Tell Drehem is located on the Euphrates, about 8 km southeast of the city of Nippur. For this reason, during the early Ur III period (2110–2003 BCE) the site was known as Esaĝdana-Nibru, “House (at the end) of a mile from Nippur”, the Sumerian “mile” (dana) measuring approximately 10.8 km.

The settlement was later renamed Puzriš-Dagan, “(House) under the protection of the god Dagan”, by King Šulgi, who in his 38th regnal year initiated a massive building project aimed at the construction of a large complex comprising a palace and temples. Puzriš-Dagan thus became a major royal administrative center, encompassing a number of specialized sub-units, including animal corrals, slaughtering and meat-processing facilities, craft workshops, and storage buildings for cereals and other agricultural products.

The royal redistribution center may in fact have formed part of a chain of settlements stretching along the Euphrates over a sizable geographical area. The precise topography of Tell Drehem has now been clarified through SBAH excavations led by Ali Shalgham and by the Iraqi-Italian QADIS survey project led by Nicolò Marchetti. The site extended over approximately 60 hectares and was surrounded by canals and featured a port. The urban layout appears relatively regular, and large administrative buildings were distributed across the settlement. City walls have been identified only in the southeastern area of the site, near the temple complex.

Tell Drehem is known as the place of origin of more than 16,000 cuneiform tablets from the Ur III period, which began to appear on the antiquities market from 1909 onwards. Today, these tablets are dispersed among approximately 470 public and private collections worldwide.

Text by Professor Nicholo Marchetti, University of Bologna