Welcome to the ASOR Blog
Welcome to the ASOR blog. This blog is meant to facilitate ASOR’s mission “to initiate, encourage and support research into, and public understanding of, the peoples and cultures of the Near East from the earliest times.”
For comments and questions, contact Eric Cline, Michael Homan, or Sarah Whitcher Kansa.
I know ASOR used to have an on-line feature called “Ask an Archaeologist” apparently it regretably no longer exists. Can someone affiliated with ASOR advise me about the trapzoidal canal (?) that “rings” ancient Eridu on satellite images (By going to Google Maps and keying-in Iraq, Eridu, Satelitte)with a feeder branch canal(?), “straight as an arrow” leaving the trapzoid at its NE corner heading for Ur (just passing the west side of Ur) and connecting with the Euphrates flood plain? Is this an ancient canal system of the Sumerian or Babylonian eras or something of a later period? I understand from the internet Eridu was abandoned about 600 B.C. If this trapzoidal canal is of a later period why would anyone build a canal to this remote deserted ruin? If the trapzoidal canal ring is of a later period I would like to know when and why would someone would construct such an expensive project?
I am an amateur scholar interested in tracing the canals that serviced Eridu in antiquity. Regretably I am not finding much information on the subject on the internet. Whatever information exists is apparently tucked away in archaeological journals and out of print books that are not generally at public libaries but only at University Libraries, which generally are not open to the general public but are reserved for students and staff. Thankyou for any help you can give.
The following reply is by Elizabeth Stone:
Dear Mr. Mattfield,
As you can see from the message below, ASOR has asked me to reply to your comment. The trapezoidal area that you have noted is not an ancient canal, but rather the fence that surrounds and protects Eridu and the line between it and Ur is the road that gives access to Eridu.
If you want to know everything there is to know about the Eridu area, I would refer you to the appendix to the book by Robert Adams, Heartland of Cities. You can find a scanned copy of this book available on-line at http://www.etana.org. Go to Core texts and find the book listed under Adams.
We are in the process of developing a new web site called AMAR, to be hosted at Stony Brook University, which will include the publication of excavations at Eridu, but this will probably not be available until some time next year.
Best Wishes,
Elizabeth C. Stone
Professor
Department of Anthropology
SUNY
Thank you for the information.
Regards