Adab (ruin)

Adab is an historic ruin in the southeastern part of Iraq, in the Pashalik of Babylonia, within the Ottoman Empire, about 120 mi. southeast of Baghdad. It lies on a low, almost level and treeless plain, where the climate is hot and semi-arid, as a mound 50 ft. high and covering an area of two square miles. Investigations into the mound's interior have revealed remnants of formerly important cities erected by the kings of Akkad between 2600 and 2250 BC.

The best known journeys into the mounds revealed parts of the city of Unnina, identified by convex bricks, and at lower levels structures of limestone. At even lower levels, excavators have found other traces of ancient Adab itself, which was once devoted to the worship of the goddess Aruru. Vast parts of the ruins have never been opened or explored.

Trouble experienced by other expeditions surrounds the danger of releasing large numbers of undead that have never experienced burial rites, having been murdered on mass during city-wide destructions that occurred during the Akkadian period. While the eradication of undead is morally desirable, incidents have occurred where hundreds of undead have escaped the ruin and preyed upon nearby villages, with greivous consequences. As such, the Pasha of Babylon has decreed that ventures into the city must be well-funded and planned.