Ur III Research Articles

Archaeological Exploration at the Site of Tell Jidr (Karkar) in Iraq: Results and Prospects

The article is devoted to archaeological exploration conducted by researchers of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences in March 2023 at the site of Tell Jidr in Iraq. According to new research, the city of Tell Jidr, named Karkar in the ancient times, was a multi-layered monument that emerged on the eastern channel of the Euphrates – Iturungal – back in the Ubaid III Period, and then existed throughout the Early Dynastic I and Akkadian Periods, the Third Dynasty of Ur, into the Old Babylonian and the Kassite era. At its peak in the Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Tell Jidr, which apparently lost its original name, occupied an area of about 430 ha, stretching 4.4 km from northwest to southeast and 1.9 km from southwest to northeast, and competed with the capital of both empires, Ctesiphon. Remote sensing and ground truthing activities made it possible to clarify the internal structure of the monument, which consisted of northern and southern parts, to identify the system of city blocks and streets, public buildings (temple, palace, citadel), fortification, and to trace the evolution of urban development. Taking into account the finds of ceramic fragments decorated with stamps and fish dishes, as well as mention of Karkar in cuneiform sources of the late Achaemenid and Seleucid times, it is possible to clarify the existing ideas about the stages of the settlement’s development and to confirm the existence of the settlement in the Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods.

Comparative and Historical Analysis of the Principles of Stimulating the Economy during the Crisis Period (Middle Bronze and Modern Times)

Introduction. The comparative analysis contained in the work is devoted to the limitations of the dependence of socio-political processes and economic conditions on historical and anthropogenic factors. Now we witness the instability of the global system, overheated by specific contradictions, phobias and crises. Falling stock indices, the threat of default, growing international problems, climate oscillations – all this forces society to look for a way out of the crisis. Purpose. Only at the level of transdisciplinary approaches can one calculate accurate and consistent data that allows one to develop fundamental knowledge of the subject in order to implement a predictive function for choosing a development concept and determining a management strategy. Materials and Methods. This study, carried out with the requirements of a retrospective analysis, draws attention to the most striking aspects of the economic policies of the Roosevelt administration in the 1930s, past experience and similar principles created from the sources of the era of the III Dynasty of Ur. Results. A real historical comparative analysis of various socio-economic models depending on natural and climatic changes. Methods for overcoming the crisis in the most difficult period of the Bronze Age (III Dynasty of Ur), caused by fluctuations in the Bond cycle, have been identified. Comparisons of the administrative forms regulating the national economy of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the state-monopoly capitalism of F. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Discussion and Conclusion. The author knows the meaning of the saying “Omne simile claudicat”. Despite the same nature of the crisis trends that led to an unexpected turn, in which the role of the government in the economic activity of society is manifested, the concept of stimulating the national economy in these two cases is equally similar. And if they are truly intended and repeated, then there are opportunities to consider them in the present or future as a leading concept for economic development.

From Šulgi to Abraham: Encounters with Ur in the First Millennium BCE

Of all the ancient cities that could have served as Abraham’s hometown, why does the Hebrew Bible choose Ur? This article explores how different groups may have interacted with Ur and its legacy circa the exilic and postexilic periods of biblical authorship, to discern the ways different groups in Babylonia engaged with Ur, and how their interactions may have informed their perception of the city. It argues that Babylonian Judeans largely did not have direct access to the city or to the cuneiform artifacts that described its history. Instead, Judeans would have had to rely on information transmitted orally from Babylonians, whose interest in Ur may have been elevated due to the preponderance of artifacts from the Third Dynasty of Ur. As such, this article will evaluate different forms information traveled in the ancient world, and the ways they impacted the direction of cultural memory: through archaeological discoveries, word-of-mouth transmission, and scholarly rationalization.

The pioneers of domestic trade in Sumer in the late third millennium BC and their cuneiform archives

The Sumer was politically known in the late third millennium BC during the Third Dynasty of Ur (2113-2004 BC), considered one of the most prominent ruling dynasties of Sumerian civilization the family paid great attention to business and constantly they worked to further expand businesses of both types (foreign and domestic). Another major feature of the economy of this period was the emergence of independent entrepreneurs who worked for themselves and had the title of merchants they had inherited from their parents and they left behind archival records and documents that have become available to researchers. This study describes the business activities of three of the most prominent merchants of the time, who were the leaders of the group they recorded their business activities in their own cuneiform archives, the basis of the study according to the archives that have been read and analyzed by several researchers in the field of ancient languages in the past few years, there is no doubt that the cuneiform records of that time are considered the best source for understanding and expertise being in different areas of civilization, especially the economic aspects of the country because 90% of the texts that so far, they have been found to be related to the economy in general and trade in particular.

