Jemdet Nasr
Location | Iraq |
---|---|
Region | Babylon Governorate |
Coordinates | 32°43′4.01″N 44°46′45.98″E / 32.7177806°N 44.7794389°E |
Type | tell, archaeological site, type site |
Area | 1.5 hectare, 7.5 hectare |
Height | 2.9 metre, 3.5 metre |
History | |
Periods | Jemdet Nasr period, Ubaid period, Early Dynastic I, Uruk period |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1926; 1989; 1988; 1928 |
Archaeologists | Stephen Herbert Langdon, Louis-Charles Watelin, Roger Matthews |
Jemdet Nasr (
Archaeology
In 1925, the team that was excavating at
In 1988 and 1989, two further excavation seasons were carried out under the direction of British archaeologist
The importance of the findings at Jemdet Nasr were immediately recognized after the 1920s excavations. During a large conference in Baghdad in 1930, the Jemdet Nasr period was inserted into the Mesopotamian chronology between the Uruk period and the Early Dynastic period, with Jemdet Nasr being the eponymous type site. Since then, the assemblage characteristic for the Jemdet Nasr period has been attested at other sites in south–central Iraq, including Abu Salabikh, Fara, Nippur, Ur and Uruk.[17] The period is now generally dated to 3100–2900 BC.[18]
Jemdet Nasr and its environment
The name Jemdet Nasr translates as "Small mound of Nasr", named after a prominent
Occupation history
Occupation is thought to have started at least in the Ubaid period and occupied until the Early Dynastic I period. The Ubaid occupation of the site has not been explored through excavation but is inferred from pottery dating to that period, and clay sickles and a fragment of a clay cone, that were found on the surface of Mound A.[20] Both the 1920s as well as the 1980s excavations have resulted in considerable quantities of Middle Uruk period (mid-4th millennium BC) pottery. It seems that during this period, both Mounds A and B were occupied. During the Late Uruk period (late 4th millennium BC), an extensive settlement must have existed at Mound B, but its nature is again hard to ascertain due to a lack of well-excavated archaeological contexts.[21]
The Jemdet Nasr period settlement (3100–2900 BC) extended over an area of 4–6 hectares (9.9–14.8 acres) of Mound B. Some 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres) was occupied by the single, large mudbrick building that was excavated by Langdon, and where the clay tablets were found. In and around this building, kilns for firing pottery and baking bread were found, and other crafts like weaving. Many of these crafts, and also agricultural production, feature prominently in the proto-cuneiform tablets – indicating that much of the economy was centrally controlled and administered. In the texts from Jemdet Nasr, the term "SANGA AB" appears, which may denote a high official. The building was probably destroyed by fire. There is no evidence for far-reaching trade-contacts; no precious stones or other exotic materials were found. However, the homogeneity of the pottery that is typical for the Jemdet Nasr period suggests that there must have been intensive regional contacts. This idea is strengthened by the finding of sealings on the tablets of Jemdet Nasr that list a number of cities in southern Mesopotamia, including Larsa, Nippur, Ur, Uruk and Tell Uqair.[22]
After the destruction of the Jemdet Nasr building, occupation of the site seems to have continued uninterrupted, as pottery forms show a gradual transition from Jemdet Nasr forms into the Early Dynastic I repertoire. At least one building of this period has been excavated at Mound B. Based on the distribution of Early Dynastic pottery on the surface, the settlement seems to have been smaller than during the Jemdet Nasr period.[23] A single Early Dynastic I grave was found on Mound A, but no further evidence for occupation during this period. The building that was visible on the surface of the mound was probably a Parthian fortress, but due to a lack of well-dated pottery from this area this dating could not be ascertained.[24]
Material culture
Apart from the proto-cuneiform tablets, Jemdet Nasr gained fame for its painted polychrome and monochrome pottery. Painted pots display both geometric motifs and depictions of animals, including birds, fish, goats, scorpions, snakes and trees. However, the majority of the pottery was undecorated, and the fact that most painted pottery seems to have come from the large central building suggests that it had a special function. Pottery forms included large jars, bowls, spouted vessels and cups.[25]
A number of cylinder seals, stamp seals and cylinder seal impressions on the clay tablets have been found at Jemdet Nasr.[26] Stylistically, these seals are a continuation of the preceding Uruk period. The cylinder seals display humans as well as animals in a very crude style. Over 80 of the clay tablets bore a sealing, showing humans, animals, buildings, containers and more abstract designs. None of the sealings on the tablets was made by the seals that were found at the site, indicating that sealing either occurred outside Jemdet Nasr or that seals could also be made of perishable materials. One sealing, found on thirteen tablets, lists the names of a number of cities surrounding Jemdet Nasr, including Larsa, Nippur, Ur and Uruk.[27]
The exact findspots of many objects retrieved during the 1920s excavations could no longer be reconstructed due to the poor publication standards, so that many can only be dated by comparing them with what has been found at other sites that do have a good
Proto-cuneiform texts
The clay tablets that were reported to the excavators of Kish in 1925 may not have been the first to come from Jemdet Nasr. Already before 1915, a French antiquities dealer had bought tablets that reportedly came from the site through
