Hella in Babilonie ost Caldea nu Irak.

Title

Hella in Babilonie ost Caldea nu Irak.

Decorative and detailed view of the city Urkes, Irak.

ca. 1680

Artist

Bouttats (1640-1695-96)

Gaspar Bouttats (c. 1650–1696), Antwerp, was a Flemish engraver and etcher. He specialized in: Book engravings (title pages, illustrations), City views (e.g. Amsterdam, Bergen op Zoom, Deventer, Leiden), Topographical scenes (cities, fortifications, landscapes), Historical scenes (e.g. the assassination of Henry IV), Portraits, and Maps (e.g. Polonia Regnum). Many of his engravings were based on drawings by Jan Peeters I, a well-known draughtsman of topographical views. At the time, Antwerp was a major European center for book printing, map production, and copper engraving. There was a high demand for printed city views, war reports, fortification plans, and maps—driven by wars, trade, and growing scientific interest. His works are now held in museums such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Historical Description

Urkeš, also Urkesh, is a Bronze Age settlement mound (tell) in northeastern Syria that was inhabited in the late 4th to mid 2nd millennia. The city was probably a Hurrian foundation. Hurrian names, such as Ewrim-Atal, an official at the time of Naram-Sin, are attested. It belonged to the kingdom of Akkad and after its end came under the influence of Mari, which had the city administered by a viceroy, who, however, was not very popular among the population, as letters from the archives of Mari prove. Urkeš is located on the upper Chabur about 5 km from the city of Amûdê, near the mouth of the Wadi Da'a, on the southern edge of Tur Abdin, which at that time was probably called Nawar. It was thus located on the road that connected the Anatolian highlands to the north, with its rich copper deposits, with Mesopotamia, and the east-west route from the Mediterranean to the Zagros. Thus, Urkeš controlled trade in the area of the upper Chabur.