Mashkan Shapir

The city is located in Southern Mesopotamia , on a low hill, rising 2-5 meters above the surrounding plain. It is located east of Babylon and north of Nippur . ^[one]

Excavations began in 1987 , after exploring the area by ^[1] , and were led by Elizabeth Stone. Excavations were limited. Searches for artifacts on the surface of the earth and photography using a kite were also conducted. Research was discontinued in 1990 after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf ^[2] . As a result of excavations, Elizabeth Stone and Paul Zimanski published a book in 2004, “The Anatomy of the Messopotamian City: Investigation and Probing of Mashkan Shapir” ^[3] .

Mashkan Shapir arose as a small rural settlement. The first mention of it was found in correspondence from Nippur , dating back to the reign of the Akkadian king Sargon the Ancient (2334-2279 BC). Mashkan Shapir developed somewhat during the era of the Third Dynasty of Ur (XXI century BC), but still remained a secondary settlement, mainly acting as the center of the sheep region. With the heyday of the states of Yixing and Lars at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e., Mashkan Shapir became the border city of the kingdom of Lars.

Larsa probably temporarily lost control of the Mashkan Shapir, but again captured the city under King Nur-Adad (1866-1850 BC). During the reign of his son Sin-iddinam (1850-1843 BC), city fortifications were built or rebuilt. The city was surrounded by a wall that enclosed an area of ​​72 hectares , only part of which was densely populated. The wall was dedicated to the god Nergal , who was probably the supreme deity of Mashkan Shapir. Mashkan Shapir was divided into parts by four main channels. Residential and industrial areas, as well as a religious quarter, were discovered in the city. In manufacturing areas, evidence of processing copper, stone and pottery has been found. In the religious quarter, temple platforms made of burnt and unburnt bricks, as well as fragments of terracotta statues of lions, horses and people, possibly guarding the entrance to the temple, were discovered. The fenced area on the central hill at the late stage of the city’s history was used as a cemetery. Funeral objects scattered on the surface of this territory include funeral vessels, jewelry and weapons.

After the reign of the Sin-iddin, Lars again lost and conquered Mashkan-shapir again. King Larsa Varad-Sin (1835-1823 BC) built a temple there, and during the reign of his brother Rim Sin (1823-1763 BC), the city reached its peak of importance, having received the status of the second capital of the state (the first the capital remained the city of Lars ). The city was ruled by Sin-mubullit, the brother of Rome-Sin. Mashkan Shapir also served as a base for Babylonian diplomatic missions in Lars during the reign of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1793-1750 BC).

In 1764 BC e. Hammurabi, in alliance with Marie, attacked Lars. After the siege, Mashkan Shapir fell, and Hammurabi continued the conquest of Lars.

Under Hammurabi, Mashkan Shapir still remained an important city, but it no longer had the same significance as under Rome Sina. Later, the city fell victim to the decline of the Babylonian kingdom under the successor of Hammurabi Samsu-ilun (1750-1712 BC). He became one of the many southern Babylonian cities abandoned during his reign.

Many centuries later, the Parthians founded in the same place a small settlement, which existed from the middle of the III century BC. e. before the beginning of the III century AD e. ^[one]

• Elizabeth Caecilia Stone, Paul E. Zimansky. The Anatomy of a Mesopotamian City: Survey and Soundings at Mashkan-shapir . - 2004.
• Trevor Bryce. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia . - Routledge, 2009 .-- P. 457–458.