The Participation of Marginal and Liminal Groups in Secondary State Formation under the Third Dynasty of Ur

Abstract The Ur III period (2112–2004 BC) provides rich opportunities to evaluate the contributions of marginal and liminal groups to the political economy of the era, and to re-assess our understanding of what constituted such groups in an era of early state formation. These opportunities arise in part from the well preserved and detailed administrative corpora at major provincial centers like Umma and Ĝirsu, as well as from significant centers of royal activity like Puzriš-Dagan and Iri-sagrig. These archives document many of the activities of the two groups on which this article focuses: the large body of marginalized dependent laborers (Sumerian ĝuruš) who performed a great deal of the agricultural work in Mesopotamia, and the liminal figures who frequent our records, often associated with pastoralism, and who are identified as Amorites (Sumerian Mar-tu). The former group I identify as “insiders” who were socio-economically marginalized, and the latter group I identify as “outsiders” who occasionally had the opportunity to become privileged insiders. Our tendency in the study of early agrarian societies to regard pastoralists as “outsiders” allows for a critique of how we identify and describe liminal groups; and this has added significance for how we understand the state building projects of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

MÖ 3. Binyıl Mezopotamya Yazılı Kaynaklarında Elam: Awan Hanedanlığı

In this study, the political relationship between Mesopotamia and Elam in third millennium BC has been dwelled on and Elam’s political history has been aimed to be enlightened. In the subject period, the two dynasties, named respectively Awan and Šimaški, have become prominent politically in Elam. However, here, almost contemporary with the Third Dynasty of Ur, Šimaški Dynasty has been out of scope, the process when Elam's first appearance on history, from 27th century BC to 2100 BC has been discussed. In this period, due to the lack of domestic resources scarcely any, Elamite history, except for a few examples, has been learned in the light of the written sources coming from Mesopotamia. In this context, the sources of the Early Dynasties and Akkadian periods were examined, and they have been compared with the written documents, when necessary by using the archaeological findings. Nevertheless, local sources that are very few also were mentioned. The only king of Elam who left epigraphs after himself, Puzur-Inšušinak's epigraphs were analyzed by including in this study.
 Elam, which existed in the southwest of Iran from the beginning of the third millennium BC until the Persian period, has had cultural, economic and political relations with the civilizations in its close neighbor Mesopotamia since the early periods of history. Even though it is known that cultural and economic relations are to be known since prehistoric periods, the first information about political relations dates to the Early Dynastic Period, 27th century BC. In the Early Dynastic period, Elam had political contacts with Kiš, Ur, and Lagaš city-states.
 During the Akkadian period, some parts of Elam lands were under the control of this state. Akkadian Kings, starting from Sargon the Great until the Šar-Kali-Šarri period, organized many expeditions on Elam. As a result of the collapse of Akkad, the last king of the Awan Dynasty, Puzur-Inšušinak, managed to achieve political unity. But, this case did not last long, Ur-Nammu, who established the Third Dynasty of Ur, vanquished Puzur-Inšušinak.

The Female Fat-tailed Sheep in Palaeography and the Administration of Drehem during the Ur III Period

The Sumerian cuneiform term for the “female fat-tailed sheep”, written as either U8+HUL2 or u8 gukkal, is attested in different administrative documents issued by the Puzriš-Dagan organization (modern Drehem in Iraq) dating to the period between Šulgi 44 and Šu-Suen 6 —mostly from Šulgi 47 to Amar-Suen 8 during the Third Dynasty of Ur (also Ur III, ca. 2112-2004 BCE). This study aims to identify the attestations and frequency of the two variants in palaeography from the Ur III Drehem texts as they appear chronologically, and attempts to figure out the reason why the ancient scribes chose one writing over the other. Four administrative texts categories, mu-kux(DU) “delivery”, i3-dab5 “transfer”, ba-zi “expenditure” and šu ba-ti “receipt”, presented the regular formulas with the specific officials attested in the Ur III Drehem texts recording the female fat-tailed sheep. It will also address why they differentiated their writing according to the documentation by comparing images of their cuneiform tablets. One reason is that the ancient scribes in the Puzriš-Dagan organization were replaced with the enthronement of Amar-Suen. But the more likely interpretation is that there was a written change that happened during the reign of Amar-Suen.

