UR
![](ur.jpg)
Urim
(Sumerian) / Uru (Akkadian) / Ur (Arabic)
![](640px-Ur-Nassiriyah.jpg)
The
ruins of Ur, with the Ziggurat of Ur visible in the background
Urim
(Sumerian) / Uru (Akkadian) / Ur (Arabic) |
Location |
"Tell"
el-Muqayyar, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq |
Region |
Mesopotamia |
Coordinates |
30°57'42
N 46°06'18 E |
Type |
Settlement |
History |
Founded |
c.
3800 BC |
Abandoned |
after
500 BC |
Periods |
Ubaid
period to Iron Age |
Cultures |
Sumerian |
Site
notes |
Excavation
dates |
1853
– 1854, 1922 – 1934 |
Archaeologists |
John
George Taylor, Charles Leonard Woolley |
UNESCO
World Heritage Site |
Official
name |
Ur
Archaeological City |
Part
of |
Ahwar
of Southern Iraq |
Criteria |
Mixed:
(iii) (v) (ix) (x) |
Reference |
1481
- 006 |
Inscription |
2016
(40th session) |
Area |
71
ha (0.27 sq mi) |
Buffer
zone |
317
ha (1.22 sq mi) |
|
Ur
(Sumerian: Urim; Sumerian Cuneiform: Romanized: Uru; Ur) was an
important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located
at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in south Iraq's Dhi Qar
Governorate. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth
of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted
and the city is now well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates,
16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq.
The
city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded
in written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC, its
first recorded king being Mesannepada.
The
city's patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian
and Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) moon god, and the name of the
city is in origin derived from the god's name. UNUGKI, literally
"the abode (UNUG) of Nanna".
The
site is marked by the partially restored ruins of the Ziggurat
of Ur, which contained the shrine of Nanna, excavated in the 1930s.
The temple was built in the 21st century BC (short chronology),
during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th
century BC by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The ruins cover
an area of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) northwest to southeast by 800
metres (2,600 ft) northeast to southwest and rise up to about
20 metres (66 ft) above the present plain level.
Layout
:
![](640px-Umma2350.svg.png)
Sumer
and Elam circa 2350 BC. Ur is located close to the coastline near
the mouth of the Euphrates
The city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, was apparently
divided into neighbourhoods, with merchants living in one quarter,
artisans in another. There were streets both wide and narrow,
and open spaces for gatherings. Many structures for water resource
management and flood control are in evidence.
Houses
were constructed from mudbricks and mud plaster. In major buildings,
the masonry was strengthened with bitumen and reeds. For the most
part, foundations are all that remain today. People were often
buried (separately and alone; sometimes with jewellery, pots,
and weapons) in chambers or shafts beneath the house floors.
![](531px-Urimki_inscription.jpg)
The
name URIM5KI for "Country of Ur" on a seal of King Ur-Nammu
Ur was surrounded by sloping ramparts 8 metres high and about
25 metres wide, bordered in some places by a brick wall. Elsewhere,
buildings were integrated into the ramparts. The Euphrates River
complemented these fortifications on the city's western side.
Society
and culture :
Archaeological discoveries have shown unequivocally that Ur was
a major Sumero-Akkadian urban center on the Mesopotamian plain.
Especially the discovery of the Royal Tombs has confirmed its
splendour. These tombs, which date to the Early Dynastic IIIa
period (approximately in the 25th or 24th century BC), contained
an immense treasure of luxury items made of precious metals and
semi-precious stones imported from long distances (Ancient Iran,
Afghanistan, India, Asia Minor, the Levant and the Persian Gulf).
This wealth, unparalleled up to then, is a testimony of Ur's economic
importance during the Early Bronze Age.
Archaeological
study of the region has contributed greatly to our understanding
of the landscape and long-distance interactions during these ancient
times. Ur was a major port on the Persian Gulf, which extended
much further inland than today, and the city controlled much of
the trade into Mesopotamia. Imports to Ur came from many parts
of the world: precious metals such as gold and silver, and semi-precious
stones, namely lapis lazuli and carnelian.
