Tell Leilan is an archaeological site situated near the Wadi Jarrah in the Khabur River basin in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria.

[6][7][8][9] A 3-foot layer of sediment at Tell Leilan containing no evidence of human habitation offered clues as to the cause of the demise of the Akkadian imperial city; analysis indicated that at around 2200 BC, a three-century drought was severe enough to affect agriculture and settlement.

[10][11][12][13] The conquest of the region by the Amorite warlord Shamshi-Adad I (1813–1781 BC) of Ekallatum revived the abandoned site of Tell Leilan.

Shamshi-Adad saw the great potential in the rich agricultural production of the region and made it the capital city of his empire.

[16][17] Beginning in 1979 the mound of Tell Leilan was excavated by a team of archaeologists from Yale University, led by Harvey Weiss.

[21][22] These tablets date to the eighteenth century BC and record the dealings with other Mesopotamian states and how the city administration worked.