Nippur
Nippur is a city in modern-day southeast Iraq. Nippur lies 35 Km to the north-east of Diwaniya, 180 Km to the south-west of Baghdad. The Mesopotamian site of Nippur, one of the largest and longest-lived cities in Mesopotamia, was occupied before the 6th century millennium BCE until ca. 800 CE. Nippur has yielded antiquities that span the Sumerian and Babylonian periods, up to Abbasid times. It was a large city, neatly divided by Euphrates. On the east was the temple area, which held the ziggurat and the temple of Inlil, god of the wind and creator of the universe. One result of the embargo is a revival of illicit digging at archaeological sites on a scale that has not been seen since the Ottoman period.

The urban water cycle can be divided into a water supply side and a wastewater disposal side. The basic technological framework for the water supply side began as far back as 5,000 years ago when people from the Nippur of Sumeria, a region of the Middle East, built a centralized system to deliver water into populated areas.

Beads from the Akkadian period (ca. 2350 B.C.) site of Nippur in Iraq have been the subject of extensive analytical investigation. Among the artifacts studied are two beads that are the earliest recovered from ancient Southwest Asia. One is a soda-lime-silicate composition with 30-micron calcium-silicate crystals, evidence of an unusually long heat treatment. The other is a lead-silicate, copper green composition with six phases present, including calcium-magnesium silicates and yellow lead-stannate; the latter was previously thought to be a glass colorant first used in Roman times. These beads, along with other glass materials and the remains of furnaces, have revealed a complex pyrotechnology that may have a developmental link to the processing of metal. The Nippur research has be conducted as part of a larger effort to reconstruct the late-third-millennium ceramic and glass technology. The Nippur phase of the investigation has been completed and a final report submitted for publication.

CSC Scania / Convoy Support Center Scania / Camp Scania
CSC Scania is a truck stop along a road the military calls MSR Tampa. (MSR=Main Supply Route). It is near the village of Nippur. Scania is a United States Military installation about 100 kilometers south of Baghdad along Highway 1 near an agricultural area about 40 kilometers Southeast of Hillah. There are no large towns nearby, so it is a little difficult to find. According to one report it is located near the city of Ad-Diwaniyah, while another places Camp Scania near Tilil Air Base a few hours south of Baghdad, and a third claims it is 30 miles south of Baghdad.

When American soldiers first arrived in March 2003 they ate MRE's and had salt water gravity fed showers. Conditions have improved greatly since then. On 01 November 2003 the tent city opened, with with mess hall, dining, living, showers, rec hall tents with computer access and regular e-mail. Units include Military Police, medical and convoy escort units. American convoys and head north to Camp Scania where they stop to refuel, use the PX and on again up to Camp Victory (Baghdad). By mid-April 2004 the Iraqi Insurgents had been blowing up bridges and all the convoys were transferred to Scania.

Scania It has all the ambiance of a land fill. Scania is a walled community, a lot like a prison in reverse. There is a high wall topped with razor wire and guard towers. The walls are to keep the bad guys out and the good guys protected. One end of the base is the fuel point; the other is a living, and logistics.

As the 377th TSC assumed responsibility for the security of MSR Tampa (from Kuwait to Baghdad) and support for the forward movement of the 1st Armored Division and 4th Infantry Division (4ID), the 220th Military Police Brigade tasked the 504th to secure the newly established CSC Scania, south of Baghdad. On 11 April 2003, elements of the battalion moved 300 miles north of CSC Navistar to Shumali, Iraq, and occupied an abandoned rest stop and gas station adjacent to the MSR to begin supporting the 377th TSC. The same coordination and effort required to make CSC Navistar efficient was implemented at CSC Scania to move crucial supplies and units forward in support of the offensive on Tikrit. Working continuously and gathering resources from wherever possible, the battalion transformed the location into a critical transportation node. Additionally, as soldiers endured the debilitating heat of summer, the battalion continued to expand CSC Scania and make quality-of-life improvements for soldiers living there, constructing a $10 million life-support area and a dining facility.

At CSC Scania, work focused on making the CSC fully operational and secure to support the heavy flow of convoys, while simultaneously upgrading the quality of life for soldiers. Efforts were set in motion to construct a force provider logistics support area (LSA). Contracting for the real estate leased from a local farmer began in July 2003. Working with the support services contractor, Kellogg Brown and Root, the battalion played a lead role in the planning, design, and construction of the LSA and improvements to existing on-site structures, including the current tactical operations center and medical treatment facility. The construction began in August, and the battalion worked with the contractor on a daily basis to ensure that all project objectives were met. On 1 November 2003, LSA Nakaamura officially opened to house CSC Scania's tenant units; in December 2003, the CSC was fully operational to support the convoy movement of CJTF-7.

Camp Nakamura
The main living area of CSC Scania is named after Army Spc. Paul T. Nakamura. Nakamura was part of an ambulance crew transporting an injured soldier when the vehicle was hit by an RPG in Al Iskandariyah, Iraq. He was assigned to 437th Medical Company, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Died on June 19, 2003.