Notes on the Topography of Ancient Mesopotamia

Abstract

THE STUDY of the historical topography of Western Asia is being pursued with increasing interest and success of late. The control of Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia by European powers opens these lands to scholarly investigation in a way formerly impossible, especially in Syria and parts of Mesopotamia. Thus it is now possible to set to work seriously on the badly needed archaeological survey of the lands included within the Mesopotamian sphere of cultural influence in antiquity. The geographical survey of this region is still far from complete, and only includes Palestine, parts of Syria, and about half of Mesopotamia, now being published by the 'Iraq government in separate sheets on the respectable scale of an inch to two miles (1: 126, 720). In a few years, however, all these countries will have been thoroughly surveyed even cadastrally in some cases-and the topographer will be freed from the necessity of following bad maps or of being his own cartographer. Only those who have tried their hand at this fascinating, but difficult task can appreciate the relief which this entails. Now the principal task before the topographer is to collect materials for the required archaeological survey. Until this is finished, our identifications of sites, as well as our more general conclusions as to location of places and districts, must remain tentative. If we wish to identify the site of Mari, for instance, we must find a site which corresponds roughly to the indications of the texts as to location, we must satisfy ourselves that the extent and character of the ruins fill the requirements-and last, but highly important, we must make sure that the remains on the site date from periods in which we know that the city was occupied. In most sites in Western Asia belonging to the early period the only available criterion without extensive and costly excavation is the broken pottery which is strewn over the surface of the site. The comparative study of Western Asiatic pottery has now reached such a firm position that we may safely employ its results for topographic conclusions. To the sine qua non of topographic research, meticu220