Larak (or Larag, Sumerian:, LA-RA-AK^KI) was a city in

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...

(modern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

) that appears in some versions of the ''

Sumerian King List The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') 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 king ...

'' as the third of five cities to exercise kingship in the antediluvian era. The only king of Larak to be mentioned in the ''SKL'' is

En-sipad-zid-ana En-sipad-zid-ana appears as the second king of Larak in some versions of the ''Sumerian King List'' (''SKL''). According to that literary composition, En-sipad-zid-ana ruled for 28,800 years. The kings on the early part of the ''SKL'' are usually ...

. The city is also mentioned in the

Lament for Ur The Lament for Ur, or Lamentation over the city of Ur is a Sumerian lament composed around the time of the fall of Ur to the Elamites and the end of the city's third dynasty (c. 2000 BC). Laments It contains one of five known Mesopotamian " ...

. The city has not yet been identified archaeologically, but a location to the east of Kish and near Isin has been suggested. Its patron deity was Pabilsag, a

Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...

-like warrior god additionally associated with judgment, medicine and the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

, usually portrayed as the husband of

Ninisina Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...

. A Larak is mentioned in writings of Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian times but it is not certain if this is the same city.

References

See also