The Renaissance of Sumer is a period of the history of Mesopotamia that includes the years between the fall of the Akkadian Empire and the period of the Amorite dynasties of Isin and Larsa—both with governments of Semitic origin—between the centuries 22nd B.C. and 21st B.C. Within this stage the years of the so-called Third Dynasty of Ur or "Ur III" stand out, because of the new hegemony that would embrace all Mesopotamia, this time with the city of Ur at the head.
Despite the irruption of the nomadic gutians, who provoked continuous plundering, razed cities and fields, and made trade difficult, the end of the Akkadian Empire did not bring decadence, at least in the southern part of Mesopotamia. [1] The various cities were organized into small kingdoms. Akkad itself, the former imperial capital, maintained a small state in the territories near it, which survived for 30 years, until it was conquered by nomads. Subsequently, a hegemony of Uruk is assumed because it is so named in the Sumerian King List, but apart from the names in the list there is no further data to affirm or deny it.
Of this period, the best known history is that of Lagash: first the names of the ensi , vassals of the Sargonids of Akkad are known: Kikuid contemporary of Rimush, Engilsa contemporary of Manishtushu, Ura contemporary of Naram-Sin and Lugalshumgal contemporary of both Naram-Sin and Sharkalisharri. Later, it is known of a series of governors who could have been subordinate to Uruk: Puzurmama, Urutu, Urmama, Lubau, Lugula and Kaku. After them, the city achieves hegemony in the region, in what is called Second Dynasty of Lagash: Urbaba, Gudea, Urningirsu, Pirigme, Urgar and Mammakhani; who represent a continued family succession (from father to son or father-in-law to son-in-law). [2]
Urbaba (2164 B. C. to 2144 B. C.) was the first of the monarchs to exercise hegemony; his daughter Enanepeda was appointed priestess of the goddess Nannar in Ur, which may indicate that she dominated in this city. During Gudea's reign, Lagash's dominion over Nippur, Adab, Uruk and Badtibira is recorded.
Despite the fact that during his reign, Lagash made a conquering expedition over Elam, it is considered that Gudea was a relatively peaceful king, more interested in trade than in conquest. Thus, an inscription celebrates that he succeeded in reopening trade "from the upper sea to the lower sea" and is known to have maintained trade contacts with the timber areas of present day Syria and Lebanon; with Magan, in present day Oman, and with the Indus Valley, from which diorite, copper and gold were obtained. [1] All these materials were used in the elaborate sculpture characteristic of this period, most notably the numerous figures of the monarch. These sculptures were specially designed to decorate the temples, which underwent major reconstructions during the reign of Gudea. Of these constructions, the temples of Ningirsu (whose ruins were lost in the first excavations) and Nanshe, which, according to an inscription, Gudea undertook after a divine apparition in a dream, stand out. [1] Prosperity continued with the kings Urningirsu and Pirigme.