The Jemdet Nasr tablets are written in proto-cuneiform script. Proto-cuneiform is thought to have arisen in the second half of the 4th millennium BC. While at first it was characterized by a small set of symbols that were predominantly pictographs, by the time of the Jemdet Nasr period, there was already a trend toward more abstract and simpler designs. It is also during this period that the script acquired its iconic wedge-shaped appearance.[31] While the language in which these tablets were written cannot be identified with certainty, it is thought to have been Sumerian.[32] Contemporary archives have been found at Uruk, Tell Uqair and Khafajah.[33]
The tablets from Jemdet Nasr are primarily administrative accounts; long lists of various objects, foodstuffs and animals that were probably distributed among the population from a centralized authority.[34] Thus, these texts document, among other things, the cultivation, processing and redistribution of grain, the counting of herds of cattle, the distribution of secondary products like beer, fish, fruit and textiles, as well as various objects of undefinable nature. Six tablets deal with the calculation of agricultural field areas from surface measurements, which is the earliest attested occurrence of such calculations.[35]
-
A five-day ration list. Each line of proto-cuneiform text mentions rations for one day. The sign for "day" and the numbers 1-5 are easily identifiable. Probably from Jemdet-Nasr, Iraq. Circa 3000 BCE. British Museum
-
Apprentice scribes learned the writing system through lists of related signs, like this one dealing with place names. From Jemdet-Nasr, Iraq. 3000-2900 BCE. British Museum
See also
- Cities of the Ancient Near East
Notes
- ^ Stephen Langdon, New Texts from Jemdet Nasr, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 837-844, 1931
- ^ Englund, Robert K., "Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Diverse Collections", MSVO 4, Berlin:Gebr.MannVerlag, 1996
- ^ McGuire Gibson, The city and area of Kish, Field Research Projects, 1972
- ^ [1] Ernest Mackay, Report on the Excavations at Jemdet Nasr, Iraq, Field Museum of Natural History. Anthropology, Memoirs, vol. I, no. 3, Chicago, 1931
- ^ a b c Matthews 1992, pp. 1–3
- ^ Langdon, S., "Ausgrabungen in Babylonian seit 1918", Der Alte Orient 26, pp. 3–75, 1927
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. 2
- ^ Moorey, P. R. S., "The Late Prehistoric Administrative Building at Jamdat Nasr", Iraq, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 95–106, 1976
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. 4
- ^ Field, H., "The Track of Man", New York: Doubleday, 1953
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. 6
- ^ Matthews, Roger J., "Jemdet Nasr: The Site and the Period", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 196–203, 1992
- ^ Matthews 1989
- ^ Matthews 1990, p. 25
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. ix
- ^ [2] Mónica Palmero Fernández, "Using DSLR to 'Scan' Colour Slides: learning from the Digitising Jemdet Nasr 1988–1989 Project", Internet Archaeology, vol. 55, 2020 doi:10.11141/ia.55.10
- ^ Pollock 1990, p. 58
- ^ Pollock 1999, p. 2
- ^ Matthews 1989, pp. 225–228
- ^ Matthews 1989, p. 247
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. 33
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 33–37
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 33–34
- ^ Matthews 1989, p. 246
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 20–21
- ISBN 978-3786116868
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 17–19
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 30–32
- ^ a b Englund & Grégoire 1991, pp. 7–8, 16
- ^ Matthews 2002, p. 3
- ^ Woods 2010, pp. 36–37
- ^ Woods 2010, pp. 44–45
- ^ Woods 2010, p. 35
- ^ Matthews 2002, pp. 34–35
- ^ Englund & Grégoire 1991, pp. 8–9
References
- Englund, Robert K.; Grégoire, Jean-Pierre (1991), The Proto-Cuneiform Texts from Jemdet Nasr. I: Copies, Transliterations and Glossary, Materialien zu den frühen Schriftzeugnissen des Vorderen Orients, vol. 1, Berlin: Gebr. Mann, ISBN 3-7861-1646-6
- Matthews, Roger (1989), "Excavations at Jemdet Nasr, 1988", Iraq, 51: 225–248, S2CID 249897812
- Matthews, Roger (1990), "Excavations at Jemdet Nasr, 1989", Iraq, 52: 25–39, S2CID 134945808
- Matthews, Roger (1992), "Defining the Style of the Period: Jemdet Nasr 1926-28", Iraq, 54: 1–34, JSTOR 4200350
- Matthews, Roger (2002), Secrets of the Dark Mound: Jemdet Nasr 1926-1928, Iraq Archaeological Reports, vol. 6, Warminster: BSAI, ISBN 0-85668-735-9
- Pollock, Susan (1990), "Political Economy as Viewed from the Garbage Dump: Jemdet Nasr Occupation at the Uruk Mound, Abu Salabikh", Paléorient, 16 (1): 57–75,
- Pollock, Susan (1999), Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-57568-3
- Woods, Christopher (2010), "The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing" (PDF), in Woods, Christopher (ed.), Visible Language. Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Oriental Institute Museum Publications, vol. 32, Chicago: University of Chicago, pp. 33–50, ISBN 978-1-885923-76-9
Further reading
- S2CID 162544460
- S2CID 192958282
- Harden, D. B., "A Typological Examination of Sumerian Pottery from Jamdat Nasr and Kish", Iraq, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 30–44, 1934
- OCLC 251013706
- Matthews, Roger, and Monica Palmero Fernandez, "Jemdet Nasr field diapositives, 1988-1989", 2021
- Matthews, R., "After the archive: Early Dynastic I occupation at Jemdet Nasr, Iraq", Al-Rāfidān 18, pp. 109–17, 1997