Sumerian States

Sumerian StatesGroup 2SumerFirst people to migrate out of Mesopotamia (5500y.a.) Cradle of civilizationPart of the fertile crescent

SumerInvention of the wheel and cuneiform Religion: Polytheism Architecture: Ziggurat

List of City StatesKish, Uruk, Ur, Sippar, Akshak, Larak, Nippur, Adab, Umma, Lagash, Bad-Tibira, LarsaUrukThe First City Founded by King EnmerkarCapital City of Gilgamesh Patron Gods: Inanna and Anu

The oldest City (at least 3000 B.C.E) Gilgamesh- one of the greastest kings Has his own book Epic of Gilgamesh where he is depicted as a demi godInanna- Goddess of Fertility and love (Think aphrodite) Anu- King of the gods, God of the sky (Think Zeus) Uruk-Discovery of layered cities

Kish The City founded after the floodFirst King: Jushur Patron god: Zababa Kish-5x2mi Archaeological site -French Archaeological Expedition of Tell Uhamir(1912-1914)

With over 40 mounds Mounds = hills, large ass features

Discovery of over 1400 cuniform tablets (which were given to both the istanbul archaeology museum and the Louvre)

UrDates back to the 26th century BCMentioned in the bibleBirthplace of AbrahamGreat FloodServed as a significant port cityWorshiped the deity Nanna, the moon godUrZiggurat of UrBuilt by King Ur-NammuOnly foundation survivedShrine for Nanna

UrRoyal Tombs of Ur16 tombsSaid to be occupied by elitesWealth found inside

UrGreat Death Pit73 bodily remains foundMostly servants

SipparOne of a pair of cities separated by the EuphratesWorshiped Utu/Shamash, the sun god

SipparThousands of tablets foundTablet of ShamashOthers still being studiedin the British Museum

SipparCode of Hammurabi Stelestone slab that contained the inscriptionOne of the oldestdeciphered writings

AkshakExact location unknownMentioned in Sumerian Text, Dumuzids Dream, 2500 BC

NippurHoly City of Nippurone of the most ancient sumerian citiessumerian god Enlil (Lord of the Storm)focus of pilgrimageShatt en-Nil canal, important to irrigation and transport

Temple of Enlil (Ziggurat)NippurExcavationsexcavated by Austen Henry Layard in 1851, followed by the Univ. of Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1900the ruins cover almost 180 acres

Nippurprecious metals, jewelry, stones, woods

vase from the temple of Inanna

King Shulgi of Ur figurine

figurine of what it seems to be a married couple

Nippurmore than 30,000 cuneiform tablets foundSchool tablet about the Gilgamesh epicSumerian creation myth (eridu genesis tablet)

the fragment of the tablet describes the great flood

Nippurcartography (map of Nippur) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode1/presentations/1.2.2.html

map of Nippur

AdabLocated south of NippurInitial examination of the site 1885 by William Hayes Ward 1890 by John Punnett Peters 1902 by Walter Andrae

The tablets from AddabAdabExcavation done by Edgar James Banks (1903-1904)

Adab

ESAR or EMACHLUGALDA-UDULUGALUD-NUN-KI

The Temple of King David , King of Ud-nun-ki

UmmaPatron god : SharaLong battle with the city state of LagashNever scientifically excavatedMany late 3000 BC tablets from Umma are spread around the worldLevels dating as early as the Early dynastic Period (c. 2900-2300 BC)UmmaThe tablets from Umma are published in Early Dynastic multi Cereal Texts Lagashfounded in 3rd millenium BCE1,600 square kilometres (620 sq mi)one of the largest archaeological mounds in the region, 2 by 1 mile (3.2 by 1.6 km).first archaeologist: Robert Koldewey in 1887Thorkild Jacobsen and Fuad Safar in 1953: finding the first evidence of sites identification as Lagash.

Lagash1st Dynasty of Lagash c. 25002270 BCone of the First empires in history-Eannatum of Lagashempire collapsed after Eannatums deathpreceding Akkadian empire

A fragment of the Stele of the Vultures

Lagash2nd Dynasty of Lagash c. 20932046 BCfollowing the downfall of the Akkadian EmpireGudea of Lagash

Gudea Cylinders- cuneiform inscription (Both dynasties promoted artistic development and left a large number of archaeological artifacts)

Bad-Tibira"Wall of the Copper Worker(s)"/"Fortress of the Smiths"the second city to "exercise kingship" in Sumer before the flood, following Eridu

The "brotherhood text" in cuneiform inscriptions on cones (1930s)Possesion of Bad-Tibira (Larsa & Isin)

Foundation nail dedicated by Entemena, king of Lagash, to the god of Bad-Tibira (Muse du Louvre)LarsaThe center of the cult of sun god Utusite: 4.5 miles in circumferenceEannatum annexed it to his empire

List of the kings of Larsa, 39th year of Hammurabi's reign, Louvre

LarsaWilliam Loftus, 1850Edgar James Banks, 1905 & widespread lootingAndre Parrot,1933- The first modern, scientific excavation of Larsa (Senkereh)successful in the discovery of inscribed remains, consisting of clay tablets, chiefly contracts