During the later period it was Uruk, with the reign of Utu-hegal who gained a predominant position. The new monarch defeated the chief of the nomadic gutians, Tiriqan, who was taken prisoner, after which he appointed himself "king of the four regions". Utu-hegal was succeeded by Ur-Nammu, who it is not known whether he belonged to his dynasty or was a usurper. It has been speculated that it could be his brother. [3] The new king strove to realize the title he had inherited; he attacked neighboring cities and conquered Nippur, Uruk, Larsa, Ur, Eridu and Lagash, whose king Nammahni was killed. [4] After this, he decided to move the capital of his state from Uruk to Ur, founding a new dynasty; the III dynasty of Ur. The reason for this move is unclear, although it is possible that Ur-Nammu had been governor of this city before receiving the throne of Uruk. [3]
The empire of Ur was not succeeded by another state covering the whole of Mesopotamia. However, it does not seem that this was a period of chaos and social destruction. [7] It was Ishbi-Erra, with his kingdom centered in Isin, who achieved the dominion of great part of the Sumerian cities, in a partial hegemony that would last half a century. In the early years of his reign he succeeded in disarming the bands of nomadic bandits that impeded trade with the regions further north, after which followed a period of peace that continued during the reign of his successors. [4]
Some Sumerian cities were not controlled by the Isin dynasty. From the reign of Lipit-Ishtar, one of them began to stand out: it was Larsa. The flourishing of Larsa became evident around the 20th century BC, when king Gungunum conquered Elam, the Diyala valley and, finally, the ancient city of Assur. About five years later, after conquering the city of Ur, Gungunum named himself "king of Sumer and Akkad". His successor Abisare continued the expansion of the kingdom, conquering the Akkadian cities of Kish and Akusum as well as Nippur. As early as the 19th century B.C., King Bur-Sin of Isin tried to check the advance of Larsa by conquering Ur and Nippur, but his initiative must have failed as by the middle of the century, Isin had lost all territory beyond the city itself. [4]
During this first Larsa dynasty, a hitherto unimportant city, Babylon, founded a principality in the territory of Akkad, further north, which included the cities of Sippar, Dilbat and Kazallu. In the south, Larsa's control was not total either, and in the late 19th century B.C., during the reign of Rim-Sin I, a coalition of cities rose up against his power. Among the rebel cities were Uruk, Isin and also Babylon. The first two fell in the 19th and 18th centuries B.C. and 18th B.C. respectively. A new king, Hammurabi, came to the throne of Babylon while Rim-Sin was preparing for conquest. The new monarch not only prevented Rim-Sin's plans, but defeated him completely, after which he would undertake the conquest of practically the whole of Mesopotamia, forming the so-called Paleo-Babylonian Empire. [8]
During the Ur empire, an important bureaucracy was developed, as shown in the hundreds of thousands of tablets that have been found that reflect all kinds of activities: contracts, accounting, salaries, work schedules, provision bookings, tax records, etc. [6] This administrative work was carried out by officials whose work was supervised by other higher ranking officials such as the aga-ush (police), nu-banda (inspector) or mashkim (commissioner). [4] To unify the records of the different regions, a system of standard measurements was created and a new calendar was devised that defined each year with some important event happening in it. [6]
The territory was divided into different regions in charge of which there was a military governor or shagin and a civil governor or ensi . The attributions of each varied according to the different circumscriptions but in general, the ensi was dedicated to tasks such as justice, temple offerings and the payment of salaries. In some border regions the shagin was also in charge of agricultural tasks and irrigation infrastructures. [4]
Another important part of the state administration was the mail system, which had a complete system of postal sites and roads. Goods were transported by the sukkal, who were considered high-level officials and worked under the command of a sukkalmah, postmaster. [4]
Like the administration, the economy in the Ur period was strongly centralized. Agricultural production was largely controlled by the state, which reserved an important part of the production for the maintenance of the temples. Another part of this maintenance was the responsibility of the cities. To organize all the offerings, Shulgi ordered the construction of a large warehouse in Drehem, near Nippur. [4]
Among the industrial and manufacturing activities, textile production stood out, which was mainly carried out by women. [6] In general, the artisans belonged to the eren class, largely made up of war slaves. In the Ur period, a large part of these slaves were of elamite origin, given the numerous wars experienced between that people and the Sumerians. Although the eren had less legal freedom than other classes, their situation could improve according to their abilities. [4]
Among the commercial activities was the import of metals, to which was added the trade of ivory, precious stones and woods. Most of these materials came from the Persian Gulf route, originating in Magan (in present-day Oman) and the Indus Valley. Copper was also obtained from the Anatolian peninsula and silver came from Elam.
