Eridu
تل أبو شهرين
Iraq · Dhi Qar
In brief
Eridu is an archaeological site consisting of multiple mounds in southern Mesopotamia. Excavations have uncovered temple buildings alongside a palace, a cemetery and settlement remains from different periods.
What was found?
- 1E-unir ziggurat
It is a monumental structure in the E-abzu sacred precinct associated with Enki, the city's god. It represents large-scale temple architecture added on top of earlier structures.
- 2White-plastered stepped terraces
These are stone and mudbrick terraces built before the ziggurat. Excavations showed that some were reused in later construction.
- 3Ubeyd-period architectural and pottery sequence
These are building layers and pottery identified in a deep sounding. These finds became a fundamental basis for distinguishing the phases of the Ubeyd period.
- 4Kassite settlement and clay embankment
An oval settlement surrounded by a compacted clay embankment was identified in Area 4. According to researchers, the embankment, together with a possible ditch, provided protection against Euphrates floods.
What does it point to?
Eridu points to a long settlement history in which sacred buildings were reshaped using old foundations and terraces. According to researchers, the arrangements around the Kassite settlement reflect efforts to cope with flooding.
What did it teach us?
- It showed that monumental white-plastered stepped arrangements existed before the ziggurat.
- It provided a basis for the periodization of Ubeyd pottery.
- It confirmed that settlement continued around Eridu during the Kassite period.
Images
Latest news / selected archive
The 2022 excavations revealed that white-plastered stepped terraces existed in the 4th millennium BCE before the E-unir ziggurat; the results were published in 2025.
Record
- Culture
- Ubaid, Sumerian, Babylonian and Kassite
- First modern dig
- 1853
- Team / historical
- Archaeological Mission at Eridu; Franco D’Agostino, Philippe Quenet, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Strasbourg, and Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage
- Coordinates
- 30.8171°, 45.9963°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- —
- —
- 12.000
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Arkeoloji Dergisi ↗
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