
Agade," Achivfiir
Orientforschung
(AfO)
20
(1963):
1-82.
LBB
R. McC.
Adams,
Land Behind
Bagh-
dad:
A
History
of
Settlement
on
the
Diyala
Plains
(Chicago
and
London,
1965).
McEwan J.
G. P.
McEwan,
"Agade
after
the
Gutian
Destruction:
The
Afterlife of
a
Mesopotamian
City," AfO,
Suppl.
19
(1980):
8-15.
MDP
2 Vincent
Scheil,
Textes
blamites-simi-
tiques,
premibre sbrie, M6moires
de
la
D61lgation
en
Perse,
vol.
2
(Paris,
1900).
PKB
J.
A.
Brinkman,
A
Political
History
of Post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722
B.C.,
AnOr 43
(Rome, 1968).
Weiss
Harvey
Weiss, "Kish,
Akkad
and
Agade,"
Journal
of
the American
Ori-
ental
Society (JAOS)
95
(1975):
434-
53.
1
See,
for
instance,
S. N.
Kramer,
The
Sumerians:
Their
History,
Culture,
and Character
(Chicago
and
London,
1963),
pp.
20-21. The
name "Accad" was
previously
known
only
from Gen. 10:10
(written
2
For uses
of the
term
akkadai,
see The
Assyrian
Dictionary
of
the
University
of
Chicago,
vol.
1,
pt.
1
(Chicago, 1964), pp. 272-73. For the royal titulary,
see
W.
W.
Hallo,
Early
Mesopotamian Royal
Titles
(New
Haven,
1957),
p.
77.
[JNES
49
no.
3
(1990)]
@
1990
by
The
University
of
Chicago.
All
rights
reserved.
0022-2968/90/4903-0001$1.00.
205
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8/16/2019 An Areal Location of Agade
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206 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
of its whereabouts
is that
it
belonged
to the ill-defined
region
of Akkad
usually
equated
with
northern
Babylonia.
This lack
of a finer areal resolution
makes
it
difficult
to
judge
the various
proposals
offered
as
to its
location,3
and as
a result
any
significant
unidentified mound in North Babylonia can reasonably be considered a candidate for
Agade.
II.
AREAL LOCATION
The
data
concerning Agade
is far
from
wanting;
the series RGTC4 cites more
than
160 different occurrences of
the name
Agade
in
cuneiform
documents.5
These
originate
from
regions
as far
apart
as Anatolia and
Baluchistan,
ranging
in
time
from
the
Sargonic
to
the Late
Babylonian periods
and
in
genre
across the whole
known
spectrum
of
cuneiform texts.
Although not one of these documents has yielded an unequivocal indication of
Agade's
location,
many
of them do contain
pieces
of information of a
geographical
nature.
It is the
purpose
of
this
paper
to
synthetize
these
geographical
references
and
to
determine whether
they
converge
in the same
general
area
and
if
so,
to circumscribe
this
area as
accurately
as
possible.
In
order
to
do
so,
I
have
transposed
the
information from
the
texts onto
maps
which are
divided
into
two
groups according
to the nature of the
data.
The
first
consists
of
a
map
drawn
from texts
citing
known
places
and
establishing
clear
connections between them
and
Agade,
while
the
second
group comprises
texts
whose
places
are
not
readily
known
and/or
which
establish
only
tentative connections
between
them
and
Agade. Finally,
a
few other texts are
examined
even
though
the
lack of information
concerning
the
toponyms they
contain
precludes
their
cartographic
use
at the
present
time.
As we shall
see,
the
region
on
which
all
the
data seem to
focus
is
situated
near
the
confluence of the
Tigris
and
Diyala
rivers.6
III.
HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
Before
discussing
the
texts,
it
will be useful
to
review
what is
known of
the
founding
of
Agade
and
what
the
historical
tradition
incidentally
reveals
about
its
general
location.
3
Cf.
McEwan,
p.
12;
Weiss,
p.
443,
for a
location
near
Tell
ed-Dar
(Sippar-Annunitum).
See
also
CK,
p.
7;
Weiss,
pp.
442
ff.,
for a
location
near
Kig;
for
S.
Langdon's
explorations
around Kig
and
Kutha,
see
"Ausgrabungen
n
Ki-Hjursagkalama
und
Tello,"
AfO
7
(1931):
62,
and
AfO
8
(1932):
79;
for
Naji
el-Asil's
location at
Tell
al-Wilaya,
see
J. van
Dijk,
"Le
Site
de Guti'um
et
d'Ak-s[a?-a]kki,"
AfO
23
(1970):
71,
n.
2.
4
Repertoire geographique des textes cun6iformes,
TAVO-Beihefte,
Reihe
B,
Nr.
7,
vols.
1-6,
8
(Wies-
baden,
1974-85),
hereafter
cited
as
RGTC.
5
Only
occurrences of the
city
name
(A-ga-dki,
URIki)
have been
taken into
account. The
names of
the
province
of Akkad
(KUR.uRIki),
of
measures
(GUR
A-ga-deki,
sila
A-ga-deki),
deities
(NIN
A-ga-
dbki),
and
individuals
have
been
excluded. I was
able
to review
about
ninety
of
these
documents.
The
remainder is either
untranslated
or
was
unavailable
to
me.
6
It is
J. G. P.
McEwan
who
first
pointed
out this
region, McEwan, pp. 11-12. I had already reached
the
same
conclusion
by
the
time
his
article
came
to
my
attention.
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8/16/2019 An Areal Location of Agade
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AN
AREAL LOCATION
OF
AGADE
207
The
few
chronographic
texts
referring
to the
founding
of
Agade
agree
at least
on
one
point:
it
was
built
by
Sargon,
the founder
of the
Agadean
dynasty.
The
Sumerian
King
List,
which
is the closest source
in
time to this
event,
clearly
states:
"Sarru-
kin ... king of Agade, the one who built Agade."7 Other, late, sources also involve
Sargon
in a
monumental
building program,
although they
seem to confuse
Agade
and
Babylon.8
The
name
Agade
itself,
even
though
it
does
not,
as
far as
we
know,
appear
among
texts
datable to the
Presargonic period, probably
existed prior
to Sargon.9
We may
deduce this from
the fact that
"Agade"
is not a word
of
Akkadian
substratum'0
and
also from our
knowledge
that
Mesopotamian
populations
have
generally adopted
the
toponyms
that
predated
their arrival."
Hence,
"Agade"
was
possibly
the name of
a
settlement too small
to
be
worth
mentioning
and
was
simply
retained to
designate
the
new
city.12
Sargon started his political career'3 by serving King Ur-Zababa of Ki', who,
according
to the
King
List,
held
sway
over the
Land
(i.e., Sumer).
