Tell Agrab


Tell Agrab is a tell or settlement mound southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq.

History

Tell Agrab was occupied during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods through the Akkadian and Larsa periods. It was during the Early Dynastic period that monumental building occurred, including
the Shara Temple. There is no evidence that it was occupied after the end of the third millennium.

Archaeology

The site of Tell Agrab is encompassed by a rectangle with a height of around. Though it had been subject to illegal digging earlier, the site was officially excavated in 1936 and 1937 by a team from the Oriental Institute of Chicago which was also working at Eshnunna, Khafajah and Tell Ishchali during that time.
The dig was led by Seton Lloyd. The primary excavation effort was on the large Early Dynastic temple, which was dedicated to Shara according to a bowl inscription. Only the western end of the Shara Temple was studied, the rest being badly eroded. The temple was about square and was surrounded by a wall wide with large supporting buttresses. The presence of sling stones and a sappers tunnel indicated an attack in the Early Dynastic era. Aside from a number of treasure caches and cylinder seals found, the most notable find was a copper chariot pulled by four onagers, one of the earliest examples known.

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