UMMA
![](Aerial_view_of_Umma,_following_pillage_after_the_US_invasion_1.jpg)
Aerial
view of Umma
![](umma.jpg)
Umma
Location
: Dhi Qar Province, Iraq
Region
: Mesopotamia
Coordinates
: 31°40'02 N 45°53'15 E
Type
: Settlement
Umma
(Sumerian: umma; modern Umm al-Aqarib, Dhi Qar Province in Iraq,
formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There
is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for
this site.
Traditionally,
Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been suggested
that it was located at Umm al-Aqarib, less than 7 km (4.3 mi) to
its northwest or was even the name of both cities.
History
:
Best
known for its long frontier conflict with Lagash, as reported circa
2400 BC by Entemena,
the city reached its zenith c. 2275 BC, under the rule of Lugal-Zage-Si
who also controlled Ur and Uruk. Under the Ur III dynasty, Umma
became an important provincial center. Most of the over 30,000 tablets
recovered from the site are administrative and economic texts from
that time. They permit an excellent insight into affairs in Umma.
The Umma calendar of Shulgi (c. 21st century BC) is the immediate
predecessor of the later Babylonian calendar, and indirectly of
the post-exilic Hebrew calendar. Umma appears to have been abandoned
after the Middle Bronze Age.
Archaeology
:
The site of Tell Jokha was visited by William Loftus in 1854 and
John Punnett Peters of the University of Pennsylvania in 1885. In
the early 1900s, many illegally excavated Umma tablets from the
Third Dynasty of Ur began to appear on the antiquities market. Tell
Jokha has been identified as Umma's dependency Gisha (or Kissa),
while the site of Umma itself has been located about 6.5 km to the
southeast, at Umm al-Aqarib. At Umm al-Aqarib, archaeologists uncovered
levels dating as early as the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900–2300
BCE), including several monumental buildings, one of them variously
identified as a temple or palace.
In
2017, the Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute began excavations
at Tell Jokha.
![](Stele_of_Ushumgal_MET_DT849.jpg)
Stele
of Ushumgal, 2900 - 2700 BCE. Probably from Umma
![](640px-thumbnail.jpg)
Vase
of King Gishakidu, king of Umma, and son of Ur-Lumma. This cuneiform
text gives the city of Umma's account of its long-running border
dispute with Lagash. Circa 2350 BCE. From Umma, Iraq. The British
Museum, London
![](Votive_plaque_of_a_beard-IMG_6857.JPG)
Votive
plaque offered by Bara-irnun, queen of Umma, to God Šara in
gratitude for sparing her life. Date circa 2370 BC
Looting
:
![](Imprisoned_man_of_Umma_on_the_Stele_of_the_Vultures.jpg)
Imprisoned
man of Umma on the Stele of the Vultures
![](640px-Gutian_inscription-AO_4783-gradient.jpg)
An
inscription from Umma dated c. 2130 BCE. "Lugalannatum prince
of Umma... built the E.GIDRU [Sceptre] Temple at Umma, buried his
foundation deposit [and] regulated the orders. At that time, Si'um
was king of Gutium." (Collection of the Louvre Museum)
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, after Coalition bombing began,
looters descended upon the site which is now pockmarked with hundreds
of ditches and pits. The prospects for future official excavation
and research were seriously compromised in the process.
In
2011, Global Heritage Network, which monitors threats to cultural
heritage sites in developing nations, released aerial images comparing
Umma in 2003 and 2010, showing a landscape devastated by looters'
trenches during that time—approximately 1.12 square km in
total. Additional images relevant to the situation at Umm al-Aqarib
are included in Tucker's article on the destruction of Iraq's archaeological
heritage.
Rulers
of Umma :
Aga of Kish (26th century BCE), king of Kish, probably took over
Umma, and consequently Zabala, which was dependant of it in the
Early Dynastic Period.
First
Dynasty of Umma :
Ruler |
Particulars |
Pabilgagaltuku |
Proposed
reign : 26th century BCE
Notes :
A governor of Umma, he was captured by Ur-Nanshe of Lagash. |
Ush
("Ninta") |
Proposed
reign : c. 2500 BCE
Notes :
Attacked Lagash and removed the boundary stone set up by
Mesilim, and was defeated by Eannatum. |
Enakalle |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Made a
boundary treaty with Eannatum. |
Ur-Lumma |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Son of Enakalle. Challenged Enannatum I, but was defeated
by his successor Enmetena. |
Il |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Successor to Ur-Lumna. He rebelled against Enannatum II,
and destroyed the dynasty of Ur-Nanshe. |
Gishakidu |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Son of Il |
Edin |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Ruler of Umma |
Meanedu |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Ruler of Umma |
Ushurdu? |
Proposed
reign : 2500–2400 BCE
Notes :
Ruler of
Umma |
Ukush |
Proposed
reign : 2400–2300 BCE
Notes :
Father of Lugal-Zage-Si. |
Lugal-Zage-Si |
Proposed
reign : 2400–2300 BCE
Notes :
Conqueror of all Sumer, founder of the third dynasty of
Uruk, vanquished by Sargon of Akkad. |
Second
Dynasty of Umma :
Ruler |
Particulars |
Lugalanatum |
Proposed
reign : c. 2113 BCE
Notes :
Vassal to the Gutian Dynasty. |
An
official of Umma, circa 2400 BC :
![](580px-Diorite_statue_of_Lupad,_official_in_town_of_Umma,_Early_Dynastic_Period_III,_c._2400_BC.jpg)
![](Upad_of_Umma.jpg)
Diorite
statue of Lupad, an official of the city of Umma, with inscriptions
recording the purchase of land in Lagash. Early Dynastic Period
III, c. 2400 BC
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Umma