It
is thought that Ur had a stratified social system including slaves
(captured foreigners), farmers, artisans, doctors, scribes, and
priests. High-ranking priests apparently enjoyed great luxury
and splendid mansions.
Tens
of thousands of cuneiform texts have been recovered from temples,
the palace, and individual houses, recording contracts, inventories,
and court documents, evidence of the city's complex economic and
legal systems.
Music
:
Excavation in the old city of Ur in 1929 revealed lyres, instruments
similar to the modern harp but in the shape of a bull and with
eleven strings.
![](380px-Lizard-headed_nude_woman_nursing_a_child,_from_Ur,_Iraq,_c._4000_BCE._Iraq_Museum_(retouched).jpg)
Lizard-headed
nude woman nursing a child, from Ur, Ubaid period, 4500-4000 BCE.
Iraq Museum
![](558px-King_Ur-Nammu.jpg)
Enthroned
King Ur-Nammu (ca. 2047 – 2030 BC)
![](640px-Standard_of_Ur_-_peace_side.jpg)
![](640px-Standard_of_Ur_-_War.jpg)
Standard of Ur mosaic (c. 2600 BC)
The Standard of Ur mosaic, from the royal tombs of Ur, is made
of red limestone, bitumen, lapis lazuli, and shell. The "peace"
side shows comfort, music, and prosperity.The "war"
side of the Standard of Ur shows the king, his armies, and chariots
trampling on enemies.
History :
Prehistory :
When Ur was founded, the Persian Gulf's water level was two-and-a-half
metres higher than today. Ur is therefore thought to have had
marshy surroundings; irrigation would have been unnecessary, and
the city's evident canal system was likely used for transportation.
Fish, birds, tubers, and reeds might have supported Ur economically
without the need for an agricultural revolution sometimes hypothesized
as a prerequisite to urbanization.
Archaeologists
have discovered the evidence of an early occupation at Ur during
the Ubaid period (ca. 6500 to 3800 BC). These early levels were
sealed off with a sterile deposit of soil that was interpreted
by excavators of the 1920s as evidence for the Great Flood of
the Book of Genesis and Epic of Gilgamesh. It is now understood
that the South Mesopotamian plain was exposed to regular floods
from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, with heavy erosion from
water and wind, which may have given rise to the Mesopotamian
and derivative Biblical Great Flood stories.
Sumerian
occupation of the 4th millennium :
The further occupation of Ur only becomes clear during its emergence
in the third millennium BC (although it must already have been
a growing urban center during the fourth millennium). As other
Sumerians, the new settlers of Ur were a non-Semitic people who
may have come from the east circa 3300 BCE, and spoke a language
isolate. But during the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis
developed between the Sumerians and the East-Semitic Akkadians,
which gave rise to widespread bilingualism. The reciprocal influence
of the Sumerian language and the Akkadian language is evident
in all areas, from pervasive lexical borrowing, to syntactic,
morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted
scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium
BC as a Sprachbund.
The
third millennium BC is generally described as the Early Bronze
Age of Mesopotamia, which ends approximately after the demise
of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC.
Third
millennium BC (Early Bronze Age) :
There are various main sources informing scholars about the importance
of Ur during the Early Bronze Age. The First Dynasty of Ur seems
to have had great wealth and power, as shown by the lavish remains
of the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The Sumerian King List provides a
tentative political history of ancient Sumer and mentions, among
others, several rulers of Ur. Mesannepada is the first king mentioned
in the Sumerian King List, and appears to have lived in the 26th
century BC. That Ur was an important urban centre already then
seems to be indicated by a type of cylinder seal called the City
Seals. These seals contain a set of proto-cuneiform signs which
appear to be writings or symbols of the name of city-states in
ancient Mesopotamia. Many of these seals have been found in Ur,
and the name of Ur is prominent on them.
A
large body of cuneiform documents, mostly from the empire of the
so-called Third Dynasty of Ur (also known as the Neo-Sumerian
Empire), appears at the very end of the third millennium. This
was the most centralized bureaucratic state the world had yet
known.