The course
of
events
following
his rule is
unclear. On
the one
hand,
we learn that he was
followed
by
five
7
T.
Jacobsen,
The Sumerian
King
List,
Assyrio-
logical
Studies
11
(Chicago,
1939),
pp.
110-11,
11.31-
35.
8
These
are
the "Weidner Chronicle"
and
"Sargon
Chronicle." For the
former,
see H.
G.
Gifterbock,
"Die
historische Tradition
und ihre
literarische
Ge-
staltung
bei
Babyloniern
und Hethitern bis
1200,"
Zeitschrift
fiir
Assyriologie (ZA)
42
(1934):
47
ff.;
and A. K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian
Chronicles,
Texts
from
Cuneiform
Sources 5
(Lo-
cust
Valley,
New
York,
1975),
p.
149. For
the
"Sar-
gon
Chronicle,"
see
ibid.,
pp.
153-54;
L. W.
King,
Chronicles
concerning Early
Babylonian Kings,
vol.
2
(London, 1907),
pp.
8,
18.
Mostly
on the basis of
these
two
chronicles,
H. Weiss
(Weiss,
p.
447)
locates
Agade
near
Babylon,
at
Ishan
Mizyad (see
fig.
12).
Although
it is
known from a
year-name
of
Sar-kali-
garri
that
Babylon
did
exist in
Sargonic
times
(Hirsch,
p.
29,
n.
3),
Weiss
fails
to
explain
his literal
use
of
these
obviously
anachronistic documents.
Moreover,
Agade's
foundation is not
directly
al-
luded
to:
"He
(Sargon) dug
up
the
dirt of the
pit
of
Babylon
and
/
made a
counterpart
of
Babylon
next
to
Agade"
(Sargon Chronicle);
".
.. he
(Sargon)
dug
up
the
dust of its
pit
and
/
...
in front
of
Agade
he made
(another)
city
and
[cal]led
it
Baby-
lon"
(Weidner
Chronicle).
9
A
year-name
mentioning
Agade
may prove
to
be
Presargonic;
see
A.
Pohl,
Vorsargonische
und
sargonische
Wirtschaftstexte,
Texte
und Materialien
der
Frau Professor
Hilprecht
Collection,
vol. 5
(Leipzig,
1935),
no.
81,
1.
8;
see
also
A.
Westenholz,
Old
Sumerian
and Old
Akkadian Texts
in Phila-
delphia: Literary
and Lexical
Texts
and the Earliest
Administrative
Documents
from
Nippur
(Philadel-
phia, 1975), p. 4.
10
E.
A.
Speiser,
Mesopotamian
Origins (Phila-
delphia, 1930),
p.
54,
points
towards
a
Hurrian
or
Lullubean
etymology
for
Aga-de
in view of
such
city
names as
Arak-di, Lub-di,
Tai-di,
etc.,
which
fits well
with
my
location of
Agade.
But is a
Su-
merian
etymon
clearly
ruled out? For
instance,
a
form
of the
irregular
verb a-
-db,
"to
pour
water,"
in
a-ga-de,
"I will
pour
water,"
constitutes an
ideal
political
declaration,
which
parallels
that
implicit
in
the
name
Sarru-kin
("true
king").
II See Kramer, The Sumerians, pp. 40-41.
12The
emergence
of the written Akkadian
lan-
guage
and of the term akkada
(see
n.
2)
to
designate
it in
Sargonic
times is still
unexplained.
Semites and
Sumerians
were mixed from
the
earliest
times
on,
and no
separation
occurred
along
ethnic
lines
during
the
times
of the
Agadean
dynasty (see
Jacobsen,
"The
Assumed Conflict
between the
Sumerians and
Semites
in
Early
Mesopotamian
History,"
JAOS
59
[1939]: 485-95);
R. D.
Biggs,
"Semitic Names in the
Fara
Period,"
Orientalia,
n.s. 36
[1967]:
55-66).
It
may
be
that
contemporaneous
with
Sargon's
effort
a
push
towards
syllabism
had come from
the
west
(Ebla, Mari)
and that
writing previously
read
in
either
Semitic or
Sumerian
could for
the first time
be
read
only
in a
Semitic
version,
thus
adding
to the
creation
of
the term
akkada to
designate
them
(see
I.
J.
Gelb,
Old Akkadian
Writing
and
Grammar,
Material for the
Assyrian
Dictionary,
vol.
2,
rev.
ed.
[Chicago, 1961],
pp.
1-6).
13
For the
following
discussion,
see C.
J.
Gadd,
"The
Dynasty
of
Agade
and the
Gutian
Invasion,"
Cambridge
Ancient
History,
vol.
1,
pt.
2,
rev.
ed.
(Cambridge,
1963),
pp.
417
ff.,
with
literature.
Cf.
also
W. W.
Hallo,
"Mesopotamia
and the Asiatic
Near
East,"
in
W.
W. Hallo
and
W. K.
Simpson,
The
Ancient
Near
East:
A
History (New
York,
1971), p. 56, n. 52, for a different opinion on
Sargon's
chronology.
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208
JOURNAL OF
NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
kings
at
Ki',
while,
on the
other,
we are
told
that
Lugalzagesi
of Uruk
(formerly
of
Umma)
became
king
of the
Land
upon
Ur-Zababa's
demise.
The
King
List
then
states
that
"Uruk was smitten with
weapons,
its
kingship
to
Agade
was
carried,"
indicating
that Sargon overwhelmed Lugalzagesi. Furthermore, a later tradition states that
kingship
was transferred
directly
from Ur-Zababa to
Sargon.
What
we
may
deduce
from this
entangled
situation
is
that
(a)
Ki'
lost
prominence
after
Ur-Zababa,
(b)
Sargon
claimed
kingship,
but
(c) Lugalzagesi
was
recognized
by Nippur's authority
as
"King
of
the
Land."
Whether it
was
Sargon
or
Lugalzagesi
who caused the
downfall
of Ki'
may
have
a
direct
bearing
on the location
of
Agade.
C. J. Gadd
suggests
that the former
was in
all
likelihood
responsible,
since
Lugalzagesi
nowhere claims that he
ruled or
defeated
Kig.14
As for
Sargon, although
he later
restored
Ki',
"The
Curse of
Agade" says
that
he was
given kingship
"after Enlil's frown
had slain
Ki' like
the
Bull
of
Heaven,"
which sounds rather like a declaration of non-accountability. However, the fact that
Ki'
led
a coalition
seeking
to overthrow
Agade
during
the
reign
of
Sargon's
grandson,
Naram-Sin,
may
illustrate
an
ongoing
conflict
between
these cities."
