Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer
The Sumerian flood hero's home city, with a river-flood deposit of about 2900 BCE
Found 1902 — German Oriental Society (Robert Koldewey, Friedrich Delitzsch and Walter Andrae, 1902–03); flood layer identified by Erich Schmidt (University of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Where Tell Fara, between the Tigris and Euphrates south of Nippur (Iraq)
Dates from Flood deposit c. 2950–2850 BCE; city occupied c. 3000–2000 BCE · Jemdet Nasr – Early Dynastic I · Primeval history; the Flood tradition
Now at Site; tablets in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin, the Istanbul Archaeological Museums and the Penn Museum
How Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer was found
The German dig recovered hundreds of Early Dynastic tablets. Schmidt's single 1931 season cut deep soundings and found a clean layer of water-laid clay and sand, about 40 cm thick, separating Jemdet Nasr from Early Dynastic remains.
What it is
A low mound about 1 km across. Deep in it is a layer of yellowish river silt with no pottery or remains, laid down by standing water, sitting on top of Jemdet Nasr houses. The tablets from the city above include some of the oldest known Sumerian literary and school texts.
Why it matters for the Bible
In the Sumerian King List and the flood story of Ziusudra, Shuruppak is the city where the flood hero lived, so a flood layer here caught attention. It dates close to the Kish deposit (about 2900 BCE) and may record the same great Euphrates flood, a plausible seed of the Mesopotamian flood tradition behind Gilgamesh XI and Atrahasis. But it is a local river flood: it is not found at Ur, whose deposit is older, and it did not end the city. It supports the idea that Mesopotamia remembered a real catastrophic flood, without proving a global one.
The Hebrew word: mab-BOOL
מַבּוּל
מַבּוּל is pronounced mab-BOOL and means the Flood; used almost only of Noach's flood (Strong's H3999).
People this discovery connects to
- Noah — נֹחַ (NOH-ach) — rest, comfort
Places
- Shinar — שִׁנְעָר (shin-AHR) — Babylonia, southern Mesopotamia
Events
The Flood; the Mesopotamian flood traditions (Ziusudra, Atrahasis, Utnapishtim)
Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer in Scripture
Genesis 5:29 First mention of Noah in Scripture.
Genesis 7:17-19 The waters rise and cover the land; Shuruppak's silt layer shows what a great Mesopotamian flood leaves behind.
Genesis 10:10 Cities of Shinar, the land where the flood hero's city stood.
Questions people ask
What is Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer?
A low mound about 1 km across. Deep in it is a layer of yellowish river silt with no pottery or remains, laid down by standing water, sitting on top of Jemdet Nasr houses. The tablets from the city above include some of the oldest known Sumerian literary and school texts.
When was Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer discovered?
It was found in 1902 by German Oriental Society (Robert Koldewey, Friedrich Delitzsch and Walter Andrae, 1902–03); flood layer identified by Erich Schmidt (University of Pennsylvania, 1931), at Tell Fara, between the Tigris and Euphrates south of Nippur.
Where is Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer today?
Site; tablets in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin, the Istanbul Archaeological Museums and the Penn Museum.
Which Bible verses does Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer relate to?
Genesis 5:29, Genesis 7:17-19, Genesis 10:10.
Is Shuruppak (Fara) and Its Flood Layer authentic?
The deposit and its date are accepted; scholars debate whether it, or the Kish layer, lies behind the flood story, and agree it was a regional river flood.
Related discoveries
- גִּבֹּרKish and Its 'Flood' DepositThe city where the King List says kingship resumed after the flood
- תֵּבָהGilgamesh Flood Tablet (Tablet XI)The Babylonian flood story that shook Victorian London
- תֵּבָהDurupınar Site ('Noah's Ark' boat-shaped formation)A ship-shaped mound in eastern Turkey promoted by Ron Wyatt and recent scan teams
- אֲדָמָהAtrahasis EpicCreation of humans and a flood in one Old Babylonian poem
- כֹּפֶרThe 'Ark Tablet' (Old Babylonian round-ark instructions)A palm-sized cuneiform text giving the flood hero a coracle to build
- מַבּוּלSumerian King List (Weld-Blundell Prism)Long-lived kings before the flood, and kingship after it
Sources
- Wikipedia: Shuruppak
- National Center for Science Education, 'The Flood: Mesopotamian Archaeological Evidence'
- Penn Museum Expedition, 'Reflections on the Mesopotamian Flood'
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