Ur
came under the control of the Semitic-speaking Akkadian Empire
founded by Sargon the Great between the 24th and 22nd centuries
BC. This was a period when the Semitic-speaking Akkadians, who
had entered Mesopotamia in approximately 3000 BC, gained ascendancy
over the Sumerians, and indeed much of the ancient Near East.
After
the fall of the Akkadian Empire in the mid-22nd century BC, southern
Mesopotamia came to be ruled for a few decades by the Gutians,
a language isolate-speaking barbarian people originating in the
Zagros Mountains to the northeast of Mesopotamia, while the Assyrian
branch of the Akkadian speakers reasserted their independence
in the north of Mesopotamia.
![](525px-Map_of_Ur_III.svg.png)
Empire
of the Third Dynasty of Ur. West is at top, north at right
![](514px-Meskalamdug_helmet_British_Museum_electrotype_copy_original_is_in_the_Iraq_Museum,_Bagdad.jpg)
Gold
helmet of King of Ur I Meskalamdug, circa 2600 – 2500 BCE
![](329px-Mesopotamian_female_deity_seating_on_a_chair,_Old-Babylonian_fired_clay_plaque_from_Ur,_Iraq.jpg)
Mesopotamian
female deity seated on a chair, Old-Babylonian fired clay plaque
from Ur
Ur III :
The third dynasty was established when the king Ur-Nammu came
to power, ruling between ca. 2047 BC and 2030 BC. During his rule,
temples, including the Ziggurat of Ur, were built, and agriculture
was improved through irrigation. His code of laws, the Code of
Ur-Nammu (a fragment was identified in Istanbul in 1952) is one
of the oldest such documents known, preceding the Code of Hammurabi
by 300 years. He and his successor Shulgi were both deified during
their reigns, and after his death he continued as a hero-figure:
one of the surviving works of Sumerian literature describes the
death of Ur-Nammu and his journey to the underworld.
Ur-Nammu
was succeeded by Shulgi, the greatest king of the Third Dynasty
of Ur, who solidified the hegemony of Ur and reformed the empire
into a highly centralized bureaucratic state. Shulgi ruled for
a long time (at least 42 years) and deified himself halfway through
his rule.
The
Ur empire continued through the reigns of three more kings with
Semitic Akkadian names, Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and Ibbi-Sin. It fell
around 1940 BC to the Elamites in the 24th regnal year of Ibbi-Sin,
an event commemorated by the Lament for Ur.
According
to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c.
2030 to 1980 BC. Its population was approximately 65,000 (or 0.1
per cent share of global population then).
Later
Bronze Age :
The city of Ur lost its political power after the demise of the
Third Dynasty of Ur. Nevertheless, its important position which
kept on providing access to the Persian Gulf ensured the ongoing
economic importance of the city during the second millennium BC.
The splendour of the city, the might of the empire, the greatness
of king Shulgi, and undoubtedly the efficient propaganda of the
state endured throughout Mesopotamian history. Shulgi was a well
known historical figure for at least another two thousand years,
while historical narratives of the Mesopotamian societies of Assyria
and Babylonia kept names, events, and mythologies in remembrance.
The city came to be ruled by the first dynasty (Amorite) of Babylonia
which rose to prominence in southern Mesopotamia in the 18th century
BC. After the fall of Hammurabi's short lived Babylonian Empire,
it later became a part of the native Akkadian ruled Sealand Dynasty
for over 270 years, and was reconquered into Babylonia by the
successors of the Amorites, the Kassites in the 16th century BC.
During the Kassite Dynastic period Ur, along with the rest of
Babylonia, came under sporadic control of the Elamites and the
Middle Assyrian Empire, the latter of which straddled the Late
Bronze Age and Early Iron Age periods between the early 14th century
BC and mid 11th century BC.
Iron
Age :
The city, along with the rest of southern Mesopotamia and much
of the Near East, Asia Minor, North Africa and southern Caucasus,
fell to the north Mesopotamian Neo-Assyrian Empire from the 10th
to late 7th centuries BC.
