Ivory as a material has a unique and fascinating appeal by virtue of its rich warm colour and sheen. Since very early times, ivory has been synonymous with luxury, as witnessed in the Old Testament reference to Ahab's “house of ivory”, the epitome of luxurious living; in Amos' imprecation against the rich “that lie upon beds of ivory”; and in Ezekiel's lament for Tyre, perfect in beauty, where the very benches are made of ivory. In addition, we are told that Solomon's royal throne was made of ivory, commissioned from Phoenician craftsmen who excelled in this art. Finally, the identification of ivory with luxury and hence corruption is clear in the Homeric allusion to the “Gate of Ivory”, through which dreams pass that mislead.

The discovery of actual ivory objects more-or-less contemporary with the literary references during excavations of the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud in the mid-nineteenth century thus engendered great excitement. The pieces were not only beautiful in themselves; they also brought the ancient traditions to life.

The story of Gilgamesh and the Land of the Living is one of a small group of Sumerian epic tales in which human beings rather than gods dominate the narrative. It is now generally agreed, from the evidence of alternative textual sources, that Gilgamesh was a historical figure; the fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk who lived between 2700 and 2650 B.C. Kramer, Lambert and other Sumerologists accept that some of the events recounted in these “human epics” may preserve a historical basis. It is recognized, however, that the processes of communication by oral tradition and the literary embellishments of the scribes who first recorded and then copied the tales resulted in the introduction of “unhistorical motifs such as exaggerated notions of the hero's powers, omniscient dreams and the presence of divine beings”. The present article will consider the question of a practical motivation for the visit of Gilgamesh to the Land of the Living. We shall also examine the evidence for the geographical location of this region and attempt to identify the species of tree called by the Sumerians ERIN, which grew there. A source for the monster Humbaba whom Gilgamesh confronts, will also be considered.

In April–May 1974, the Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology (director Professor Dr. K. Michalowski) carried out a first season of excavations on the central part of the citadel at Nimrud. The work was directed by the author of this article.

For introductory information on this work, the reader is referred to a preliminary report on the results of this first season now in press, and to a summary communication by J. N. Postgate which has already appeared in this Journal. M. Falkner has published an account of previous work on the site by Layard, Rassam, Loftus and Mallowan, and J. E. Reade, in a very important contribution, published for the first time two of the colossi which reappear here.

One of the main results of the work of the Polish expedition was the discovery of Neo-Assyrian colossi and reliefs, some of them with types of representation previously unknown. Most of these monuments formed the decoration of a building, till now only partly excavated, which was built by Aššurnaṣirpal II and restored by Shalmaneser III. To avoid confusion with the so-called Centre and Central Palaces, I propose provisionally to refer to this as the Central Building. For an over-all view of the excavations, see Plate VII. The photographs for the present study are all the work of Mr. Waldemar Jerke.

It is too early to make specific statements on the function of this building and its relationship to the NW Palace, but I hope that it will become possible after the excavation seasons projected for Autumn 1975 and Spring 1976. At present one feature of this building at least is clear, its similarity in plan (so far as rediscovered) with the NW wing of Sargon's Palace at Khorsabad, and with the wings of some other Assyrian state buildings designated by G. Turner as “Reception Suite, Type F”.

In September 1974 the University of Edinburgh began a survey of archaeological sites in the Khabur headwaters region of North-eastern Syria. One of the principal aims of this survey was to collect materials for a preliminary study of prehistoric ceramics and geological clays in that area by neutron activation analysis. From its inception this project received the aid and encouragement of the Department of Antiquities of the Syrian Arab Republic, and we should like to give special thanks to M. Bahnassi, the director of the Department of Antiquities, and to M. Bounni for their help. The work was supported by grants from the Russell Trust and from the Munro Foundation.

Previous to the survey, a long series of neutron activation analyses had been completed on prehistoric pottery, mainly of the Halaf period, from excavated sites in Northern Iraq and Eastern Syria. A comparison of the chemical compositions of Halaf sherds from different sites indicated that some varieties of Halaf painted ware had been extensively traded. It was hoped that a study of clay and pottery compositions at a number of ancient sites within a limited geographical area would provide evidence for the detailed form of this pottery trade, and would reveal the sources of the clays used in prehistoric pottery manufacture.

The three objects published in this article are the property of M. Jean Mariaud de Serres, to whom thanks are expressed for his willingness that they should be made available to scholarship. The one is an Old Babylonian private letter, measuring 61 × 45 mm, and is inscribed on both sides and three edges. It was sent by Ili-u-Šamaš, a man to judge from his name as known from other more explicit Old Babylonian contexts, to a lady, Šat-Emah. No other occurrences of this name have been noted by the present writer, though the type is a well known one. To judge from the mention of Sippar in lines 17–18 the sender seems to have lived there, or in the immediate vicinity. From the content of the letter it would seem that the addressee lived not too far from Sippar. She was certainly a land owner, and the sender was either the same or was involved in agricultural operations as a financier. After the address, the letter consists of a string of items continuing previous communications which cannot be elaborated from study of this letter alone. In view of the mention of Sippar one may wonder if the lady was a nadītum-priestess, since at this time they might own land. To judge from script and orthography, this letter is perhaps to be dated to the reign of Hammurabi or Samsu-iluna, but such an estimate can be only approximate. (For copy, see Fig. 1).

The reports given below cover excavation work in Iraq during 1975, together with a few which could not be included in the last collection of reports for 1973–4 in Iraq 37 (1975), 57–67. The information on each site has been kindly provided by the director of the excavations, unless otherwise specified, and the final version checked by him wherever possible. The sites are arranged in alphabetical order, according to their best known name.

The material for this report has been assembled by Mr. J. N. Postgate, Director of the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq, and the Editors are glad to acknowledge his efforts. They join with him in expressing their gratitude to all those colleagues who have so willingly contributed information on their work, and especially to Dr. Isa Salman, the Director-General of Antiquities in Iraq, for his generous co-operation which alone has made this compilation possible.

Excavations were restarted at this Early Dynastic site to the north-west of Nippur by the British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq under the direction of J. N. Postgate, and lasted from September to December, 1975. Work was confined to the main north-eastern mound, in Areas A and E investigated by the Oriental Institute expedition in 1963 and 1965.