Two Cities of Sippar: Tell Abu-Habbah and Tell ed-Der

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to determine whether a pair of sites located in southern Mesopotamia, Tell Abu-Habbah (ancient Sippar-Jahrurum) and Tell ed-Der (ancient Sippar-Amnânum) represented two different cities or one larger complex. The spirit of this paper is to produce a comprehensive and comparative study of both sites to understand the connection between them and to find out whether or not they were one or two cities. This research used written documentation, archaeological data and the results of geomorphological analyses, all mediated by a GIS of the area, to investigate this problem. The thesis concludes that both cities were part of one center called Sippar, as reflected in their names. Even though the two cities were separated by some six kilometers, they were dependent on each other. Tell ed-Der seems to have been a complementary part of Abu-Habbah, serving primarily as its suburb and manufacturing area.