From
the end of the 7th century BC Ur was ruled by the so-called Chaldean
Dynasty of Babylon. In the 6th century BC there was new construction
in Ur under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The last
Babylonian king, Nabonidus (who was Assyrian-born and not a Chaldean),
improved the ziggurat. However, the city started to decline from
around 530 BC after Babylonia fell to the Persian Achaemenid Empire,
and was no longer inhabited by the early 5th century BC. The demise
of Ur was perhaps owing to drought, changing river patterns, and
the silting of the outlet to the Persian Gulf.
Identification
with biblical Ur :
![](20160105-Abraham_house_in_Ur_Iraq.jpg)
"Abraham's
House" in Ur, photographed in 2016
Ur is possibly the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of
Genesis as the birthplace of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim
patriarch Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), traditionally believed
to have lived some time in the 2nd millennium BC. There are however
conflicting traditions and scholarly opinions identifying Ur Kasdim
with the sites of Sanliurfa, Urkesh, Urartu or Kutha.
The
biblical Ur is mentioned four times in the Torah or Old Testament,
with the distinction "of the Kasdim/Kasdin"—traditionally
rendered in English as "Ur of the Chaldees". The Chaldeans
had settled in the vicinity by around 850 BC, but were not extant
anywhere in Mesopotamia during the 2nd millennium BC period when
Abraham is traditionally held to have lived. The Chaldean dynasty
did not rule Babylonia (and thus become the rulers of Ur) until
the late 7th century BC, and held power only until the mid 6th
century BC. The name is found in Genesis 11:28, Genesis 11:31,
and Genesis 15:7. In Nehemiah 9:7, a single passage mentioning
Ur is a paraphrase of Genesis.
Archaeology
:
![](640px-OLD_tar_(like_our_cement_or_mortar)_but_2500_-_6000_y.o..jpg)
Bitumen
"mortar" among Ur mudbricks
![](640px-Ur_excavations_(1900)_(14767185992).jpg)
Circular
groups of bricks excavated in 1900
In 1625, the site was visited by Pietro Della Valle, who recorded
the presence of ancient bricks stamped with strange symbols, cemented
together with bitumen, as well as inscribed pieces of black marble
that appeared to be seals.
European
archaeologists did not identify Tell el-Muqayyar as the site of
Ur until Henry Rawlinson successfully deciphered some bricks from
that location, brought to England by William Loftus in 1849.
The
site was first excavated in 1853 and 1854, on behalf of the British
Museum and with instructions from the Foreign Office, by John
George Taylor, British vice consul at Basra from 1851 to 1859.
Taylor uncovered the Ziggurat of Ur and a structure with an arch
later identified as part of the "Gate of Judgment".
In
the four corners of the ziggurat's top stage, Taylor found clay
cylinders bearing an inscription of Nabonidus (Nabuna`id), the
last king of Babylon (539 BC), closing with a prayer for his son
Belshar-uzur (Bel-sarra-Uzur), the Belshazzar of the Book of Daniel.
Evidence was found of prior restorations of the ziggurat by Ishme-Dagan
of Isin and Shu-Sin of Ur, and by Kurigalzu, a Kassite king of
Babylon in the 14th century BC. Nebuchadnezzar also claims to
have rebuilt the temple.
Taylor
further excavated an interesting Babylonian building, not far
from the temple, part of an ancient Babylonian necropolis. All
about the city he found abundant remains of burials of later periods.
Apparently, in later times, owing to its sanctity, Ur became a
favorite place of sepulchres, so that even after it had ceased
to be inhabited, it continued to be used as a necropolis.
Typical
of the era, his excavations destroyed information and exposed
the tell. Natives used the now loosened, 4,000-year-old bricks
and tile for construction for the next 75 years, while the site
lay unexplored, the British Museum having decided to prioritize
archaeology in Assyria.
After
Taylor's time, the site was visited by numerous travelers, almost
all of whom have found ancient Babylonian remains, inscribed stones
and the like, lying upon the surface. The site was considered
rich in remains, and relatively easy to explore. After some soundings
were made in 1918 by Reginald Campbell Thompson, H. R. Hall worked
the site for one season for the British Museum in 1919, laying
the groundwork for more extensive efforts to follow.
