Ur

Ur (or Urim) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia, originally located near the mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Persian Gulf and close to Eridu. The remains are now well inland in present-day Iraq, south of the Euphrates at 30° 95' N., 46° 5' E, and named Tell el-Mukayyar [1], near the city of Nasiriyah.

The site is marked by the ruins of the ziggurat, which is still largely intact, and by the settlement mound. The ziggurat is a temple of Nanna and has two stages constructed from brick: in the lower stage the bricks are joined together with bitumen, in the upper stage they are joined with mortar.

The earliest habitation at Ur was in the Ubaid period[?], the earliest stage of settlement in southern Mesopotamia. However it later appears to have been abandoned for a time.

Later, around 2600 BC, in the Sumerian Early Dynastic period[?] III, the city was again thriving. Ur by this time was considered sacred to Nanna, the moon god in Sumerian mythology.

The location of Ur was favourable for trade by sea and also by land routes into Arabia. Many elaborate tombs including that of Queen Puabi[?] [2] were constructed. Eventually the kings of Ur became the "official" rulers of Sumer, in what is known as the first dynasty of Ur, which was established by the king Mesannepada[?] (or Mesanepada, Mes-Anni-Padda etc).

The first dynasty was ended by an attack by Sargon of Akkad around 2340 BC. Not much is known about the following period, except that there is thought to have been a 2nd dynasty in power.

The third dynasty was established when the king Ur-Nammu (or Urnammu) came to power, ruling between 2112 BC - 2094 BC. During his rule, temples, including the ziggurat, were built and agriculture was improved through irrigation. His code of laws (a fragment was identified in Istanbul in 1952) is one of the oldest such documents known, preceding the code of Hammurabi. One of the surviving works of Sumerian literature describes the death of Ur-Nammu and his journey to the underworld.

The third dynasty fell around 1950 BC to the Elamites[?]. Later Babylonia captured the city. Nanna was known to the Babylonians as Sin. The Babylonian city of Harran or Haran[?] was also a sacred city of Sin.

In the Bible the city is named "Ur of the Chaldees", the Chaldeans, who settled there around 900 BC. It is also described as the birthplace of Abraham, the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well as the centre of political power.

In the 6th century BC there was new building in Ur under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The last Babylonian king, Nabonidus of Babylonia[?] improved the ziggurat. However the city started to decline from around 550 BC and was no longer inhabited after about 500 BC, perhaps caused by drought from changing river patterns and/or the silting of the Gulf. It may have remained in use as a cemetery for some time afterwards.

Archaeology

The site was visited by Pietro della Valle[?] in the mid-seventeenth century, 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.

The first excavation was made by British consul J.E. Taylor, who partly uncovered the ziggurat. Clay cylinders found in the four corners of the top stage of the ziggurat bore an inscription of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (639 BC), closing with a prayer for his son Belshar-uzur Bel-sarra-Uzur), the Belshazzar of the book of Daniel. Evidence was found of restoration by the ziggurat by Ishme-Dagan of Isin and Gimil-Sin of Ur, and of Kuri-galzu, a Cossaean (Kassite) king of Babylon, of the 14th century BC. Nebuchadrezzar also claims to have rebuilt the temple. Taylor further excavated an interesting Babylonian building, not far from the temple, and part of an ancient Babylonian necropolis. All about the city he found abundant remains of burials of later periods. Apparently, in the later times, owing to its sanctity, Ur became a favourite place of sepulture, so that after it had ceased to be inhabited it still continued to be used as a necropolis.

After Taylor's time the site was visited by numerous travellers, 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.

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 1850 burials were uncovered, including 16 that were described as "royal tombs" containing many valuable artifacts. Most of the royal tombs were dated to about 2600 BC. The finds included the unlooted tomb of Queen Puabi[?] [2] -- her name is known from a cylinder seal 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 3.5m thick 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.

Archaelogical names of periods of habitation include:

• Ubaid period
• Sumerian Early Dynastic period III
• Ur III, ca. 2100 BC-2000 BC

Notes

1. Tell el-Mukayyar -- in Arabic Tell means "mound" and Mukayyar means "built of bitumen". Mukayyar is variously transcribed as Mugheir, Mughair, Moghair, Muqayyar etc.
2. Queen Puabi is also written Pu-Abi and formerly transcribed as Shub-ab.

Sources

• Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
• Old encyclopedia, 1911
• E. Taylor, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1855), vol. xv.

External links

• Woolley and the Great Flood (http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/specex/ur/ur-flood.htm)
• Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (http://www.oi.uchicago.edu/OI/UR/Ur_home)
• The History of the Ancient Near East (http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Ur_Muqayyar)