HOME



picture info

Shara (god)
Shara ( Sumerian: 𒀭𒁈, '' dšara2'') was a Mesopotamian god associated with the city of Umma and other nearby settlements. He was chiefly regarded as the tutelary deity of this area, responsible for agriculture, animal husbandry, and irrigation, but he could also be characterized as a divine warrior. In the third millennium BCE, his wife was Ninura, associated with the same area, but later, in the Old Babylonian period, her cult faded into obscurity, and Shara was instead associated with Usaḫara or Kumulmul. An association between him and Inanna is well attested. In Umma, he was regarded as the son of Inanna of Zabalam and an unknown father, while in the myth ''Inanna's Descent to the Underworld,'' he is one of the servants mourning her temporary death. He also appears in the myth of Anzû, in which he is one of the three gods who refuse to fight the eponymous monster. Character While the original etymology of Shara's name is unknown, according to Fabienne Huber Vuillet ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)
The Early Dynastic Period (abbreviated ED Period or ED) is an archaeological culture in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that is generally dated to and was preceded by the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods. It saw the development of writing and the formation of the first cities and states. The ED itself was characterized by the existence of multiple city-states: small states with a relatively simple structure that developed and solidified over time. This development ultimately led, directly after this period, to broad Mesopotamian unification under the rule of Sargon, the first monarch of the Akkadian Empire. Despite their political fragmentation, the ED city-states shared a relatively homogeneous material culture. Sumerian cities such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Umma, and Nippur located in Lower Mesopotamia were very powerful and influential. To the north and west stretched states centered on cities such as Kish, Mari, Nagar, and Ebla. The study of Central and Lower Mesopotamia has l ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cylinder Seal
A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in width, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay. According to some sources, cylinder seals were invented around 3500 BC in the Near East, at the contemporary sites of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia and slightly later at Susa in south-western Iran during the Proto-Elamite period, and they follow the development of stamp seals in the Halaf culture or slightly earlier. They are linked to the invention of the latter's cuneiform writing on clay tablets. Other sources, however, date the earliest cylinder seals to a much earlier time, to the Late Neolithic period (7600-6000 BC) in Syria, hundreds of years before the invention of writing. Cylinder seals are a form of impression seal, a category which includes the stamp seal and finger ring seal. They survive in fairly large numbers and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Entemena
Entemena, also called Enmetena (, ; ), was a son of Enannatum I who re-established Lagash as a power in Sumer. He defeated Il in a territorial conflict through an alliance with Lugal-kinishe-dudu of Uruk, successor to Enshakushanna, who is in the king list. The tutelary deity Shul-utula was his personal deity. His reign lasted at least 19 years. Territory Entemena of Lagash controlled the cities of southern Mesopotamia, from Badtibira to Uruk: Alliance treaty A clay nail found in Girsu commemorates the alliance which he concluded with Lugal-kinishe-dudu of Uruk, the oldest mention of a peace treaty between two kings that we know:
Deena Ragavan, Cuneiform Texts and Fragments in the Harvard Art Museum / Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, vol. 2010:1, ISSN 1540-8779