The method of exchange was still based mainly on barter, in which Mesopotamia contributed goods such as cloth, wool or dates. However, the use of money also began to become popular during this period. [4]
During the period of Ur III, to the social distinctions based on the legal rights of the citizen—which distinguished between slaves and free men—a new division was reaffirmed according to the economic status of each individual. Thus, among the free men a distinction was made between the mashda or later mushkenum and the rulers of society, while the lower class was not specifically that of the slaves but of the eren, made up of all kinds of workers who shared their low economic capacity. The eren may or may not have been slaves, but they still lacked many rights, such as the freedom to move about without permission from their overseer. [4]
Slavery, however, was not necessarily associated with a humble way of life, since within the slaves were distinguished in turn several types. The ir or geme were engaged in domestic and service work, and their labor was generally no heavier than that of citizens with greater legal rights. Part of the members of this class came from poor families, having been given by their parents to ensure them a better economic situation. [4]
Nonetheless, another group of slaves, called namra, suffered a more precarious situation. The namra were generally prisoners of war, and belonged entirely to the eren class. The tasks they performed, generally heavier than those of other groups, included the construction of infrastructure or even military tasks. [4]
The 22nd century BC are the years between 2200 and 2101 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. Like nearby Elam, it is one of the cradles of civilization, along with Egypt, the Indus Valley, the Erligang culture of the Yellow River valley, Caral-Supe, and Mesoamerica. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of grain and other crops, a surplus which enabled them to form urban settlements. The world's earliest known texts come from the Sumerian cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr, and date to between c. 3350 – c. 2500 BC, following a period of proto-writing c. 4000 – c. 2500 BC.
The Sumerian King List or Chronicle of the One Monarchy is an ancient literary composition written in Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims to power of various city-states and kingdoms in southern Mesopotamia during the late third and early second millennium BC. It does so by repetitively listing Sumerian cities, the kings that ruled there, and the lengths of their reigns. Especially in the early part of the list, these reigns often span thousands of years. In the oldest known version, dated to the Ur III period but probably based on Akkadian source material, the SKL reflected a more linear transition of power from Kish, the first city to receive kingship, to Akkad. In later versions from the Old Babylonian period, the list consisted of a large number of cities between which kingship was transferred, reflecting a more cyclical view of how kingship came to a city, only to be inevitably replaced by the next. In its best-known and best-preserved version, as recorded on the Weld-Blundell Prism, the SKL begins with a number of antediluvian kings, who ruled before a flood swept over the land, after which kingship went to Kish. It ends with a dynasty from Isin, which is well-known from other contemporary sources.
The history of Sumer spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia, and is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BCE. It was followed by a transitional period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BCE.
Lagash was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about 22 kilometres (14 mi) east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East. The ancient site of Nina is around 10 km (6.2 mi) away and marks the southern limit of the state. Nearby Girsu, about 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state. The Lagash state's main temple was the E-ninnu at Girsu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. The Lagash state incorporated the ancient cities of Lagash, Girsu, Nina.
Ur-Nammu founded the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. His main achievement was state-building, and Ur-Nammu is chiefly remembered today for his legal code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known surviving example in the world. He held the titles of "King of Ur, and King of Sumer and Akkad".
Samsu-iluna was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon, ruling from 1749 BC to 1712 BC, or from 1686 to 1648 BC. He was the son and successor of Hammurabi by an unknown mother. His reign was marked by the violent uprisings of areas conquered by his father and the abandonment of several important cities.
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider to have been a nascent empire.
Shulgi of Ur was the second king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. He reigned for 48 years, from c. 2094 – c. 2046 BC or possibly c. 2030 – 1982 BC. His accomplishments include the completion of construction of the Great Ziggurat of Ur, begun by his father Ur-Nammu. On his inscriptions, he took the titles "King of Ur", "King of Sumer and Akkad" and "King of the four corners of the universe". He used the symbol for divinity before his name, marking his apotheosis, from the 23rd year of his reign.
Lugal-Zage-Si of Umma was the last Sumerian king before the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad and the rise of the Akkadian Empire, and was considered as the only king of the third dynasty of Uruk, according to the Sumerian King List. Initially, as king of Umma, he led the final victory of Umma in the generation-long conflict with the city-state Lagash for the fertile plain of Gu-Edin. Following up on this success, he then united Sumer briefly as a single kingdom.