![](Ur_from_the_Air.jpg)
Aerial
photograph of Ur in 1927
Excavations from 1922 to 1934 were funded by the British Museum
and the University of Pennsylvania and led by the archaeologist
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley. A total of about 1,850 burials were
uncovered, including 16 that were described as "royal tombs"
containing many valuable artifacts, including the Standard of
Ur. Most of the royal tombs were dated to about 2600 BC. The finds
included the unlooted tomb of a queen thought to be Queen Puabi—the
name is known from a cylinder seal found in the tomb, although
there were two other different and unnamed seals found in the
tomb. Many other people had been buried with her, in a form of
human sacrifice. Near the ziggurat were uncovered the temple E-nun-mah
and buildings E-dub-lal-mah (built for a king), E-gi-par (residence
of the high priestess) and E-hur-sag (a temple building). Outside
the temple area, many houses used in everyday life were found.
Excavations were also made below the royal tombs layer: a 3.5-metre-thick
(11 ft) layer of alluvial clay covered the remains of earlier
habitation, including pottery from the Ubaid period, the first
stage of settlement in southern Mesopotamia. Woolley later wrote
many articles and books about the discoveries. One of Woolley's
assistants on the site was the archaeologist Max Mallowan. The
discoveries at the site reached the headlines in mainstream media
in the world with the discoveries of the Royal Tombs. As a result,
the ruins of the ancient city attracted many visitors. One of
these visitors was the already famous Agatha Christie, who as
a result of this visit ended up marrying Max Mallowan.
During
this time the site was accessible from the Baghdad–Basra
railway, from a stop called "Ur Junction".
When
the Royal Tombs at Ur were first discovered, they had no idea
how big they were. They started by digging two trenches in the
middle of the desert to see if they could find anything that would
allow them to keep digging. They originally split into two teams.
Team A and team B. Both teams spent the first few months digging
a trench and had found evidence of burial grounds by collecting
small pieces of golden jewelry and pottery. This was called at
the time the "gold trench" At this time, the first season
of digging had come to a close, and Woolley returned to England.
In Autumn, Woolley returned and continued to dig into the second
season. By the end of the second season, he had uncovered a courtyard
surrounded by many rooms. In their third season of digging they
had uncovered their biggest find yet, a building that was believed
to have been built by the orders of the king, and the second building
to be where the high priestess lived. As the fourth and fifth
season came to a close, they had discovered so many items, that
most of their time was now spent recording the objects they found
instead of actually digging objects. They had found many items
from gold jewelry to clay pots and stones. There were a few Lyres
that were inside of the tombs as well. One of the most significant
objects that was discovered was the Standard of Ur. At the end
of their sixth season they had excavated 1850 burials and deemed
17 of them to be "Royal Tombs". Woolley had finished
his work excavating the Royal Tombs of UR in 1934. Woolley uncovered
a series of burials. He referred to these findings as the "Royal
tombs" and the "Death Pit." Many servants were
killed and buried with the royals, he believed that these servants
went to their deaths willingly. He and his wife and collogue Katherine
theorized that these servants were given poisonous drinks and
these deaths were a mass suicide as a tribute to their rulers.
However computerized tomography scans on some of the surviving
skulls have showed signs that they were killed by blows to the
head that could be from the spiked end of a copper axe. This evidence
proved Woolley's theory of mass suicide via poison incorrect.
Inside princess Puabi's tomb, there was a chest in the middle
of the room. Underneath that chest was a hole in the ground that
led to what was called the "King's grave" PG-789. It
was believed to be the kings grave because it was buried next
to the queen. In the "King's Grave" were 63 attendants
who were all equipped with copper helmets and swords. It is thought
to be his army buried with him. Another large room was uncovered,
PG-1237, called the "Great death pit". This large room
had 74 bodies, 68 of which were women. There were only two artifacts
in the tomb, both of which were Lyres.