Unpublished Cuneiform Texts from Ur III Period (2112-2004 B.C) in Suleimaniya Museum

The research dealt with the study, analysis and translation of four unpublished cuneiform texts from the third dynasty of Ur. The texts belong to the Museum of Suleimaniya. The history of the texts came back to the time of the two kings Šu-Suen (2029-2037 BC) and Ibi-Suen (2028-2004 BC) and that's based on the historical formulas that are mentioned in the texts. The contents is about the delivery receipts- to distribute a group of sheep and grain which was used in the manufacture of bread.

Animals on the Scenes of the Neo Sumerian Arts

In this research we review the pictures of the most important types of animals dating back to the new Sumerian period , as well as scenes of animals carried on the works of art, which is one of the most important sources of information in the subject of research. Various forms of animal types , such as bulls, lions, horses, etc., have been carried out on artistic works according to the rules and expressions of the design of the scenes, which emerged through the adopted models that depicted the plant and animal environment in which man lived. In addition, the scenes of these animals represent the importance of the history of the presence of these animals and their types on the land of Iraq. The research also highlights the most important scenes of animals dating back to the Sumerian period in order to know the artistic features and method of implementation of these artistic scenes. Is of great importance in old art in general and Sumerian art in particular based on what is available in the discovered evidence . On the other hand, this research aims at shedding light on the skill of the Sumerian artist in the implementation of works of art very accurately resulting from the accumulation of experience and communication across generations to a peak in the subsequent arts, as well as the elimination of monotony and space on the surfaces of those models concerned, and that these works – reflect an important civilization phase that has had a clear impact and we can infer this from some of the elected and implemented models on the relevant artistic scenes.

Three administrative texts from the time of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur, in anonymous collection in Poland

The article is a full edition (photography, autography, transliteration, translation and commentary) of three previously unpublished Neo-Sumerian administrative documents, which are in one of the anonymous collections in Poland. The tablets come from the two provincial archives of the kingdom of Third Dynasty of Ur - Puzriš-Dagan and Girsu-Lagaš, and their content is typical of this group of cuneiform texts.

Nach der Apokalypse geht es weiter: Tod und Weiterleben der Dritten Dynastie von Ur in der Literatur Babyloniens

Summary This paper deals with the philosophy and the rationale that transformed the destruction of the empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur into a balanced and logical model of crime and divine punishment in the course of Babylonian historiography. Largely ignoring the historical facts, the Babylonians remodelled the plain and aimless demise of the empire into a meaningful tale of the continuity of their civilization, benignly guided by their gods.

Cuneiform Texts of Unpublished loans from UrIII Dynasty

تناول البحث دراسة خمسة نصوص مسمارية لقروض غير منشورة من سلالة أور الثالثة وتحليلها وترجمتها وهي من مجموعة المتحف العراقي, يعود تاريخها الى زمن سلالة أور الثالثة (2012-2004ق.م) تحديدا الى زمن الملكين شوسين (2037- 2029ق.م) وابي سين (2028-2004 ق.م), اما مضامينها فهي قروض بمادتي الشعير(ثلاثة نصوص) الفضة (نصان), والقروض على نوعين قروض بفائدة (ur5 - ra), وقروض بدون فائدة (maš2 - nu - tuk), وقد حددت نسبة الفائدة في القروض 1/3 33% لمادة الشعير و20% لمادة الفضة.
 
 (1) نقرأ النص الآتي:
 
 Œe - dnanŒe
 
 Œe - dnin - gír - su - ka
 1gur7 - am6
 lœ - ummaki - ke4
 ur5 - Œ “ - kœ
 
 شعير الالهة نانشة
 
 وشعير الاله ننكرسو
 (بمعدل) كور واحد(فرض أنتمينا)
 (على الفرد الواحد) من سكان أوما
 كـ (دين ) (كان في أعناقهم) تنتفع منه لكش ينظر:
 رشيد, فوزي, ترجمات النصوص السومرية الملكية ,بغداد,1985,ص25 و 50 وكذلك:
 Van de Mieroop,"A history of Near Eastern Debt'',Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East,Maryland,2002,p.62-63
 (2) نقرأ النص الآتي: 
 
 Œu - níg̃in 21 Œe ul
 
 in œ - riki
 a - na Œe - ur5 - kam
 
 المجموع 21 اول مضعف من الشعير في مدينة أوري (أعطي) الشعير كقرض ذو فائدة ينظر:
 
 رشيد, فوزي, أقدم الكتابات المسمارية المكتشفة في حوض سد حمرين ,بغداد,1981,ص64 , 95,91

