Excavations at Tell as-Sadoum, ancient Marad (Iraq). Summary report on the 2019 archaeological season

This paper presents preliminary results of the archaeological campaign carried out in the autumn 2019 at Tell as-Sadoum and Wanna, north-west of the city of al-Diwaniyah. The fieldwork comprised excavations at Tell as-Sadoum, where three test areas were opened, and a survey of the small site of Wanna in the southern neighborhood, providing data on the sequence of occupation and broadening our knowledge about the development and extension of the settlement. In particular the archaeological levels exposed in Area I shed light on the oldest phases of occupation, while textual evidence found in Area B adds new information about the history of ancient Marad. The layers and structures brought to light in Area I and Area B yielded materials dating from the Early Dynastic to the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods, and sporadic evidence of Kassite and Parthian date.