Near East Kingdoms

Kutalla (City) (Sumer)

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The city states of Sumer formed one of the first great civilisations in human history (see feature link). This Near Eastern civilisation emerged a little way ahead of that of Africa's ancient Egypt, and up to a millennium before that of the Indus Valley culture. It developed out of the end of the Pottery Neolithic across the Fertile Crescent, a period which had seen Neolithic Farmer practices spread far and wide across the Near East and beyond.

As irrigation improved so the more southerly reaches of the Euphrates could at last be occupied by humans and their animals. Southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and the western edge of Iran) was subjected to permanent settlement, initially in the form of pastoralists but soon as farmers too. Cultures around the edges of this progression included the Hassuna and Samarra which began this settlement process, and perhaps elements of the Hissar culture in the Iranian highlands were also involved.

By the late fourth millennium BC, Sumer was divided into approximately a dozen city states which were independent of one another and which used local canals and boundary stones to mark their borders. Many early historical events in the region are found only in the Sumerian king list, which notates the rulers of the city states (and see feature link), but archaeology has also uncovered a wealth of detail.

The modern archaeological site of Tell Sifr forms the location for the small Sumerian city of Kutalla. This location provided an agricultural hub which typically remained dependent upon Ur. It was located about 14.5 kilometres to the east of Larsa, connected to Bad-tibira by a branch of the ancient Iturungal canal.

The site today is a small, conical mound on top of a platform which is about twelve metres in height. The earliest excavations took place in 1854 under the direction of William Loftus, although the work continued only for a few days. About a hundred unbaked clay cuneiform tablets were found, many of them 'enveloped'.

Most were fully intact, being found inside a brick structure and protected by reed matting. The envelopes which partially surrounded the tablets were also inscribed and sealed using cylinder seals. All were dated to the 1800s-1700s BC. Some were subsequently found to have originated in Ur and had accidentally been mixed with the Kutalla tablets during shipping to the British Museum.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), from Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Heywood (Barnes & Noble, 2000), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, S Lloyd (Revised Ed, London, 1984), from Mesopotamia, Chris Scarre (Ed, Past Worlds - The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Guild Publishing, London 1989), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Enrico Ascalone (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1, University of California Press, 2007), and from External Links: Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2234-2113 BC), Douglas Frayne (RIM The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, University of Toronto Press, 1993, and available via JSTOR), and Old Assyrian, K R Veenhof & Jesper Eidem (Old Assyrian Collection, available via the Internet Archive), and Kutalla Tablets (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative).)

c.2500 BC

Sumerians continue to control southern Mesopotamia during the 'Early Dynastic' period. The major city states are: Adab, Akkad, Bad-tibira, Borsippa, Eridu, Girsu, Isin, Kish, Lagash, Larsa, Mari, Nippur, Shuruppak, Ur, and Uruk.

This figurine of a woman was dated by archaeologists at about 2500 BC, having been uncovered in the ancient Sumerian city of Lagash

The minor cities and city states are: Akshak, Apiak, Arina, Awan, Dilbat, Eresh, Eshnunna, Hamazi, Kazallu, Kisiga, Kisurra, Kutalla, Kutha, Larak, Lullubi, Marad, Nerebtum, Nina, Puzrish-Dagan, Rapiqurn, Sippar, Terqa, Tutub, Umma, Urukag, Urum, Urusagrig, Uzarlulu, Zabalam, and Zimbir.

By this time the scribes of Abu Salabikh bear Semitic names. Sumer is now a multi-lingual region, with at least two major languages being spoken in the form of Sumerian and Semitic (sometimes labelled proto-Akkadian, with that later being a dominant form of non-Sumerian).

Semitic predominates in northern Sumer and in northern Mesopotamia beyond that - such as at Ashur and Nineveh - as this is the route of entry into Sumer itself for Semitic-speakers.

Its use is most notable in early Akkadians, while Sumerian still dominates in the south and Amorites are already penetrating into north-western Mesopotamia to assume gradual control of small cities such as Terqa.

Some of the earliest cities, such as Sippar, Borsippa, and Kish in the north, and Ur, Uruk, and Eridu in the south, formed the endpoints of what became the complex Sumerian network of cities and canals (click or tap on map to view full sized)

c.1835 BC

Silli-Adad of Larsa, also governor of Kutalla, is defeated and killed in battle by Sabium of Babylon, apparently leaving the kingdom in a political vacuum which is quickly filled by Elamites.

c.1834 BC

Kudur-mabug or Kudur-mabuk, apparent king of an otherwise unknown Elamite state to the north of the Eparti capital at Susa, manages to install his son, Warad-Sin, on the throne of Larsa. Warad-Sin also secures his control of Kutalla.

c.1761 BC

Hammurabi of Babylon turns on his old ally, defeating Zimri-Lim of Terqa in battle and conquering Mari around 1764 BC. Two years later, around 1762 BC, Mari is sacked and devastated by Hammurabi and the region is incorporated into his empire.

The area is subsequently occupied by scattered groups of Assyrians and Babylonians, while many other small cities fall under the sway of Babylon.

Babylon began life as a modest town which had been seized from Kazallu, but was quickly fortified by the building of a city wall in the nineteenth century BC

The title of sikkatum as used under later Assyrian controls is identical to one which is attested in the 'Old Babylonian' period. Its bearer plays a role in city administration, notably at Kutalla.

Here a certain Qisti-lrra appears several times, presumably as an official witness in house sales. Appearances show him bearing the title of rabianum, meaning 'mayor', and separately as sikkatum, perhaps reflecting a development in his career.

One contract designates him as NU.BANDA (a nu-banda is a senior city captain, midway between the ranks of junior captain (of a smaller settlement) and the ensi (governor) of a larger city). Having a nu-banda in charge of Kutalla ranks it as a medium-sized city.

The death of Qisti-Irra is also important enough to be mentioned. His replacement in the second half of the eighteenth century BC is Ili-ippalsam, rabianum.

The main mounds at the modern archaeological site of Tell Sifr have been identified as the location of the ancient Sumerian city of Kutalla, largely a dependency of Larsa during the early second millennium BC