Tell Billa (also Tell Billah, Tall Billa, and Baasheikhah) is an archaeological site near Bashiqa in Nineveh Province (Iraq) 20 kilometers northeast of Mosul.
History The site consists of a large mound and covers around . There is some evidence of occupation as far back as the Uruk period, including some Hurrian presence in the middle second millennium. An Uruk period cylinder seal was found at the site, a presentation scene of Istar.Sollberger E. and J. R. Kupper, "Inscriptions roy-ales sume ́ riennes et akkadiennes", Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1971 A few preliterate clay tokens were also found.Schmandt-Besserat, Denise, "An Ancient Token System: The Precursor to Numerals and Writing", Archaeology, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 32–39, 1986 On Stratum V a number of copper weapons, mainly axe heads and lance butts. One lance butt was inscribed with cuneiform characters.Speiser, E. A., "An inscribed lance-butt from Tell Billah V", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 50.1, pp. 11-13, 1933
Early Bronze In 2022 it was proposed that Tell Billa was the site of the Ur III period (ca 2100 BC) city Šimānum (possibly known as Asimānum during the Akkadian Empire).Edmonds, Alexander Johannes, and Petra M. Creamer, "More to Tell About Billa!", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2022-0011
Late Bronze Beginning in Middle Assyrian times the ancient city, not far from Assur, was named Šib/manibe in the Middle Assyrian period and Šibaniba in the Neo-Assyrian period. Its earlier name is not known.
The Hurrian artifacts were identified in the excavators' Stratum 3. The comparison with the similar artifacts from Nuzi led Speiser to conclude that the Hurrians settled at Billa before they moved on to Nuzi. Speiser, E. A., "The Pottery of Tell Billa", The Museum Journal XXIII, no. 3, pp. 249-308, September, 1933
The majority of excavated material, however, is from the Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian times, including glyptic and epigraphic material.Creamer, Petra M. "A Neo-Assyrian Provincial Palace at Tell Billa", IRAQ 83, pp. 25-44, 2021 Ninety One Middle Assyrian tablets (ca. 1400-1000 BC) are attested from Tell Billa/Shibaniba.Digital Tell Billa tablets at CDLI Several Middle Assyrian faience items were also found at Tell Billa.Puljiz, Ivana, "Faience for the empire: A Study of Standardized Production in the Middle Assyrian State", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, no. 1, pp. 100-122, 2021 The name Shibaniba relates to this period of its history.Jacob J. Finkelstein, "Cuneiform Texts from Tell Billa," Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 7, pp. 111–176, 1953
Some ceramic remains of the Parthian period were found at the site.Haerinck, E., "Twinspouted Vessels and Their Distribution in the near East from the Achaemenian to the Sasanian Periods", Iran, vol. 18, pp. 43–54, 1980
Excavations After some minor soundings done by Austen Henry Layard around 1850, Tell Billa was excavated between 1930 and 1934 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania and the American Schools of Oriental Research.Layard A H, "Nineveh and its Remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil worshipers; and an inquiry into the manners and arts of the ancient Assyrians", John Murray, London, vol. 1, 1849 The excavation was led by Ephraim Avigdor Speiser with Charles Bache."The Expedition to Tell Billa and Tepe Gawra", Bulletin of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, vol. 3(2), pp. 59-66, 1931"Developments at Tell Billa and Tepe Gawra", Bulletin of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, vol. 3(3/4), pp. 94-95, 1932"Excavations at Tell Billa and Tepe Gawra", Bulletin of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, vol. 3(5), pp. 126-130, 1932 E. A. Speiser, "The Bearing of the Excavations at Tell Billa and at Tepe Gawra upon the Ethnic Problems of Ancient Mesopotamia", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. XXXVI, pp. 29-35, 1932Charles Bache, "Work of the Baghdad School", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 51, pp. 20-26, 1933Charles Bache, "From Mr. Bache's First Report on the Joint Excavations at Tepe Gawra and Tell Billah", 1932-3, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 49, pp. 8-14, 1933 The work was complicated by the fact that the mound was divided up among 18 owners including a Jacobite church."University of Pennsylvania Museum - Baghdad School Expedition at Billah (letter from E. A. Speiser)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 40, pp. 11-14, 1930
At the same time, these scholars explored the related nearby ancient site of Tepe Gawra, which is located about northeast of Billa.
See also Cities of the ancient Near East
References
Further reading Charles Bache, "From Mr. Bache’s Reports on the Joint Excavation at Tell Billah", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 50, 1933 Creamer, Petra M, "Domestic Architecture and Household Structure at Late Bronze Age Tell Billa", Ancient Near Eastern Studies 58, pp. 147–172, 2021 Galter, Hannes D., "Texts and Fragments: Ein Tonnagel Adaneraris II. Aus Tell Billa", Journal of cuneiform studies 41.2, pp. 235–236, 1989 Goodman, Reed Charles, "Tell Billa's Bull Pendant: A Connection to Middle Assyrian Assur", Assyromania and More. In Memory of Samuel M. Paley, hrsg. v. Friedhelm Pedde, Nathanael Shelley (marru 4)., pp. 187–196, 2018 Donald Matthews, "Middle Assyrian Glyptic from Tell Billa", Iraq, vol. 53, pp. 17–42, 1991 Claudio Saporetti, "Middle Assyrian Texts of Tell Billa", (Graphemic Categorization, No 3), Undena Publications, 1990, Speiser, Dr., "The Excavation of Tell Billah: Letter from Dr. Speiser to the Directors of the American School of Oriental Research in Baghdad and of the University Museum,(October 30, 1931)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 44.1, pp. 2–5, 1931 Speiser, Dr., "Tell Billah: Letter from Dr. Speiser to the Directors of the American School in Baghdad and the University Museum." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 45.1, pp. 32–34, 1932 Speiser, E. A., "An Assyrian Document of the Ninth Century BC from Tell Billah", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 54.1, pp. 20–21, 1934 C. L. Wooley and E.A. Speiser, "Excavations at Ur;the Pottery of Tell Billa", The Museum Journal, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 249–308, 1933 Speiser, E. A., "Gleanings from the Tell Billa texts", Symbolae ad iura orientis antiqui pertinentes Paolo Koschaker dedicatae, Leiden, Brill, pp. 141–50, 1939 Speiser, E. A., "The Cuneiform Tablets from Tell Billa", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 71, pp. 23–24, 1938
External links Digitizing Tell Billa - work on publishing 1930s digs Expedition video from the University of Pennsylvania Museum 4 Expedition video from the University of Pennsylvania Museum 3 Expedition video from the University of Pennsylvania Museum 2 3rd Millennium BC cylinder seal from Tell Billa - possibly lost Archaeological site photographs from the Oriental Institute Digital Tell Billa tablets at CDLI