Shafaq News- Al-Diwaniyah
More than 4,000 years after emerging as the spiritual heartof ancient Mesopotamia, the archaeological city of Nippur in Iraq’sAl-Diwaniyah province continues to yield discoveries that deepen understandingof the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian civilizations.
Near the town of Nafar in Afaq district, the sprawling ruinsare marked by towering mounds, mud-brick structures, and scattered potteryfragments. At their center stand the remains of the ancient ziggurat andadjoining temples, once among the most revered religious complexes inMesopotamia.
During a visit, Shafaq News observed visitors walking amongpottery shards and ancient remains, enduring traces of a settlement that forcenturies shaped the religious life of southern Mesopotamia. Bassem Jabbar,director of Al-Diwaniyah’s Antiquities and Heritage Department, explained thatNippur’s exceptional standing rested on the Temple of Enlil, dedicated to thesupreme deity of the Sumerian pantheon.
“Although Nippur was never the political capital of aSumerian or Babylonian kingdom, its religious status gave it exceptionalinfluence throughout Mesopotamia.”
: Al-Diwaniyah: a city of happiness with lost potential
He traced archaeological exploration of Nippur to 1851, withlarge-scale excavations beginning in 1889 under the University of Pennsylvania. Those missions unearthed thousands of cuneiform tablets, one of the world’soldest known city maps, the ziggurat, temples, and an extensive librarypreserving Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian writings on religion, literature,administration, economics, mathematics, and astronomy.
Today, Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and anAmerican archaeological mission conduct annual excavations that continue touncover artifacts and expand knowledge of the ancient city, Jabbar added.
Among the most important discoveries are the monumentalziggurat dedicated to Enlil and the Ekur Temple, or “Mountain House,” hisprincipal sanctuary and one of Mesopotamia’s holiest religious sites. Archaeologists have also identified dozens of occupation layers dating to theUruk period, alongside bronze statues, clay tablets, cylinder seals, pottery,and metal tools.
From the summit of the ziggurat, visitors can overlook theremains of a city that influenced Mesopotamian religious traditions formillennia. Nippur is also linked to Enheduanna, daughter of the Akkadian kingSargon and the earliest known named author in recorded history. Although sheserved as high priestess of the moon god Nanna in Ur, Enlil’s sanctuaryretained its position as one of the region’s foremost places of worship.
The thousands of cuneiform tablets recovered from Nippur,according to Jabbar, form one of the richest documentary archives from theancient Near East, preserving commercial contracts, administrative records,school exercises, scientific writings, myths, and religious texts.
He also pointed out that the archaeological city remains onUNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites while Iraqi authoritiescontinue to fulfill the technical and administrative requirements for fullinscription.
: Discover Iraq: Al-Diwaniyah, a province of untapped potential and neglect
