The 1931 Penn Museum expedition at Shuruppak (modern Tell Fara), directed by Erich Schmidt, found the ancient city at about 15 feet below the mound. Above its earliest layers lay a roughly four-foot flood stratum containing no human remains, with two later occupation levels above it. The video argues that the stratum is the deluge described in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Atrahasis and that these earlier Mesopotamian narratives are the source of the biblical Noah account; the deposit-to-story identification remains an interpretation. Tell Fara lies near the Euphrates in modern Iraq, roughly 200 km north of Nippur and 300 km north of Uruk.
Tell Fara excavation found a four-foot flood layer above Shuruppak
IraqExcavation
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Shuruppak, generally identified with Tell Fara in present-day Iraq, is named in Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform texts.
- Penn Museum's 1931 Tell Fara expedition was directed by Erich Schmidt. Its report places the Shuruppak occupation at about 15 feet and records a roughly four-foot flood stratum without human remains, followed by two later occupation levels.
- The video argues that the flood stratum corresponds to the deluge in the Epic of Gilgamesh and Atrahasis and that these Mesopotamian narratives underlie the biblical Noah account; the excavation does not establish that direct identification.
- The surviving Mesopotamian flood narratives predate the biblical Noah account.
- Tell Fara lies near the Euphrates in modern Iraq, roughly 200 km north of Nippur and 300 km north of Uruk—not south of Nippur.
Sources
Archaeologists forced by Iran war to leave Iraq digs despite vital workthearabweekly.com
Adelheid Otto of Germany's Ludwig-Maximilians-University started a long-planned dig at ancient Shuruppak, modern-day Tell Fara, on February 28.
Iraq's ancient ruins must wait a bit longer to be uncovered | Arab Newsarabnews.com
Adelheid Otto, 59, from the University of Munich, began a dig at ancient Shuruppak, modern-day Tell Fara, on Feb. 28 — the day the war began ...
Fara: a reconstruction of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Shuruppakcommons.library.stonybrook.edu
Martin, Harriet P., "Fara: a reconstruction of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Shuruppak" (1988). Archive of Mesopotamian Archaeological Reports (AMAR). 481.
The Museum Journal | Excavations at Fara, 1931penn.museum
Dr. Schmidt's account of the excavations at Fara gives an unusually clear and interesting picture of the conduct of archaeological work.
5,000-year old 'cultic space' discovered in Iraq dates ... - Live Sciencelivescience.com
Archaeologists in Iraq have discovered the remains of a 5000-year-old building that might have been used as a "cultic space" or temple for ...
Museum Bulletin | The Expedition at Farapenn.museum
AS announced in a recent issue of the Bulletin, work at Fara, in Mesopotamia, was started on February 15th under the direction of Dr. Erich Schmidt.
Making the Middle East Galleries: The 99% - Online Collectionscollections.penn.museum
The Penn Museum respectfully acknowledges that it is situated on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Unami Lenape. World Wonders in your ...
Expedition Magazine | Archaeology in the Digital Agepenn.museum
The Penn Museum respectfully acknowledges that it is situated on Lenapehoking, the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Unami Lenape. World Wonders in your ...
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