Ur III Economy and Bureaucracy

Ur III Economy and Bureaucracy

A Cylinder Seal with an Amorite Name from Tepe Musiyan, Deh Luran Plain

The archeology of the Deh Luran plain was documented by the work of Frank Hole and his associates in 1960s and 1970s. While these investigations were mostly dedicated to the study of the village periods, the presence of early state formations on the plain was also documented by their surface surveys. Tepe Farukhabad was an exception, but because it was only a small settlement in the third and second millennia BCE, the excavations there did not yield fruitful results for this period. Based on their systematic surface study of Tepe Musiyan, Wright and Neely argued that during the third and second millennia BCE, this settlement played a central role in this strategic plain due to its location on the route from Susa to Der (Badra in Iraq). Recently, our team again surveyed the Deh Luran Plain. Our visit to Musiyan provided us with a cylinder seal discovered by one of the locals. The inscription reveals the owner as a person with an Amorite name who may have been present in Musiyan sometime during the early centuries of the second millennium BCE, contemporary with the end of the Šimaški period, which in Mesopotamia extends from late in the Third Dynasty of Ur until the early Old Babylonian period.

The Ancient Near East

The Ancient Near East Christopher T. Begg and Joseph E. Jensen 1658. Abdalla Abdel-Raziq, "An Ointment Tablet from Deir el-Gebrawi," Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 143 (2016) 129-50. A.-R.'s article publishes an ointment tablet dating to the end of 6th Dynasty or later that is currently housed in the "magazine" at Shutb, located near the city of Assiut, Egypt. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1659. [Nineveh Inscriptions] Ali Y. Al-Juboori, "Recently Discovered Neo-Assyrian Royal Garden Inscriptions from the Review Palace and Nergal Gate of Nineveh," Iraq 79 (2017) 3-20. Between 1987 and 1992, Iraqi archaeologists working under the direction of the local Inspectorate of Antiquities undertook excavations at Nineveh. In particular, they excavated east of the mosque located on the smaller mound of Nebi Yunus and at the Nergal Gate, the middle gate of the northern city wall. At the Nergal Gate, an inscription of Sennacherib was [End Page 553] found on two bull colossi and two paving stones. At Nebi Yunus, the excavators discovered a few inscribed clay and stone objects in the ruins of the armory, the so-called "Rear Palace" (or "Review Palace"). These finds included a slab of Ashurnasirpal II, a prism fragment of Esarhaddon, two human-headed winged bull colossi of the same king, a winged bull of Ashurbanipal, and an unsculpted wall slab of this monarch. Subsequently, after the liberation of Mosul from ISIS/Daʾesh occupation in early 2017, seven further inscriptions of Esarhaddon were discovered in looters' tunnels under the destroyed mosque. All of these inscriptions are edited here. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1660. [Ashurnasirpal II Inscription, Nimrud] Ali Yaseen Al-Juboori, "An Inscription of Ashurnasirpal II from the Ištar-Šarrat-Niphi Temple at Nimrud," Iraq 80 (2018) 3-13. An inscription of Ashurnasirpal II (ruled 883–859 b.c.) was found in the temple of Ištar-Šarrat-niphi at Kalku (Nimrud) in 2015, during the excavations of the Nineveh inspectorate expedition (State Board of Antiquities and Heritage). The preserved text of the inscription—whose current whereabouts are unknown—duplicates RIMA 2 A.0.101.1 i 18-117. This article presents a transliteration of the text, a table of variants, and a translation into Arabic. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1661. [Drehem] Nawala Al-Mutawalli and Walther Sallaberger (with a contribution by Ali Ubeid Shalkham), "The Cuneiform Documents from the Iraqi Excavations at Drehem," Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 107 (2017) 151-217. Drehem, ancient Duzris-Dagan, is well known as the place where more than 15,000 cuneiform tablets from the Ur III period were found and sold on the antiquities market from 1909 onward. In 2007, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq undertook the first controlled excavations at the site under the direction of Ali Ubeid Shalkham. The cuneiform texts and fragments found during these excavations not only add to the corpus of already well-known royal archives from the site dealing with cattle, treasure, and shoes, but also provide many records of crafts and agriculture. On the basis of this evidence, we now have a clearer idea of the subsistence economy at the important administrative center and royal palace at Puzriz-Dagan during the Third Dynasty of Ur. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1662. Vitali Bartash, "Sumerian 'Child,'" JCS 70 (2018) 3-25. B. studies Sumerian terms for minors (dumu, di4 di4-la(2) and lu2 tur-ra) in texts of various genres in order to define their precise meaning and relationship to kinship and age-gradation terminologies. The word dumu ("son/daughter, own's own child, offspring") designates kinship regardless of age. In contrast di4-di4-la(2) ("children") implies age. The terms however often exchange their semantic domains. Another age-related term lu2 tur-ra ("minor") has a social connotation denoting those under patriarchal or professional authority, including children, youths, and the young unmarried, or even recently married individuals as well as junior...