Thus
it
is
probable
that
Sargon
attempted
a
coup against
Ur-Zababa-perhaps
occasioning
his
adoption
of the
apologetic
name
Sarru-kin,
"true or
legitimate
king"-and
that
this
attempt
failed,
although
Ur-Zababa
himself
may
have
been
eliminated.
Sargon
and
his
followers were then
driven out of
Kis,
and their
exile
led
to the
foundation
of
Agade.
That
Agade
was built at the
beginning
of
Sargon's
political
independence
seems
most
probable.
First of
all,
we can rule out
the
possibility
that
Sargon
lived
a
nomadic
or
non-urban life before
building Agade
late in
his
reign.
The
notion
of the
city-with
its
immanent deity-was much too deeply entrenched in the Sumero-Akkadian psyche
to
allow for
that
assumption.16 Secondly,
we know
that
Agade's
wealth
depended
primarily
on
commercial
expansion, supported
in
part by
an
important
administrative
and
military
apparatus,
rather
than
on
the
direct
production
of
agricultural
goods,
which
was
the traditional
basis of
the
Sumerian
economy."
And
if
we are to
account
for
the
power
behind
Sargon
when he later
defeated
Lugalzagesi,
we
must
assume that
these
economic
infrastructures were
already
in
place.
Furthermore,
it is
improbable
14
Gadd,
"The
Dynasty
of
Agade,"
p.
420.
15A. K.
Grayson
and E.
Sollberger,
"L'Insurrec-
tion
g6n6rale
contre
Naram-Suen,"
Revue
d'assyri-
ologie
et
d'archeologie
orientale
70
(1976):
108,
120.
The
animosity
between Kig
and
Agade
and/or
the
downfall of
Ki'
is further
reflected in
the
Agadean
royal
titulary
when,
starting
with
Naram-Sin,
the
title
"King
of Kig"
was
dropped.
16
A.
L.
Oppenheim,
Ancient
Mesopotamia:
Por-
trait
of
a
Dead
Civilization,
rev.
ed.
(Chicago, 1977),
pp.
I11
ff. For
foreign
nations
viewed from
a Meso-
potamian
standpoint
as
"subhuman
barbarians,"
see
J.
S.
Cooper,
The
Curse
of Agade
(Baltimore
and
London,
1983),
pp.
30-36.
17For the administration of the Sargonic state,
see
B.
Foster,
Administration
and
Use
of
Institu-
tional
Land in
Sargonic
Sumer
(Copenhagen,
1982),
esp. pp.
115-16.
Note also the
statement in
Sargon's
inscription
that
"the
citizens of
Agade
held
the
ensi-
ships (governor-
or
vice-kingship),"
Hirsch,
p.
36.
For
commerce in
Sargonic times,
see
Foster,
Umma
in
the
Sargonic
Period
(Hamden,
Conn.,
1982);
idem,
"Commercial
Activity
in
Sargonic
Mesopo-
tamia,"
Iraq
39
(1977):
31-43. The
dependence
of
Agade
on
overland
trade
may
be
assumed from
the
topos
of
the
"Sar
tamharim"
epic:
W. F.
Albright,
"The
Epic
of the
King
of
Battle,"
Journal
of
the
Society
of
Oriental
Research 7
(1923):
1
ff.
Finally,
the fact that
a vast
majority
of
Sargonic
economic
texts
mentioning
Agade
speak
of
goods
brought
to
that
city
suggests
that
it
relied
heavily
on
imports
for its sustenance, which is to be expected from a
commercial
metropolis.
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AN
AREAL LOCATION
OF AGADE
209
that
Sargon
moved
his
capital
from
an
unspecified
city
to
Agade
later in his
reign,
for,
as we know
from later
Mesopotamian
history,
the instances
of such relocations
proved
unsuccessful. 8
As Lugalzagesi's rival, Sargon would certainly have chosen a site for Agade out of
his
reach,
that
is,
beyond
Sumer's frontier. At
first,
Sargon's
kingdom
may
have
appeared
no different
in size
and
scope
from other
petty
states scattered about
the
northern
periphery
of the Sumerian
heartland,
such as
Guti, Hurri,
Lullubi.
This
would
explain
why
Lugalzagesi
did not crush
the nascent
Agadean
empire
when it
was
probably
still vulnerable.
In
summary,
the
hypothetical
location of
Agade
must account
for its
having
been
built
(a) shortly
after
Sargon's departure
from
Ki',
(b)
on the
fringe
of
Sumer's
frontier
(to
become
the
land
of
Akkad),'9
and
(c)
in relation to commercial
arteries
connecting
Lower
Mesopotamia
to other trade
centers in the
west, north, east,
and
especially southeast, since an important
commercial
axis was
developed in this latter
direction
by subsequent Agadean
kings.20
I
will return to
these
points
in
my
conclusion.
IV.
THE TIGRIDIAN EVIDENCE
The
documents
I
have
analyzed
show a definite
connection
between
Agade
and
the
Tigris,
a fact which
requires
a
short
explanation.
It
is
widely accepted
among Assyriologists
that
Agade
must
lie somewhere
along
a
former branch
of the
Euphrates,21
as
did
most
important
cities
of Lower
Mesopotamia
before
the
Seleucids.
This
"Euphratian
bias" is
why
most
proposals
for the location
of
Agade have been focused near Sippar and Ki', two conspicuous Euphratian cities of
Akkad. One
may rightly
speak
of a
bias, since,
to our
knowledge,
not a
single
piece
of
evidence
links
Agade
to the
Euphrates.22
More
generally,
as will
be
debated in
Appendix
A
below,
the
role of the
Tigris
in
pre-Hellenistic
times has
been
consistently
understated,
chiefly,
it
seems,
because
of the
overwhelming
imbalance of the
data
accumulated
on both
river
systems.
Thus
it
is
only by
default that
the
Euphratian
hypothesis
has
imposed
itself.
18
Capitals
were moved at least two other times in
the
history
of
Mesopotamia.
Sargon
II
built
the
new
city
of
Dir-Sarrukin
to
replace
Nineveh,
but
it
was
used
only
for
a
year
or so
before his death
(706-
705),
and the
caliph Al-Mu'tasim
moved
the
Ab-
basid
capital
from
Baghdad
to
Samarra,
although
after
forty-odd years,
subsequent
rulers returned to
Baghdad,
which had
always
remained
the
commer-
cial
and
cultural
center.
19
For the
importance
of that
frontier,
see
M.
B.
Rowton,
"Sumer's
Strategic
Periphery
in
Topological
Perspective,"
Zikir
Sumim:
Assyriological
Studies
Presented to
F.
