The Old Babylonian documentation from the Tell Leilān excavations is noteworthy and represents one of the few sources for this period and region. But only about twenty administrative texts excavated at Tell Leilān document oils and fats movements: most of these texts document sesame oil, and there are a few mentions of other oils and animal fats (see Dossier A.1.1.23).
1. The Site
Tell Leilān, ancient Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil, is located in northeastern Syria, in the Ḫābūr Plains, ca. 25 km south of Qamišli, equidistant between the foothills of the Tūr Abdīn to the North and the Wādī ar-Radd to the South 1For the localisation and identification of the site as well as bibliography, see Ziegler/Langlois 2016: 342-345..
In 1978, H. Weiss and the Yale University2https://leilan.yale.edu/about-project/overview started excavations of the huge walled oval site, ca. 1 km N-S and 900 m E-W, located on the eastern bank of the Wādī Garrah. Its Acropolis is ca. 15 ha along the wadi-side of the Lower Town.
The excavations of the Acropolis North-West established the occupational sequence and ceramic chronology from ca. 5000 to 2000 BCE. The excavations of the Acropolis North-East exposed a monumental Old Babylonian temple (1900-1700 BCE).
The excavations of the Lower Town East exposed 10% of a huge Old Babylonian palace that covered more than a hectare. In 1991, the excavations recovered the Northern Lower Town Palace, located about a kilometre from the eastern palace. While the Eastern Lower Town Palace has a complex history of rebuilding, the Northern Lower Town Palace contained only one occupational phase corresponding to the later part of the building level 3 occupation of the Eastern Lower Town Palace.
Finally, the Lower Town South was occupied by a dense residential occupation during the second half of the 3rd millennium and no occupation during the early 2nd millennium BCE.
2. Old Babylonian Historical Overview
Šeḫnā seems to have been an administrative city with little domestic habitation during the early 2nd millennium BCE. Samsī-Addu, the great king of Upper Mesopotamia’s Kingdom, conquered the city. He built one of its capitals in the long-abandoned town, still imposingly walled, central, and surrounded by cereal agriculture. Buildings were constructed, including a mudbrick temple upon the Acropolis and a vast palace in the Lower Town East (see above). It is probably Samsī-Addu that gave the name Šubat-Enlil to Šeḫnā.
After the death of Samsī-Addu and, later, the collapse of the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia, the region was troubled. Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil was ruled by Samiya, a governor under the control of Išme-Dagan, Samsī-Addu’s son, based in Ekallātum. But Ešnunna’s king, Ibâl-pî-El II, tried to reconstitute the Kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia for his benefit. His army took control of Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil and settled in the city where a severe competition had taken place between Samiya, previous servant of Samsī-Addu, and Tarum-natki, king of the land of Apum. It seems that the city belonged to Andarig, and when Tarum-natki died, Qarni-Lim of Andarig placed Tarum-natki’s sons on the throne of Apum, Zūzu, who reigned briefly, and then Haya-abum.
When Elam invaded the region, Haya-abum was killed, and Qarni-Lim of Andarig ended badly. Kunnam, an Elamite general, resided for a time at Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil and controlled a large area of the Ḫabur Basin. Later, the Elamites were defeated, and Atamrum took the throne of Andarig and controlled Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil, where Šupram was installed governor. The ashy deposits and burnt floors found everywhere in the Eastern Lower Town palace, testifying of violent destruction, maybe date from this event. Himdiya succeeded to Atamrum and still controlled Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil.
Then Mutiya, Till-Abnû, and his brother Yakūn-Ašar successively reigned on the throne of Šeḫnā/Šubat-Enlil, the capital of the land of Apum.
Samsuilūna, Ḫammurāpi’s son, marched north and conquered the city, as recorded in his 23rd year-name of reign (ca. 1726 BCE).
3. Old Babylonian Documentation3You can find a report on the publications on ARCHIBAB project’s website www.archibab.fr.
Between 1979 and 1982, the excavations in the temple uncovered 22 administrative tablets recording the receipt of grain, fodder, wood, and asphalt. In 1985, they found about 100 tablets concerning beer, flour, grain, and dead men in a secondary context in a building south of the temple. The epigraphic documentation of the acropolis seems to date from Samsī-Addu’s reign, Tarum-natki, and Ḫaya-abum4The epigraphic documentation from the acropolis remains unpublished; see Whiting 1990..
During the excavations of 1985 and 1987, they found almost 600 Old Babylonian texts in the Eastern Lower Town Palace, in building level 2, which is the latest occupation of the palace (very few sealings and just one tablet were found in building level 3 or 4 contexts, used during the reign of Samsī-Addu5See Eidem 2011: xxxi.). These administrative texts, letters, and treaties mostly dated from the reigns of King Mutiya and his sons Till-Abnû and Yakūn-Ašar (ca. 1750 BCE on)6Most of these letters and treaties are published in Eidem 2011. The administrative texts found in the Eastern Lower Town Palace are still unpublished but available through two PhD theses (see Dossier A.1.1.23).. And about 20 administrative documents of these texts concern oils and fats movements and give us an overview of the commodities available in the region (see Dossier A.1.1.23).
They found about 650 Old Babylonian administrative texts in the Northern Lower Town Palace, and most of them deal with the manufacture and disbursement of beer, mainly sealed by servants of Qarni-Lim of Andarig7The archive is partially published by Van de Mieroop 1994 . Two other tablets are published by George (2017).. Van de Mieroop suggests that the Northern Lower Town Palace, smaller in size than the Eastern Lower Town Palace, served as an embassy for Qarni-Lim, and possibly for Atamrum, his successor (see Van de Mieroop 1994 ).