The Cuneiform Documents from the Iraqi Excavation at Drehem

Abstract: Drehem, ancient Puzriš-Dagān, is well known as the place of origin of more than 15,000 cuneiform tablets from the Ur III period that were sold on the antiquities markets from 1909 onwards. The State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of Iraq undertook the first controlled excavations at the site in 2007 under the direction of Ali Ubeid Shalkham. The cuneiform texts and fragments found there not only add to the well-known royal archives dealing with cattle, treasure or shoes, but they include many records on crafts and agriculture. With this evidence, the subsistence economy behind this important administrative center and royal palace of the Third Dynasty of Ur becomes more evident. We thank the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, the Iraq Museum Baghdad and Mr Ali Ubeid Shalkham for the permission to publish the tablets from the excavation season of 2007. The stays of Nawala Al-Mutawalli at LMU Munich in 2015 and 2016 in order to prepare this article were generously funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung. We are grateful to Margarete van Ess for the invitation to a first meeting in 2013 at the DAI Orientabteilung, Berlin. Thanks are owed to Manuel Molina for his careful reading of this article and his helpful remarks and Frans van Koppen for his editorial care. Walther Sallaberger’s work also contributes to his “Sumerisches Glossar” project. – All photos and plans of the excavation were made by Ali Ubeid Shalkham, the tablets in the Iraq Museum were photographed by Nawala Al-Mutawalli Mahmood. The abbreviations follow the Reallexikon für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie. The online digital resources CDLI (cdli.ucla.edu) and especially BDTNS (bdtns.filol.csic.es) have proven once more to be indispensable for our studies of lexicography and prosopography.

Runaways and Fugitive-Catchers during the Third Dynasty of Ur

The study of flight provides insight into life at the bottom of society during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100-2000bce). Examples of individual rebellion and its consequences display the perspectives of members of non-elite and elite, advancing Adams’s conclusion (2010, §6.1) that the boundaries between slaves and other lower-stratum individuals were fluid and poorly defined. This study also references the earliest known attestation of the concept of reform through detainment.

Mano de obra y relaciones de parentesco en Mesopotamia: madres trabajadoras versus hombres “ganadores de pan”

Hundreds of thousands of cuneiform tablets were written in Sumerian during the period known as Ur III or Third Dynasty of Ur in Mesopotamia (ca. 2112-2004 BCE). Most of them are administrative texts listing workers responsible for particular duties. In the secondary literature, the question of the possible kinship relationships between the workers listed in these texts has been repeatedly studied. In this paper we examine some of these proposals, paying special attention to filiation and offspring, and we offer some critical insights from the perspective of certain postfeminist positions.

Blackening of the Surfaces of Mesopotamian Clay Tablets Due to Manganese Precipitation

Blackening was observed on the surfaces of Mesopotamian clay tablets from Umma, Dilbat, Larsa, Ur, Babylon, Uruk, Sippar, and Nippur produced between the Third Dynasty of Ur and the Early Achaemenid Dynasty. Portable X-ray fluorescence analysis revealed that manganese was concentrated on the blackened surfaces. Rod-shaped materials with a length of 100 - 200 nm and a width of 30 nm were observed using a field emission scanning electron microscope. Distinct peaks were not necessarily obtained by micro-X-ray diffractometer analysis, but several samples of the black material showed peaks identifiable as buserite. These results may suggest that blackening on the surfaces of the clay tablets can be ascribed to the activity of manganese-oxidizing microbe. However, the size of the rod-shaped materials is too small compared to common bacteria.

Mobile pastoralism and the formation of Near Eastern civilizations: weaving together society

In this book, Anne Porter explores the idea that mobile and sedentary members of the ancient world were integral parts of the same social and political groups in greater Mesopotamia during the period 4000 to 1500 BCE. She draws on a wide range of archaeological and cuneiform sources to show how networks of social structure, political and religious ideology, and everyday as well as ritual practice worked to maintain the integrity of those groups when the pursuit of different subsistence activities dispersed them over space. These networks were dynamic, shaping many of the key events and innovations of the time, including the Uruk expansion and the introduction of writing, so-called secondary state formation and the organization and operation of government, the literary production of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the first stories of Gilgamesh, and the emergence of the Amorrites in the second millennium BCE.