R.
Kraus on
the
Occasion
of
His
Seventieth Birthday (Leiden, 1982), pp. 318-25.
20
Foster,
Umma
in
the
Sargonic
Period,
esp.
pp.
45-46,
77;
idem,
"Commercial
Activity
in Sar-
gonic
Mesopotamia,"
Iraq
39
(1977):
39. See also
the
journeys
of
Sargonic
kings
to
Sumer
in
Foster,
"Notes on
Sargonic Royal
Princes,"
JANES
12
(1980):
29-46.
21
Hallo,
The
Ancient Near
East,
p.
56;
G.
Roux,
Ancient
Iraq,
2d
ed.
(New
York,
1980),
p.
146;
Kramer,
The
Sumerians,
p.
61 and
passim.
Cf.
McEwan,
pp.
11-12.
22
The
Euphrates
is
mentioned as the river
on
which
Sargon's
native
city,
Azupiranu,
is situated
(Hirsch,
p.
7,
no.
7)
in
"The
Legend
of
Sargon"
(see
also
Guiterbock,
"Die
historische
Tradition,"
pp.
62-
64).
This
city
certainly
belongs
to
Upper
Mesopo-
tamia and can hardly have had any bearing on the
choice of a
capital
in
Lower
Mesopotamia.
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210
JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
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FIG.
i.--Shaded
area
shows
the
possible
location
of
Agade
according
to
UET
8,
14;
"The Curse
of
Agade";
and
the
text from
Utu-hegal.
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AN
AREAL LOCATION OF AGADE
211
SUMERIAN
TEXT FROM UR
In a
document dated
to
Sargonic
or Ur
III
times,23
the
city
of
Agade
is
mentioned
together with the Tigris (col. 4', 1.3'):
i7-idigna-gin-n6 a-ga-deki
G. Pettinato translates this
passage
as
"andando
verso il
Tigri:
Akkade"
("going
towards
the
Tigris: Agade").24
The text
appears
to be
a
list
of
ensis
(rulers)
and
cities
of northern
Babylonia, although
no ensi is mentioned in connection with
Agade.
Nonetheless,
it
is reasonable
to
assume,
since
the
Tigris
is used as
a
descriptive
landmark,
that
Agade
is not
far from
it. Since
the
Tigris
ran
between
the
Euphrates
and
the channels
of
the
Durul/Taban,25
it
is clear
that
Agade
must
lie
between these
rivers, on either side of the Tigris. If it had been outside, then most likely one or the
other
would
have
been mentioned
as a directional landmark
instead
of
the
Tigris (see
fig. 1).
I
have therefore taken the
reconstructed
branch of the
Euphrates
closest to the
Tigris
and
the
reconstructed channels
of the Durul
and
Taban
rivers,
also
closest to
the
Tigris,
as the outermost limits
for the
area
encompassing Agade.
"THE
CURSE
OF
AGADE"
This Sumerian
composition,
whose
origin
is to
be dated
no
later
than
the
Ur
III
period
(ca.
2000
B.C.E.),26
is
a
mythopoeic
account
of
the
rise and
fall
of
Agade, ending
with its defeat by a Gutian invasion (ca. 2150
B.C.E.).
The
city
is
clearly
described,
and
we
learn,
for
instance
(1.
37),
that
"its
harbor,
where
ships
docked,
was filled
with excitement."27 This
brings
to
mind
a
passage
in
Sargon's
royal
inscriptions:
"Ships
from
Melubba,
ships
from
Magan,
ships
from
Dilmun,
he
(Sargon)
caused
to
be anchored at
Agade's
quay."28
From
both
descrip-
tions,
one can surmise
that
Agade
was close
to
a broad
waterway
which
accommo-
dated
ships coming
from
overseas.
The
only
river
mentioned
in the
whole
composition
is
the
Tigris
(11.43-45):
The
portals
of
its
[Agade's]
ity-gates,
as
if for
the
Tigrisgoing
into the
sea,
Inanna
opened
wide
Shipsbrought hegoodsof Sumer tselfupstreamto Agade) .. .29
23
E.
Sollberger,
Royal
Inscriptions,
pt.
2,
Ur
Excavations Texts 8
(Philadelphia,
1965),
no. 14.
24
G. Pettinato
[review
of
E.
Sollberger,
Royal
Inscriptions],
Orientalia,
n.s.
36
(1967):
451-52.
25
For
the identification and course
of
the
Taban
river,
see
K.
Nashef,
"Der
Taban
Fluss,"
Baghdader
Mitteilungen
13
(1982):
117-41.
The
Taban
and
Durul
were
certainly
interlaced
by
common chan-
nels,
and
in
the
region
we
are concerned with
they
are
approximately
aligned.
26
For editions and translations of the text, see
A.
Falkenstein,
"Fluch
tiber
Akkade,"
ZA 57
(1965):
43
ff.;
Cooper,
Curse
of Agade;
P.
Attinger,
"Re-
marques
a
propos
de
la
'Malediction
d'Accad',"
Revue
d'assyriologie
et
d'archdologie
orientale 78
(1984):
99
ff.
27
Unless otherwise
stated,
the
translations
are
by
Cooper,
in
Curse
of
Agade.
28
Sargon
b2:
11-14;
bl3:
11-14
(=
Hirsch,
pp.
37,
49).
29
Cooper (p.
52):
abul-a-ba
ididigna
a-ab-ba-s
du-ii-gim
/
ki
dinanna-ke4
ka-b6
gil
bi-in-tag4 /
ki-
en-gi-ra
nig-ga
ni-ba-ke4
gigma
m-da-gid-de.
Other
translations of this passage vary noticeably (1. 45):
"In
Sumer the
ships
sail
with
goods
in their
own
account,"
M.-L.
Thomsen,
The Sumerian
Language,
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212
JOURNAL
OF NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
This
mention of
the
Tigris
is
usually
taken
as a
metaphor,
since the
equative
postposition -gim
is
used.
But it
may
well
be a direct reference
to the river
by
which
the
goods
of
Sumer are
conveyed
to
Agade.30
If the
Tigris
is mentioned
only
in
a
metaphor, it is probably because for the narrator, as well as for his audience, the
connection of
Agade
to the
Tigris
was
obvious.
Be
that as it
may,
since
the
Tigris
is
the
only
river cited
in a
composition
entirely
devoted
to
the
city
of
Agade,
I consider
its mention
as indirect
evidence
that
Agade
was situated
somewhere
on or close
to its
course,
contemporary
to the
text. As
Agade
may
have lain on a
canal
branching
from the
Tigris,
our
selected area will
extend
to
the
nearest
rivers
on
both
sides
of it
(fig.
