Article

Sargonic Susa: the acropolis and its archive

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Abstract

Jacques de Morgan and Roland de Mecquenem were the first archaeologists to excavate the ancient city of Susa (mod. & Scaron;u & scaron;, Kh & umacr;zist & amacr;n, Iran) systematically (1897-1939). Unfortunately, their publications and archaeological reports were based entirely on criteria now considered outdated. The near-total lack of archaeological context has led modern scholars to base their chronological dating of several artifacts discovered at Susa mainly on stylistic features (e.g., statuary) and paleographical ground (e.g., cuneiform tablets). Although a definitive dating is still missing, the historical reconstruction of Sargonic Susa has not been convincingly reconsidered. This paper compares the available information from the early expeditions with new data from more recent excavations to provide coherence to the Old Akkadian levels. If the so called '2nd level' base is correctly ascribed to the early Sargonic phase, all the structures and artifacts must date to the same period. Finally, the analysis of the Sargonic tablets and seal impressions from both an archaeological and epigraphic perspective strongly suggests that most of them belonged to a single archive, which should be dated to the reign of Nar & amacr;m-Suen.

How to Cite:

Surdi, M., (2022) “Sargonic Susa: the acropolis and its archive”, Akkadica 143(2), 137–165. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99687

Rights: © The author