Der (Sumerian: 𒌷𒂦𒀭𒆠 uruBAD3.ANki;[1]Akkadian: 𒌷𒂦𒀭𒆠 uruBAD3.ANki or 𒌷𒁲𒂊𒊒(𒆠)urude-e-ru(ki)) was a Sumeriancity-state at the site of modern Tell Aqar near al-Badra in Iraq's Wasit Governorate. It was east of the Tigris River on the border between Sumer and Elam. At one time it was thought that it might have been ancient Durum (Sumerian: uruBAD3ki) but more recent scholarship has rebutted that.[2][3][4]
The principal god of Der was Ištaran. In the 1st millennium BC, he was also referred to as Anu rabû ("Great Anu") in Akkadian. The name of his temple at Der was Edimgalkalama.[5]
History
Statue dedicated to the goddess Ninshubur of the city of Der by Enzi and his son Amar-kiku (2400 BCE), British Museum, BM 22470.[6]
Early Bronze
Der was occupied from the Early Dynastic period through Neo-Assyrian times. The local deity of the city was named Ishtaran, represented on Earth by his minister, the snake god Nirah. In the late 3rd millennium, during the reign of Sulgi of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Der was mentioned twice. The Sulgi year name 11 was named "Year Ishtaran of Der was brought into his temple", and year 21 was named "Year Der was destroyed". During the time of Amar-Sin, when the king launched a long military campaign against Huhnuri, prince Shu-Sin, crown prince, left his post in Der to return and hold Ur.[7]
Middle Bronze
Meso2mil
In the second millennium, Der was mentioned in a tablet discovered at Mari sent by Yarim-Lim I of Yamhad; the tablet includes a reminder to Yasub-Yahad king of Der about the military help given to him for fifteen years by Yarim-Lim, followed by a declaration of war against the city in retaliation for what Yarim-Lim described as evil deeds committed by Yasub-Yahad.[8]Rim-Sin I of Larsa reported destroying Der in his 20th year. Ammi-Ditana of Babylon also recorded destroying the city wall of Der in his 37th year, that he said had been built earlier by Damqi-ilishu of the Sealand Dynasty.
In an inscription little known early Old Babylonian period ruler of Der, Ilum-muttabbil, claimed defeating the armies of Anshan, Elam, and Simaski, in
alliance with Marhaši.[9]
Iron Age
In 720 BC the Assyrian king Sargon II moved against Elam, but the Assyrian host was defeated near Der by the combined army of king Humban-Nikash I of Elam and king Marduk-apla-iddina II of Babylon.[10] Following the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, the Cyrus Cylinder mentions repatriating the people and restoring the sanctuary of the god of Der, among other cities.
Archaeology
While it appears that no excavation has occurred at Der, several notable objects have been discovered nearby, including a kudurru (discovered in Sippar) which confirmed the name of the site.[11] The site itself has been heavily damaged by water over the centuries and was considered not worth excavating.[12]
List of rulers
The following list should not be considered complete:
^Katrien De Graef, Another Brick In the Wall: Durum In the Old-Elamite Susa, Akkadica, vol. 128, pp. 85-98, 2007
^Michalowski, Piotr, "Of Bears and Men: Thoughts on the End of Šulgi’s Reign and on the Ensuing Succession", Literature as Politics, Politics as Literature: Essays on the Ancient Near East in Honor of Peter Machinist, edited by David S. Vanderhooft and Abraham Winitzer, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 285-320, 2013
^Michalowski, P., "Dūrum and Uruk During the Ur III Period", Mesopotamia 12, pp. 83–96. 1977
^[1]Novotny, Jamie, Joshua Jeffers, and Grant Frame, "The royal inscriptions of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC), Aššur-etel-ilāni (630–627 BC) and Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612 BC), kings of Assyria, Part 3", Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press, 2023. P. 5, 93
^Lafont, Bertrand. "Game of Thrones: the Years when Šu-Sin Succeeded Amar-Suen in the Kingdom of Ur". The First Ninety Years: A Sumerian Celebration in Honor of Miguel Civil, edited by Lluís Feliu, Fumi Karahashi and Gonzalo Rubio, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 189-204
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