1).
(It
will
be
observed that the
same
figure
is
used for
this,
the
preceding,
and the
following
texts;
the area
they
suggest
for
Agade
being,
for lack
of better
evidence,
the
same.
Naturally,
each
source
will be
used
separately
in
the
composite
maps, figs.
9 and
10.)
TEXT
FROM
UTU-HEGAL
In a
text
celebrating
the liberation
of
Sumer from
the Gutian
occupation,31
King
Utu-hegal
of
Uruk
(ca.
2115
B.C.E.)
states
(col.
2,
11.
5-15):
Tiriqan
king
of
Gutium
spoke
thus: "No
one
encountered
me)"
the
Tigris
down)
to
the
sea
/
he
captured,
Lower
Sumer
he
seized
Upper
(Sumer)
he
seized,
the
roads of
the
Land
he
(seized).
The
whole
question
of
the
length
and
extent
of the Gutian
takeover in
Lower
Mesopotamia
is
far
from
resolved,32
but
it
is
established that
mostly
the
north, Akkad,
was
affected.
Although
we
have
evidence of
some
Gutian
presence
in
Lower
Sumer,
such
cities
as
Ur,
Uruk,
Lagas,
and
possibly
Umma
show a
continuity
of
native
rule
incompatible
with
a
Gutian
hegemony.
Only
the
Tigris
is
mentioned as
part
of the
Gutian
conquest
in
this
text,
rather
than
the
idiomatic
"Tigris
and
Euphrates,"
a
commonly
occurring
expression
somewhat
equivalent
to
"the
whole
of
Sumer."
If
the
Gutians
had
also
seized the
Euphrates,
Utu-hfegal--who
is
engaged
here in a
traditional
exercise of
self-glorification-would
certainly
have
mentioned
it too
to
enhance
his
own
merit.
Since
it
is
established that
the
Gutian
conquest
was
mostly
restricted
to the
land
of
Akkad
and,
through
this
text,
to the
Tigris,
we have
here a
strong
corroboration
that
Mesopotamia,
Copenhagen
Studies in
Assyriology
10
[Copenhagen,
1984],
p.
174,
no.
368;
11.
43-45),
"La
splendide
Inanna
ouvrit
/
la
'bouche'
de
ses
portes
comme
(celle du)
Tigris
coulant
vers
la
mer
/
et fit
haler
des
bateaux
par (les
gens
de)
Sumer
(loin
de
=)
emportant
leurs
propres
possessions
(vers
Agade)"
(Attinger,
"Mal6diction
d'Accad,"
pp.
100,
108).
30
A
conjectural
point
of
stylistics
may
be
adduced.
The
context in
1.
43 is
properly
that of
goods brought
by
land
(through
the
city
gates).
Therefore,
the
following mention of waterbornegoods (1.45) breaks
with
the
original
context,
which
is
resumed in
1. 46.
Something
must
have
triggered
this
break;
it is
likely
to
have
been
the
mention
of
the
Tigris
itself.
If
the
Tigris
had not
been
flowing
toward
Agade,
then
it is
probable
that
the
writer
would not
have
"seen"
ships
sailing
towards
it and
that the
meta-
phor
would
not have
been
strong
enough
to
confuse
the
context.
31 F.
Thureau-Dangin,
"La
Fin
de
la
domination
gutienne,"
Revue
d'assyriologie
et
d'archeologie
orientale
9
(1912): 114;
W. H. Ph.
R6mer,
"Zur
Siegesinschrift
des
Kdnigs
Utuhegal
von
Unug
(+
2116-2110 v.
Chr.),"
Orientalia,
n.s. 54
(1985): 277,
282
[pointed
out
to me
by
A.
D.
Kilmer].
32
On
the
fall of
Agade
and
the
Gutian
period,
see
Hallo, "Gutium" Reallexikon der Assyriologie,
vol.
3,
pp.
710-16;
Gadd,
"The
Dynasty
of
Agade,"
pp.
454-63;
E.
A.
Speiser,
"Some
Factors in
the
Collapse
of
Akkad,"
JAOS 72
(1952):
97-101.
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AN AREAL LOCATION OF AGADE
213
Agade
(and
the
original
district
of
Akkad)
was situated
somewhere
on
the
Tigris
system
(fig.
1).
THE PROLOGUETO THE CODE OF HAMMURABI
The
Prologue
of
Hammurabi's
laws33
lists all
the most
important
cities
of the
Old
Babylonian
kingdom (twenty-seven
in
all),
together
with their divinities
and
the
deeds
which
Hammurabi
accomplished
in each
of them. The
sequence
of cities
in this text
is
carefully arranged, mostly according
to some
geographical
order.
The
first five
cities,
however,
Nippur
(1),
Eridu
(2), Babylon (3),
Ur
(4),
and
Sippar
(5),
are in
order
in
accordance with
the
position
of their
god
in the
Hammurabian
pantheon-Enlil,
Ea,
Marduk, Sin,
and Sama'
respectively.
Starting
with
the sixth
city,
the
sequence
becomes
geographical,
although
this
order
is not according to proximity of one city to the next or their proximity according to a
south-north
axis,
the two
principles
most
commonly
found
in
texts of
a
geographical
nature. Further
investigation
shows that it is
arranged
instead
according
to
the
proximity
of cities
along
the same
watercourse,
as
illustrated
by
the
sequences
Larsa
(6),
Uruk
(7),
Isin
(8),
((Nippur)),
Ki'
(9),
Kutha
(10),
and
((Babylon)),
Bor-
sippa (11),
and
Dilbat
(12).
Both of these are
compatible
with
Adams's
reconstructions
of
branches
of
the
Euphrates
in
Old
Babylonian
times.34
It
should also
be noted that
the
sequence
breaks when it
reaches
the northern
part
of
Babylonia
(after
Dilbat
[12],
Malgium
[20],
and Tutul
[22])
and
thus
confers on
Babylon,
Hammurabi's
capital,
a
central
role.
After the not yet located city of Ke' (13), the enumeration turns to south Sumer.
Another
waterway
is
described
alongside
Lagav-Girsu
(14),
Lagas (15),
Zabalam
(16),
Karkar
(17),
and Adab
(18),
which
may
be
a
branch
of
the
Tigris,35
as is
certainly
the
branch
Ma'kan-Sapir
(19),
Malgium
(20).
The
Upper
Euphrates
is then
described
listing
Mari
(21)
and Tutul
(22).
Of
direct interest to
us is
the
following
mention
of
Ti'pak,
the
god
of
Esnunna,
together
with-if
we are
to
follow
Kraus's
restoration36-
the
mention
of
Esnunna
(23)
itself. There
the
sequence
becomes
problematic:
Baby-
lon
(24),
Agade (25),
ASiur
(26),
and Nineveh
(27).
