Tell Waresh 2 is one of the most important archaeological sites excavated during the series of rescue
excavations connected to the Main Drain Canal project, also known as the “General Estuary” or
“Third River”. The first phase of the Third River project was started in the last decades of the 20th
century and included works in the region between Ishaqi, north of Baghdad, to the Musayyib area,
north of Babil province. Years later, another phase was completed, from Nasiriyah to northern Basra.
The last phase was done in 1989-1990 and included the area between the Musayyib area and
Nasiriyah, where Tell Waresh 2 is located. These hydraulic works, completed in December 1992, led
to the partial destruction of the site. The Third River project also dried up of major parts of the marshes
in Southern Iraq and subsequently an intake canal towards Lake Delmej was dug over the location of
Tell Waresh 2.
It was identified due to the large number of archaeological artefacts scattered on its surface and the
visibility, especially during the winter, of architectural remains such as the outline of buildings. The
site was designated as “Tell Waresh 2”, a name taken from Tūlūl Werrish, some 3 km to its South-
West, known from the survey by Robert McCormick Adams (1981: no. 983). The expedition at Tell
Waresh 2 started at the beginning of 1990 and continued until the end of April when the topographic
work and the drawing of a contour map were finished. On occasion of a larger 2019 survey directed
by the applicant and the SBAH in the region, Tell Waresh 2 has been surveyed again in order to
acquire georeferenced data.
The archaeologists found two main levels, of which the most recent one dates to the Early Islamic
period and the oldest one to the Early Old Babylonian (also known as Isin-Larsa) period, in which
two layers of occupation were distinguished. The most important finds were located in the northeastern area of the site, where a large building dating to the Isin-Larsa period was excavated. Several seals and sealings were found in different rooms of this building together with Isin-Larsa pottery and other artefacts of the same period such as terracotta plaques, figurines and a significant number of cuneiform tablets (mostly legal documents, but also receipts and letters). In particular, the find of a clay jar containing 29 tablets that bear year names of four kings of Larsa -
Abi-Sare, Sumu-el, Nur-Adad, and Sin-iddinam - is extremely remarkable in that it attests to Larsa’s control over this centre in the vicinity of Nippur for about half a century between the end of the 20th century BCE and the mid-19th century BCE.
The archaeological data from the 1990 rescue expedition at Tell Waresh 2 will be significant for
adding to the body of evidence about an Isin-Larsa peripheral administrative center now partially
destroyed by anthropic development.
The publication project is directed by Dr. Abbas al-Hussainy.