[7] Notable mounds were Initial examinations of the site of Bismaya were by William Hayes Ward of the Wolfe Expedition in 1885 and by John Punnett Peters of the University of Pennsylvania in 1890, each spending a day there and finding one cuneiform tablet and a few fragments.

[10] Excavations were conducted there on behalf of the University of Chicago and led by Edgar James Banks for a total of six months beginning on Christmas Day of 1903 until May 25, 1904.

While Banks was better trained than the earlier generation of antiquarians and treasure hunters and used more modern archaeological methods the excavations suffered seriously from having never been properly published.

[11][12][13][14] The Banks expedition to Bismaya was well documented by the standards of the time and many objects photographed though no final report was ever produced due to personal disputes.

[7] On Mound V, on what was originally thought to be an island but has since been understood to have resulted from a shift in the canal bed, stood the temple, E-mah, with a ziggurat.

[15] 𒀭𒈤 𒂍𒅆𒉏𒉺𒌓𒁺 𒃻𒑐𒋼𒋛 𒌓𒉣𒆠 𒂍𒈤 𒈬𒈾𒆕 𒌫𒁉𒆠𒂠 𒋼𒁀𒋛 d-mah/ e2-igi-nim-pa-e3/ GAR-ensi/ adab{ki}/ e2-mah mu-na-du/ ur2-be2 ki-sze3/ temen ba-si

[17] Adab was evidently once a city of considerable importance, but deserted at a very early period, since the ruins found close to the surface of the mounds belong to Shulgi and Ur-Nammu, kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the latter part of the third millennium BC, based on inscribed bricks excavated at Bismaya.

[22] The two most notable discoveries were a complete statue in white marble, apparently the earliest yet found in Mesopotamia, now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, bearing the inscription, translated by Banks as "E-mach, King Da-udu, King of, Ud-Nun", now known as the statue of Lugal-dalu and a temple refuse heap, consisting of great quantities of fragments of vases in marble, alabaster, onyx, porphyry and granite, some of which were inscribed, and others engraved and inlaid with ivory and precious stones.

[7][23] Of the Adab tablets that ended up at the University of Chicago, sponsor of the excavations, all have been published and also made available in digital form online.

[26][27][28][29] In response to widespread looting which began after the war 1991, the Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage conducted an excavation at Adab in 2001.

[31] On the order of a thousand tablets from that looting, all from the Sargonic Period, have been sold to various collectors and many are being published, though missing archaeological context.

Results included a "Preliminary reconstruction of the urban layout and hydraulic landscape around Bismaya/Adab in the ED III and Akkadian periods".

[38] Adab is mentioned in late 4th millennium BC texts found at Uruk but no finds from that period have been recovered from the site.

[42] A marble statue was found at Bismaya inscribed with the name of another king of Adab, variously translated as Lugal-daudu, Da-udu, and Lugaldalu.

He later joined other cities including Zabalam in a rebellion against Rimush son of Sargon and second ruler of the Akkadian Empire and was defeated and captured.

Various governors, including Lugal-gis, Sarru-alli, Ur-Tur, and Lugal-ajagu then ruled Adab under direct Akkadian control.

"[52]About 200 inscribed objects, mainly tablets but also a few bricks and clay sealings, from the Old Babylonian period of the early 2nd millenium BC from Adab are known.

[54] Inscribed bricks of the Kassite dynasty ruler Kurigalzu I (c. 1375 BC) were found at Adab, marking the last verified occupation of the site.