[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Stele
A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stelas ( ). is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surface of the stele often has text, ornamentation, or both. These may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Stelae were created for many reasons. Grave stelae were used for funerary or commemorative purposes. Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines. Stelae were occasionally erected as memorials to battles. For example, along with other memorials, there are more than half-a-dozen steles erected on the battlefield of Waterloo at the locations of notable actions by participants in battle. A traditional Wester ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Ibbi-Sin
Ibbi-Sin (, ), (died c. 2004 BC) son of Shu-Sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad and last king of the Ur III dynasty, and reigned c. 2028–2004 BC (Middle chronology). During his reign, the Sumerian empire was attacked repeatedly by Amorites. As faith in Ibbi-Sin's leadership failed, Elam declared its independence and began to raid as well. Ibbi-Sin ordered fortifications built at the important cities of Ur and Nippur, but these efforts were not enough to stop the raids or keep the empire unified. Cities throughout Ibbi-Sin's empire fell away from a king who could not protect them, notably Isin under the Amorite ruler Ishbi-Erra. Ibbi-Sin was, by the end of his kingship, left with only the city of Ur. In 2004 or 1940 BCE, the Elamites, along with "tribesmen from the region of Shimashki in the Zagros Mountains" sacked Ur and took Ibbi-Sin captive; he was taken to the city of Elam where he was imprisoned and, at an unknown date, died. Amorite invasion The Amorites were con ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Shu-Sin
Shu-Sin, also Šu-Suen (: '' DŠu D Sîn'', after the Moon God Sîn", the "𒀭" being a silent honorific for "Divine", formerly read Gimil-Sin) (died c. 2028 BC) was king of Sumer and Akkad, and was the fourth king of the Ur III dynasty. He succeeded his father Amar-Sin, and reigned 2037–2028 BC (Middle Chronology). Reign Following an open revolt of his Amorite subjects, he directed the construction of a fortified wall between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers in his fourth year, intending it to hold off any further Amorite attacks. He was succeeded by his son Ibbi-Sin. An erotic poem addressed to Shu-Sin by a female speaker is preserved in a cuneiform tablet called Istanbul 2461. The poem's speaker expresses her strong desires and longings for the king. An inscription states that he gave his daughter in marriage to the ruler of Šimānum "His daughter was given as a bride to Simanum. Simanum, Habura, and the surrounding districts rebelled against the king, they chased ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ziggurat
A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude'), ( Persian: Chogha Zanbilچغازنجبیل) is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, the no longer extant Etemenanki in Babylon, Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān and Sialk. The Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats, so only priests and other highly-respected individuals could enter. Sumerian society offered these individuals such gifts as music, harvested produce, and the creation of devotional statues to entice them to live in the temple. History The word ziggurat comes from ''ziqqurratum'' (height, pinnacle), in ancient Assyrian. From ''zaqārum'', to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lagash
Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba in Dhi Qar Governorate) was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East. The ancient site of Nina (Tell Zurghul) is around away and marks the southern limit of the state. Nearby Girsu (modern Telloh), about northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state. The Lagash state's main temple was the E-ninnu at Girsu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. The Lagash state incorporated the ancient cities of Lagash, Girsu, Nina. History Though some Uruk period pottery shards were found in a surface survey, significant occupation at the site of Lagash began early in the 3rd Millennium BC, in the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic I period (c. 2900–2600 BC), surface surveys and excavations show tha ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Enentarzi
Enentarzi (, ''en-en₃-tar-zid'', also , ''en-e-tar-zi''; died 2384 BC) was '' Ensi'' (governor) of Lagash. He was originally a chief-priest of Lagash for the god Ningirsu. He succeed Enannatum II who only had a short reign and was the last representative of the house of Ur-Nanshe. It seems that the power of Lagash waned at this point, and that other territories such as Umma ("Gishban") and Kish Kish may refer to: Businesses and organisations * KISH, a radio station in Guam * Kish Air, an Iranian airline * Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam People * Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name * Kish, a former ... prevailed. Enentarzi probably ruled for at least 4 years. An inscription records that 600 Elamites came to plunder Lagash during the rule of Enentarzi, but that they were repelled. He was succeeded by either a priest named Enlitarzi, or his son Lugalanda. References Kings of Lagash 25th-century BC Sumerian kings {{Anci ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Enannatum II
Enannatum II (, ; ), son of Entemena, was '' Ensi'' (governor) of Lagash. Only a few inscriptions of Enannatum II are known, suggesting a short reign. One of these inscriptions, of which four nearly identical instances are known, appears on a door socket from the great storehouse of Ningirsu at Lagash, which he restored: He had a son named Lummadur, the last representative of the house of Ur-Nanshe, who apparently never held an official title. It seems that the power of Lagash waned at this point, and that other territories such as Umma ("Gishban") and Kish prevailed. Enannatum II was the last member of the family of Ur-Nanshe. He was succeeded by a priest named Enentarzi. File:Inscribed head of a mace with Imdugud (Anzu) and Enannatum, the British Museum, London..JPG, Inscription on the mace head, possibly dedicated to Enannatum II: "For Ningirsu of E-ninnu, the workman of Enannatum, ruler of Lagash, Barakisumun, the ''sukkal'', dedicated this for the life of Enannatum, hi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Gishakidu
Gishakidu ( ''giš-ša3-ki-du10'' ;) was king of the Sumerian city-state of Umma and husband of queen Bara-irnun. He was the son of Il, and his reign lasted at least 4 years. He is particularly known from a gold votive plate by his queen, in which she describes her genealogy in great detail. The inscription on the plate reads: The original royal line of Umma consisted in the filiation of Enakalle (possibly son of Ush) and his own son Ur-Lumma. When Ur-Lumma died, presumably without a son but certainly with a daughter named Bara-irnum, the throne was handed over to Il, son of Eanandu (who had no regnal title) and grandson (or nephew) of Enakalle. King Il was then succeeded by his own son Gishakidu. Bara-irnum married her cousin Gishakidu, thus re-uniting both stands of the royal family by a marital alliance. Gishakidu is also known from a dedicatory inscription on a cylinder: A foundation inscription in his name is also known. File:Votive plaque of a beard-IMG 6857.JPG, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]