A MESOPOTAMIAN TRADITION? AN ANCIENT MAP RELATED TO THE IRRIGATION SYSTEM OF THE OLD ELAMITE PERIOD FROM TAPPEH GĀRĀN, DEH LURAN PLAIN, IRAN

Abstract

To Professor James NeelyIn respect and admirationAlmost 50 years after landmark archaeological activities in the Deh Luran plain in southwestern Iran by Frank Hole, Kent Flannery, James Neely, and Henry Wright, the area was re-surveyed in 2016 and 2019 to assess the destruction of archaeological sites as a result of agricultural and expanded irrigation activities. During the surface survey on Tappeh Gārān two inscribed objects were found. The inscriptions yield some information on the economic and political importance of Tappeh Gārān in the Old Elamite Period. Textual evidence indicates that throughout the 3th to the 1st millennia BCE, Mesopotamian rulers frequently invaded Elam and seized its principal centres, especially Susa. As the main corridor between Elam and its western neighbors, the Deh Luran plain is a major route between the two, especially in regards to the acquisition of raw materials by the Mesopotamians, including different kinds of stone and bitumen. Further, the abundance of water and fertile soil made the Deh Luran plain a desirable target for Mesopotamian polities. The inscribed objects from Tappeh Gārān consist of writings in Akkadian and geometric patterns that we think illustrate the outline of an agricultural scheme.