![](339px-Reconstructed_sumerian_headgear_necklaces_british_museum.jpg)
Sumerian
Headgear and Necklaces British Museum. This artifact was found
in the tomb of Puabi in the "Royal tombs" of Ur
Most of the treasures excavated at Ur are in the British Museum
and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
At the Penn Museum the exhibition "Iraq's Ancient Past",
which includes many of the most famous pieces from the Royal Tombs,
opened to visitors in late Spring 2011. Previously, the Penn Museum
had sent many of its best pieces from Ur on tour in an exhibition
called "Treasures From the Royal Tombs of Ur." It traveled
to eight American museums, including those in Cleveland, Washington
and Dallas, ending the tour at the Detroit Institute of Art in
May 2011.
In
2009, an agreement was reached for a joint University of Pennsylvania
and Iraqi team to resume archaeological work at the site of Ur.
Archaeological
remains :
![](Operation_Iraqi_Freedom_DVIDS284466.jpg)
U.S.
soldiers ascend the reconstructed Ziggurat of Ur in May 2010
Though some of the areas that were cleared during modern excavations
have sanded over again, the Great Ziggurat is fully cleared and
stands as the best-preserved and most visible landmark at the
site. The famous Royal tombs, also called the Neo-Sumerian Mausolea,
located about 250 metres (820 ft) south-east of the Great Ziggurat
in the corner of the wall that surrounds the city, are nearly
totally cleared. Parts of the tomb area appear to be in need of
structural consolidation or stabilization.
There
are cuneiform (Sumerian writing) on many walls, some entirely
covered in script stamped into the mud-bricks. The text is sometimes
difficult to read, but it covers most surfaces. Modern graffiti
has also found its way to the graves, usually in the form of names
made with coloured pens (sometimes they are carved). The Great
Ziggurat itself has far more graffiti, mostly lightly carved into
the bricks. The graves are completely empty. A small number of
the tombs are accessible. Most of them have been cordoned off.
The whole site is covered with pottery debris, to the extent that
it is virtually impossible to set foot anywhere without stepping
on some. Some have colours and paintings on them. Some of the
"mountains" of broken pottery are debris that has been
removed from excavations. Pottery debris and human remains form
many of the walls of the royal tombs area.
In
May 2009, the United States Army returned the Ur site to the Iraqi
authorities, who hope to develop it as a tourist destination.
Preservation
:
![](577px-Wall_plaque_showing_libation_scene_from_Ur,_Iraq,_2500_BCE._British_Museum.jpg)
Wall
plaque from Ur, 2500 BCE. British Museum
Since 2009, the non-profit organization Global Heritage Fund (GHF)
has been working to protect and preserve Ur against the problems
of erosion, neglect, inappropriate restoration, war and conflict.
GHF's stated goal for the project is to create an informed and
scientifically grounded Master Plan to guide the long-term conservation
and management of the site, and to serve as a model for the stewardship
of other sites.
Since
2013, the institution for Development Cooperation of the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs DGCS and the SBAH, the State Board
of Antiquities and Heritage of the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities, have started a cooperation project for "The
Conservation and Maintenance of Archaeological site of UR".
In the framework of this cooperation agreement, the executive
plan, with detailed drawings, is in progress for the maintenance
of the Dublamah Temple (design concluded, works starting), the
Royal Tombs—Mausolea 3rd Dynasty (in progress)—and
the Ziqqurat (in progress). The first updated survey in 2013 has
produced a new aerial map derived by the flight of a UAV (unmanned
aerial vehicle) operated in March 2014. This is the first high-resolution
map, derived from more than 100 aerial photograms, with an accuracy
of 20 cm or less. A preview of the ORTHO-PHOTOMAP of Archaeological
Site of UR is available online.
Tal
Abu Tbeirah :
Since 2012, a joint team of Italian and Iraqi archaeologists led
by Franco D'Agostino have been excavating at Tal Abu Tbeirah,
located 15 kilometers east of Ur and 7 kilometers south of Nasariyah.
The site, about 45 hectares in area, appears to have been a harbor
and trading center associated with Ur in the later half of the
3rd Millennium BC.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur