Haradum

Haradum (also Harrâdum), modern Khirbit ed-Diniye (also Khirbet ed-Diniyé), in Al Anbar Governorate Iraq, was an ancient Near East city on the middle Euphrates about 90 kilometers southeast of Mari. It was part of the ancient region of Suhum. The name of the town meant "the place where one stands watch". It was strategically placed on the border of four kingdoms, Eshnunna, Ekallatum, Mari and Babylon and is thought to have been first settled by Eshnunna. It is known that a tollbooth was established on the river and a toll collected.

==History== 300px|right|thumb|Babylonia at the time of [[Hammurabi, ca. 1792-1750 BC]] While the site of Haradum was occupied earlier, under the control of Eshnunna, being mentioned in texts from Mari, after a hiatus it grew into a proper town until the 18th century BC under the control of the First Dynasty of Babylon. It was later the site of a Neo-Assyrian fortress. Tablets from the reign of Babylonian rulers Samsu-iluna, Abi-eshuh, Ammi-ditana, and Ammi-saduqa have been found at Haradum. The earliest dated text is from the 26th year of Samsu-iluna (c. 1749–1712 BC), son of Hammurabi, and the latest text is from the 18th year of Babylonian ruler Ammi-saduqa (c. 1646-1626 BC). For a time under the reign of Samsu-iluna lost Babylon control of Haradum to the city of Terqa but soon regained it. Two cuneiform tablets from the late Middle Assyrian period, apparently during the reign of Aššur-dān I (c. 1178–1133 BC), were also found.