Ancient Lagash, pp. 87-114, 2022/12/27
Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016
In this paper, we discuss the preliminary results of the Tell al-Hiba Publication Project’s reanalysis of the excavations of the Tell al-Hiba Expedition in Areas A, B, and G at Tell al-Hiba, ancient Lagash. This work occurred as part of an ongoing project to produce final reports on the Expedition’s six seasons of excavation at the site. For each area, we describe the architectural levels, discuss the contents, and offer chronological and functional interpretations. We also give new or updated plans for some of the structures. The excavators discussed many of these remains in preliminary reports. As a result of this reanalysis, we offer some interpretations that differ from those published previously – most notably, those concerning the functions of the buildings in Area B, the Bagara of Ningirsu. Additionally, we discuss in greater detail a number of contexts that received only cursory mention in earlier works.
Keywords: Bagara of Ningirsu, Ibgal of Inana, religious architecture, Early Dynastic I, Early Dynastic III
