Ancient city, Babylonia .
It is located southwest of modern Baghdad on the Euphrates River . From the 3rd millennium BC, it was a centre of worship of the Sumerian sun-god Shamash . It was subject to the 1st dynasty of Babylon, but little else is known about the city before 1174 BC, when it was sacked by the Elamites. It recovered from its defeat but was later captured by the Assyrians. Excavations, begun in 1882, have uncovered the remains of a large temple and thousands of religious and historic clay tablets.