The Italian Archaeological Excavations at Tell Zurghul, ancient Nigin, Iraq. Final Report of the Seasons 2015-2017

The Italian Archaeological Expedition to Nigin of Sapienza University of Rome and University of Perugia started excavations at Tell Zurghul in 2015: a survey and three excavations seasons were carried out in the period between 2016 and 2017. This volume presents the results of the archaeological explorations with the analysis of the stratigraphic and architectural contexts of Area A, B and D as well as the study of the pottery from the contexts so far investigated and the survey in Area C in the western sector of the site. Tell Zurghul is a site of about 70 ha in the modern province of Dhi Qar in Southern Iraq: it belongs, together with Tello/Girsu and al-Hiba/Lagaš, to the ancient State of Lagaš: starting from the very beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, Tell Zurghul can in fact be identified with the ancient Sumerian city of Nigin. Cuneiform sources dating from the first and second dynasties of Lagaš testify the intensive building activities of the rulers, mainly related to the important temple dedicated to the city goddess Nanše. In fact, Nigin was an important religious centre of the ancient State of Lagaš, and Gudea states that he purposely dug a canal from Girsu to Nigin (the so-called “Canal going to Nigin”) he regularly used to reach the city on the occasion of festivals, ceremonies and visits to the temple. The regulation of water, with the digging of canals and the management of the area of the marshes around the settlement, is an activity that involved, at several times, the rulers of Lagaš: in this respect, it is interesting to point out that Nanše, the patron deity of Nigin, is not only Enki’s daughter, but she is specifically linked to aquatic species, birds and fish, with a clear indication of the importance of the ancient environment and landscape for the development and growth of the city. The importance of the shape and features of the ancient environment and landscape has been at the centre of the archaeological investigations at Tell Zurghul: next to archaeological operations, the programme of research also encompassed the study of the ancient landscape, pointing to the reconstruction of the waterscape of the ancient State of Lagaš, in particularly for what concerns the proximity of the sea and, more importantly, the phenomenon of the sea ingression that occurred in the Early- and Mid-Holocene period (about 6500-6000 yr BP). The reconstruction so far made showed that Tell Zurghul was in fact in the middle of a lagoon system of brackish water, an environment that favoured the life of species, such as the bull sharks, whose vertebrae have been found in the archaeological context of Area B. The site had already been briefly investigated, in 1887, by Robert Koldewey during his visit to southern Iraq in the region of the ancient State of Lagaš: his works concentrated on the two mounds, with two narrow and deep soundings, and in other areas of the site (along the North-Western side and in the space in between the two mounds). Unfortunately, little information of his works is known: Koldewey published only one report, but he does not properly give any useful archaeological information, his conclusions on the nature and chronology of the site are misleading and untenable. The explorations so far conducted, for example, on the two mounds (Area B and Area D), definitely showed a different pattern and picture of the occupation and development of the site. On the one hand, excavations of the top and South-Western slope of Mound B revealed the superimposition of at least 5 architectural phases of a sacred building dating from the Ubaid 4 period, with the recovery of typical Ubaid findings such as clay cones, black painted vessels, clay sickles and both painted and unpainted censers. On the other, excavations on the Southern slope of the main Mound A, to the South of the soundings made by Koldewey, a system of artificial terracing has been identified: terraces and plastered platforms are probably to be ascribed to the work of rehabilitation of the area of the temple of Nanše by Gudea of Lagaš. Investigation in this area also revealed what seems to be the latest occupation of the site at the very beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, as it is also documented by the finding of fragments of 2nd millennium pottery in the lower city, to the South of Mound A (those fragments collapsed, together with the baked bricks and clay cones with Gudea’s inscriptions, from the uppermost layers of the mound) and in the survey Area C. Area C was surveyed in 2015 and 2017 and, even if open area excavations have not already been performed, an extended part of the North Western sector of the city was largely surveyed, with the collections of several surface materials and the identification of topographical and architectural features. The area seems quite well delimited to the East by a white large strip of what looks like an inner water canal running within the city, and possible changing its course during different chronological phases. Along the white strip on the ground, an elongated relief delimits on the ground this peripheral sector of the city, that, in particularly during the 2nd millennium BC, but also in earlier periods, seems to have been exclusively used as a productive area. This explains the presence of installations and workshops for the production and manufacture of goods, such as pottery and metals (different types of slags have been collected during the survey). In particular the presence of a small mound characterized by heavy deposits of ashy soil on the surface is noteworthy: here, a large kiln for the production of pottery has been discovered during the operation of scraping. This volume is therefore the result of the combination of several works: in particular, it aims to present a comprehensive study and analysis of pottery types, from the contexts dating from the Ubaid period to the latest phases of occupation in the early centuries of 2nd millennium BC. We are in fact strongly convinced that a new wave of Mesopotamian archaeology must necessarily encompass and be founded on the systematic study of pottery: the identification of recurrent types, the modes of production, chronological issues. This can be precisely done thanks to the exam of material culture from sure and stratified contexts that can then be compared and integrated with textual data, architectural features and, when possible, C14 datings. At the same time, the volume presents the architectural evidence of the buildings so far discovered as well as the geological studies and the analysis of the faunal remains as to reconstruct the ancient landscape and environment of the site within the region of the ancient State of Lagaš through the millennia.