The Old Babylonian Diyala: Research Since the 1930s and Prospects
Institut des Etudes Avancées de Paris, 25-26 juin 2018
The region around the river Diyala, which runs approximately 500 km, from the mountains between Iraq and Iran, down to the south of Baghdad where it joins the Tigris, was the home of dozens of cities, villages and communities during the long history of ancient Mesopotamia. In the first centuries of the second millennium BCE, the strategic position of the region turned it into a point of articulation, dispute and mediation of the Babylonian area in the south and the Assyrian area in the north. Added to the growing power of the city of Eshnunna, this led the region to play a significant role in the international politics of those times.
The lack of syntheses dealing with the valley of the Diyala and the kingdom of Eshnunna is astonishing when compared with the rich legacy of in-depth and comprehensive scholarly works on the history of Larsa, Mari, Babylon and Assyria during the first centuries of the second millennium.
The main goal of the conference is to produce an updated view of the history and archaeology of the region, specifically dealing with the following issues: buildings, cities, landscapes and their relation with politics; cultural and economic exchanges with other regions; administration of the institutions: temple, palace and domestic units; history of the research itself and issues concerning the preservation of the material heritage of the ancient Diyala.