Bad-tibira, "Wall of the Copper Worker(s)", or "Fortress of the Smiths", identified as modern Tell al-Madineh, between Ash Shatrah and Tell as-Senkereh and 33 kilometers northeast of ancient Girsu in southern Iraq, was an ancient Sumerian city on the Iturungal canal, which appears among antediluvian cities in the Sumerian King List. Its Akkadian name was Dûr-gurgurri. It was also called Παντιβίβλος (Pantibiblos) by Greek authors such as Berossus, transmitted by Abydenus and Apollodorus. This may reflect another version of the city's name, Patibira, "Canal of the Smiths".
Enmebaragesi (Sumerian: 𒂗𒈨𒁈𒄄𒋛En-me-barag-gi-se [EN-ME-BARA2-GI4-SE]) originally Mebarasi (𒈨𒁈𒋛) was the penultimate king of the first dynasty of Kish and is recorded as having reigned 900 years in the Sumerian King List. Like his son and successor Aga he reigned during a period when Kish had hegemony over Sumer. Enmebaragesi signals a momentous documentary leap from mytho-history to history, since he is the earliest ruler on the king list whose name is attested directly from archaeology.
The history of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing in the late 4th millennium BC, an increasing amount of historical sources. While in the Paleolithic and early Neolithic periods only parts of Upper Mesopotamia were occupied, the southern alluvium was settled during the late Neolithic period. Mesopotamia has been home to many of the oldest major civilizations, entering history from the Early Bronze Age, for which reason it is often called a cradle of civilization.
The Awan Dynasty was the first dynasty of Elam of which very little of anything is known today, appearing at the dawn of historical record. The Dynasty corresponds to the early part of the Old Elamite period, it was succeeded by the Shimashki Dynasty and later the Sukkalmah Dynasty. The Elamites were likely major rivals of neighboring Sumer from remotest antiquity; they were said to have been defeated by Enmebaragesi of Kish, who is the earliest archaeologically attested Sumerian king, as well as by a later monarch, Eannatum I of Lagash.
The Dynasty of Isin refers to the final ruling dynasty listed on the Sumerian King List (SKL). The list of the Kings Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin, the List of Reigns of Kings of Ur and Isin.
Gungunum was a king of the city state of Larsa in southern Mesopotamia, ruling from 1932 to 1906 BC. According to the traditional king list for Larsa, he was the fifth king to rule the city, and in his own inscriptions he identifies himself as a son of Samium and brother to his immediate predecessor Zabaya. His name is Amorite, and originates in the word gungun, meaning "protection", "defence" or "shelter".
The Guti, also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a people of the ancient Near East. Their homeland was known as Gutium.
Kazalla or Kazallu (Ka-zal-luki) is the name given in Akkadian sources to a city in the ancient Near East whose locations is unknown. Its god is Numushda with his consort Namrat. There are indications that the god Lugal-awak also lived in Kazallu.
King of Sumer and Akkad was a royal title in Ancient Mesopotamia combining the titles of "King of Akkad", the ruling title held by the monarchs of the Akkadian Empire with the title of "King of Sumer". The title simultaneously laid a claim on the legacy and glory of the ancient empire that had been founded by Sargon of Akkad and expressed a claim to rule the entirety of lower Mesopotamia. Despite both of the titles "King of Sumer" and "King of Akkad" having been used by the Akkadian kings, the title was not introduced in its combined form until the reign of the Neo-Sumerian king Ur-Nammu, who created it in an effort to unify the southern and northern parts of lower Mesopotamia under his rule. The older Akkadian kings themselves might have been against linking Sumer and Akkad in such a way.
The Isin-Larsa period is a phase in the history of ancient Mesopotamia, which extends between the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the conquest of Mesopotamia by King Hammurabi of Babylon leading to the creation of the First Babylonian dynasty. According to the approximate conventional dating, this period begins in 2025 BCE and ended in 1763 BCE. It constitutes the first part of the Old Babylonian period, the second part being the period of domination of the first dynasty of Babylon, which ends with the Sack of Babylon in 1595 BCE and the rise of the Kassites.
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