Notwithstanding
the
mention of
Agade,
it
seems
odd
that the reference
to
Babylon
should
occur
after
that
of
Esnunna,
33I have used a recent translation
by
A.
Finet,
Le
Code
de
Hammurapi
(Brussels,
1983),
pp.
31-44.
34
HC,
p.
166;
also
CK,
p.
251.
The first of these
two
lines
may represent
the
main
course of the
Euphrates.
Both
Adams
and
Gibson
place
Ki'
and
Kutha
on
different
channels,
and the
latter also
assigns
Isin to
a different
branch from
that of
Uruk.
Both
authors
vary
significantly
in
their reconstruc-
tions,
and
the
junction
Kutha-Ki'
is
possible.
In the
case of
Uruk-Isin,
Adams
clearly
reconstructs
a
common
branch
between
the
two
cities.
My
second
line
may represent
the
Arabtu
canal
with no
major
difficulty.
It should
also
be
emphasized
that,
in
my
view, cities may not lie exactly along the water-
courses
implicitly
described
by
Hammurabi
but
may
be
situated on
canals
branching
off
from them: it is
most
likely
that
the
channel(s)
upon
which
these
cities
(some
of
whose
lifespan
had extended for
nearly
a
millennium)
were
originally
built had
shifted
away
from
them
by
the time of
Hammurabi
and
thus that
most were
connected
by
secondary
canals
to the main channels
of the
Euphrates
(and
the
Tigris).
35 For this
presumed
branch
linking
to the
Tigris
cities known
to have been
connected
also to
the
Euphrates,
see J. N.
Postgate,
"Inscriptions
from
Tell
al-Wilayah,"
Sumer
32
(1977):
80;
E. de Vau-
mas,
"L'Ecoulement des
eaux en
M6sopotamie
et
la
provenance
des eaux
de
Tello,"
Iraq
27
(1965):
81-99.
36
According
to
Finet's
statement
(Le
Code
de
Hammurapi,p. 41, n. [b]), Krausproposed to restore
(i-na
Eg-nun-naki)
in
the
text;
idem
in
Wiener
Zeit-
schrift
fiir
die
Kunde des
Morgenlandes
51
(1948-
52):
173-77.
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214
JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
N i n e v e h
3MZamban
a1a
fiiim.
C
Turnu
a
Tuttul
d7
c0
uhMaakan-
"
4
ModernRivers
Za
m
I
Susa
Orderof
mention
n the
h
Code
of
Hammurapit
(possible
old river
ourses)
k
I
.
a.
D•r-Kurigalzu
i.
Adab
mn
S i p p a r
I s i n
c.
Kuthaa
.Karkaraln
--
o. Babylon 1.
Zabalam.
e.
Kig
m.
Girsu
...
f.
Borsippa
n.
Laga.
Ur
g.
Dilbat
o. Larsa
h.
Nippur
p.
Uruk
Eridu
FIG.
2.-Shaded
area shows the
possible
location
of
Agade
based
on the
Prologue
of the
Code
of
Hammurapi.
since Mari (21), Tutul (22), ((Sippar)),and Babylon (24) clearly describe the Euphrates
flowing
toward
Babylonia,
while
Esnunna
(23),
AS'ur
(26),
and
Nineveh
(27)
describe
the
Tigris upstream
from
Babylonia.
Why,
then,
is
Babylon
mentioned
a
second
time in
such a
way
as to
disrupt
the
geographical logic
carefully
maintained
up
to this
point? Why
is it
mentioned
a
second
time
at all?
The
only explanation
is that of
prestige,
which seems to
have taken
precedence
over
all
other
rationales
for
Mesopotamian
monarchs:
Hammurabi must
have felt
compelled
to
mention his
capital
again
directly
before
Agade,
so as
not
to let
Babylon
be
eclipsed
by
the
famous
city
that
he
readily
calls
Agadeki
rebTtim,
"Agade
the
Great."37
37
Finet,
Le
Code
de
Hammurapi,
p.
42.
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AN
AREAL
LOCATION OF AGADE
215
That
Babylon
is
not
cited
in
a
geographical
context
here is confirmed
by
the
segment
Tutul
(22),
Esnunna
(23), Babylon
(24)--irreconcilable
with
any
watercourse.
We
can thus
remove
Babylon
from
the
sequence
and restore
the
geographical
order
Esnunna (23), Agade (25), A''ur (26), Nineveh (27) as describing the Tigris. Although
Esnunna
does
not
properly
belong
to the
Tigris,
it is
part
of the
Tigris
system:
Agade,
then,
is
to
be
sought
between
Esnunna
and
As'ur,
somewhere
along
the
Tigris (fig. 2).
AGADE AND
ESARHADDON
According
to the
Babylonian
Chronicle,38
n
673,
during
the
reign
of
Esarhaddon,
"in
(the
month
of)
Addaru,
Istar
of
Agade
and
the
gods
of
Agade
returned
from Elam
and entered
Agade
on
Addaru 10."
Soon
thereafter,
Esarhaddon
gave
orders
to
"repopulate
the
city
of
Agade,"
and
"deliver the
regular
offerings
of
the
goddess
They
should be advanced to Agade "39
The
program
of
rebuilding
that Esarhaddon
initiated
touched not
only
Agade
but
Babylon,
a
fact which has left
some scholars
under
the
impression
that
"Agade"
might
have been
used as a
synonym
for
Babylon.40
But,
following
S.
Parpola's
objections,41
I
disagree
with this
hypothesis
for
two
reasons.
First,
we
know
of
no
instance of
the
use
of the
name
of
an
existing
city
to
designate
another
existing city,42
and
secondly,
it
is
known
from
Nabonidus43
that Esarhaddon
restored
the
temple
Eulmas of
Istar-of-
Agade
in
Agade,
and no
temple
with
this
name existed
in
Babylon, although
a
temple
of
IBtar-of-Agade
did
exist
there).44
Thus
it is
safe to
conclude that
the
name
"Agade"
was
never
apocryphally
used
as a
name
for
Babylon.
In a letter to King Esarhaddon,45a special envoy named Mir-Ibtar complains that
the
letters
he
sent
to the
palace
in
Ninevah
have
been
returned
to
him from
post
stations
on the
road
leading
there.
Mdr-Ibtar
is
at
that
time in
Agade
supervising
the
arrival of
timber
for
building
projects.
The
names of
these
post
stations
are:
Kamanate,
Ampihapi,
and
[
]garegu.
Parpola
places
Kamanate on the
west
bank of the
Tigris
and
Ampihapi
near
the
point
where
the
Radanu
(Nahr
al-'Adheim)
meets
the
Tigris.
Moreover,
he
adds: "It
would thus seem
that the
post
route
referred
to
by
Mar-IStar
was
more or
less
identical
with
the
modern
road
leading
from
Mosul to
Baghdad
through
A%'ur
nd Samarra on
the western
bank of
the
Tigris."46
In
another letter to
the
king,47
Mdr-IStar
states that
"the
substitute
king,
who on
the
night of the 14th sat on the throne in Nineveh and spent the night of the 15th in the
38
Grayson,
Assyrian
and
Babylonian
Chronicles,
pp.
84,
126.
39 S.
Parpola,
Letters
from
Assyrian
Scholars
to
the
Kings
Esarhaddon and
Assurbanipal,
Alter
Orient
und Altes
Testament
5,
2
vols.
(Neukirchen-
Vluyn,
1970 and
1982)
(hereafter
cited
as
AOAT
5:1,
and
AOAT
5:2),
AOAT
5:1,
p.
218.
40
So
Weiss
in
Weiss,
p.
446;
Brinkman in
PKB,
p.
145,
n.
1662;
301,
n.
1975.
41
AOAT
5:2,
p.
263,
n.
7.
42The name of a southern Sumerian city, Eridu,
was
used as a
synecdoche
for
Babylon
only
because
one
of
Babylon's
quarters
bore this
name also:
but
no
quarter
bore the name
of
Agade;
see
0. R.
Gurney,
"The Fifth
Tablet of
'The
Topography
of
Babylon',"
Iraq
36
(1974):
50;
A.
R.
George,
"The
Cuneiform Text
Tin.tirki
Ba-bi-lu
and
the
Topog-
raphy
of
Babylon,"
Sumer
35
(1979):
226,
230.
43 S.
Langdon,
"New
Inscriptions
of
Nabuna'id,"
American
Journal
of
Semitic
Languages
and Litera-
tures
32
(1915-16):
113-14.
44
Called
E-mal-dari;
George,
"Tin.tirki
Ba-bi-
lu,"
p.
230.
45AOAT 5:1, pp. 250-51.
46
AOAT
5:2,
p.
302.
47
AOAT
5:1,
pp.
226-27.
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216
JOURNAL
OF NEAR
EASTERN
STUDIES
palace
of the
king..
.
entered
the
city
of
Agade
safely
on
the
night
of
the 20th
.. ."
Thus,
it took the
substitute
king
and
his
party
five
days
to
go
from Nineveh
to
Agade.
The
straight
distance
Nineveh-Baghdad
is
roughly
300 km
along
the
direct road
on
the
western bank of the Tigris, and a trip on horseback or by foot would have needed
roughly
an
average
of
60
km
a
day-quite
unreasonable
for
a
royal
train,
albeit that
of
a
substitute.
The
only
alternative is a
journey by
boat,
and four
to five
days
is in
fact
the
average
duration of
such
trips
made
in
December-January.48
Although my
conclusions
here
are
only
of
a
circumstantial
nature,
the
mention
of
post
stations
along
the
Tigris
and
that of a
journey by
boat on
that same river
between
Nineveh
and
Agade strongly
suggest
that the
location
of
Agade
was
on
the
Tigris.
CLAY
BARREL
INSCRIPTION
FROM CYRUS
In a well-known text from Cyrus (557-529)49 recounting how he "liberated"
northern
Babylonia
and
restored
temples
in
its
cities,
one
finds a
clear
indication of the
location of
Agade:
...
all of them
(kings
from
the
entire
world)(1.
29) brought
heir
heavy
tributeand
kissed
my
feet
in
Babylon.
From
(a
region)
as far as
the
city
of A''ur
and the
city
of
Susa
(1.
30)
the
city
of
Agade,
the
land
of
Esnunna,
he
town
Zamban,
he
town
Me-Turnu,
he
city
of
DMr,
s far
as
the
land of the
Gutis,
(these)
sacredcities
across he
Tigris
..
(1.31)
The
key
words
here
are
"(these)
sacred
cities
across the
Tigris (ma-ha-za
[s'a e-bir]-ti
naridiglat)."
Since
Cyrus,
the
narrator,
is
in
Babylon,
it
follows that
all the
places
mentioned lie east of
the
Tigris.
This is true
for
Susa,
Esnunna
(Tell Asmar),
Zamban
(on
or
near
the Lower
Zab),
Me-Turnu
(on
the
Diyala=Turnu,
60
km
southwest
of
Khanikin),
Der
(near
Bedreh),
and
the
Land
of the
Guti
(between
Kurdistan
and
the
Zagros).
ASSur
appears
at
first to
be
the
exception,
since it is on
the western
bank
of the
Tigris.
But
the
text,
by using
the verb
eberu,
"to
cross,"
indicates in
effect
that
coming
from
Babylon
one
had to
cross the
water
of
the
Tigris
to
enter
A''ur.
Since
we
know
that a
moat
enclosing
A'gur's
western
side was
linked at both
ends to
the
Tigris,
the
city
was
in
fact
completely
surrounded
by Tigris
water.50
As
all
known
places
mentioned
in
this text
are
east
of
the
Tigris,
I
see no
reason for
Cyrus
to
have
distorted the
geographical setting
of
only one,
and so
we have
to
48
Cf.
trips
made
by
modern
explorers
on a
kelek
(inflated
sheepskin
boat)
between
Mosul
(Nineveh)
and
Baghdad
and
lasting
three
to six
days
during
the
high
season;
A. C.
Brackman,
The
Luck
of
Nineveh
(New
York,
1978),
p.
74;
A. H.
Layard,
Discoveries in
the
Ruins
of
Nineveh
and
Babylon
(London,
1853),
pp.
464-74;
F. R.
Chesney,
The
Expedition
for
the
Survey
of
the
Rivers
Euphrates
and
Tigris... (London,
1850),
p.
32.
49
Published
by
H.
C.
Rawlinson
and
T.
G.
Pinches,
in The
Cuneiform
Inscriptions
rom
Western
Asia,
vol.
5,
A Selection
from
the
Miscellaneous
Inscriptions
of
Assyria
and
Babylonia
(London,
1880-84;
reprint
London,
1909),
p.
35;
F.
H.
Weiss-
bach,
Die
Keilinschriften
der
Achimeniden, Vorder-
asiatische
Bibliothek
3
(Leipzig, 1911),
p.
6;
J.
B.
Pritchard, ed.,
Ancient
Near
Eastern Texts
Relating
to the
Old
Testament,
3d. ed.
(Princeton,
1969),
p.
316.
50
See
map
in
S.
Lloyd,
The
Archaeology of
Mesopotamia:
From
the Old
Stone Age
to
the
Persian
Conquest,
rev.
ed.
(London,
1984),
p.
180.
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AN
AREAL
LOCATION OF AGADE 217
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FIG. 3.-Shaded
area shows
the
possible
location
of
Agade
based
on the
clay
barrel
inscription
of
Cyrus.
(The
course
of the
Tigris
in
Late
Babylonian
times is
adapted
from
Adams,
LBB,
fig.
4.)
conclude
that
Agade belongs
to the east
Tigris region
as well."
As the text is
accurate
in
depicting
A''ur's
setting,
we can further
conclude that
the
Tigris
had to be crossed
to reach Agade from Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E.fig. 3).
V. AGADE
AND THE
DIYALA
REGION
The
evidence dealt
with in
this section enables
us to
define further the latitudinal
position
of
Agade
on
the
Tigris.
Other materials
circumstantially pointing
to
the
Diyala
region
for
Agade's
location will
be
found
in
Appendix
B
below.
51
It
remains a
mystery why
this well-known
text,
clearly
situating Agade
east of the
Tigris,
has
not
been
mentioned
by
scholars
in
connection with the
search for
Agade
until McEwan's article in 1981
(McEwan,
pp.
9,
11).
J.
M. Durand and
E.
Joannes
have
brought
into the
discussion
a letter
from the
time
of
Cambyses-Cyrus's
successor-which indi-
cates a connection of
Agade
with the East
Tigris
in
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218
JOURNAL
OF NEAR EASTERN
STUDIES
THE COLLECTION
OF THE SUMERIAN TEMPLE
HYMNS
Agade
is
among
the
thirty-seven
cities listed
in
this
composition, together
with
their
gods and the names of their
temples.52
It was written by Sargon's daughter Enhedu-
anna,
the
priestess
of
Inanna
at
Ur.
As far as
we can tell-since
the location
of
only
seventeen
of the
cities
is
established-the
sequence
follows a
general
southeast-northwest
axis,
with
the
excep-
tion of
Der
and
Esnunna.
The
final
part
of
the
collection
concerns
Sippar,
HI.ZA,
Ulmas,
Agade,
and
Eres.
The mention of Ulma'
is a bit
disconcerting,
for
it is
known
that its
temple,
Eulmas,
whose
goddess
was
Inanna-of-Agade, belonged
to
Agade.53
This
may
be
taken
as
an
indication
that
the
temple(s)
of
Inanna,
and their
lands,
formed
a somewhat
separate
area
from
that
of the
city
of
Agade
proper,
at least in
the
time of
Enheduanna.
Unfortunately, the location of Ere' is unknown; that of HI.ZAwill be discussed
below. The
only
known
place-name
in
that
part
of the list is
Sippar,
and the
only
conclusion
that
can be drawn
is
that
Ulma'-Agade
lies
probably
north
of
HI.ZA
and
quite certainly
north of
Sippar (fig.
4).54
THE
GEOGRAPHICAL
LIST
4
R
3855
This
list
comprises
the
sequence
Ulma',
Agade, HI.ZA,
Esnunna,
and
Malgium,56
o
be
compared
with the
sequence Sippar,
HI.ZA,
Ulma'-Agade,
of
the collection
of
hymns
and
Sippar,
Agade,
Esnunna,
of
Sutruk-Nahhunte's
text
(see below).
The
result
is, then,
that
HI.ZA
ies
between
Sippar
and
Agade
and
also
between Agade
and Esnunna. The
only
viable
solution to
this
apparent
contradiction
is
to
posit
that
Agade
and
HI.ZA
lie
on
the same
line
approximately
perpendicular
to
the line
Sippar-Esnunna (see
fig.
5),
with
Agade
situated
probably,
as we
have
seen,
north
of
HI.ZA.
Late-Babylonian
times
(A.
T.
Clay, Neo-Babylonian
Letters
from
Erech,
Yale
Oriental
Series 3
[New
Haven,
1920],
no.
106,
11.
19-26):
"Consult the
re-
cords of
the time
of
Nebuchadnezzar,
Neriglissar
and
Nabonidus
(to
find
out)
how
much
flour--
including transportation, belts and sandals-you
gave
to the
soldiers
posted
on the
riverbank at
Takrit
and at
Agade."
It
follows that
Agade
and
Takrit are
on
the
bank of
the
same
river: most
probably
the
Tigris.
It
is
also
possible
that
the river
was an
antecedent to the
Parthian
Nahrawan
canal,
since Takrit
was at its
mouth
(LBB,
p.
67).
In both
cases,
Agade
is
definitely
to be
assigned
to
the
Tigris
system
near the
Diyala (Nouvelles
assyriologiques
breves et
utilitaires
4
[1988]: 51-52).
52
A.
W.
Sj6berg,
The
Collection
of
the
Sumerian
Temple
Hymns,
Texts from
Cuneiform
Sources 3
(Locust
Valley,
New
York,
1969).
53
Cf.
Cooper's
remark
that
"Inanna, according
to
this
composition,
did
not
have a
proper
temple
in
Agade,"
Curse
of
Agade,
p. 236,
n.
9. But
see n. 54
below. For the name
(E)-Ulma',
see
Sjoberg, Temple
Hymns,
pp.
145-46.
54 Another
Sumerian
hymn
mentions
Agade
and
its
temple
Eulmas
among
a
list of
cities and
their
temples.
The
sequence
Borsippa,
Sippar,
Agade,
Karkar, DEr, Diniktu, Kutha, ME-Turnu is, how-
ever,
inconclusive
(E.
Reiner,
"A
Sumero-Akkadian
Hymn
of
Nana,"
JNES
33
[1974]:
221-36).
We
may
note
nevertheless that
DEr,
(probably)
Diniktu,
and
Ma-Turnu,
belong
to
the
east
Tigris
region
and that
Agade
appears
to
be north
of
Sippar.
In
the Su-
merian
myth
"Inanna's
Descent
to the
Netherworld,"
the
sequence
of the
cities
suggests
that
Agade
must
be north of
KiS:
Uruk,
Bad-Tibira,
Zabalam,
Adab,
Nippur,
Ki',
Agade.
55
Pinches,
The
Cuneiform
Inscriptions of
Western
Asia,
vol.
4,
A Selection
from
the Miscellaneous
Inscriptions of
Assyria
...
(London,
1891),
pp.
38,
39.
56The two cities
preceding
Ulma' are
Marad
and
perhaps
Diniktu.
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AN AREAL LOCATION
OF AGADE
219
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