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Third Dynasty of Ur
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Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Mesopotamian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 21st century BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by historians as the Neo-Sumerian Empire.
The Third Dynasty of Ur is commonly abbreviated as "Ur III" by historians studying the period. It is numbered in reference to previous "dynasties" of Ur according to the historical reconstruction of the Mesopotamian past written in the Sumerian King List, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26–25th century BC), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur was never recorded.
This kingdom was founded by Ur-Namma (c. 2112-2095 BC), who succeeded in reuniting southern Mesopotamia a few decades after the fall of the Empire of Akkad. His son and successor Shulgi (c. 2094-2047 BC) then firmly held the heart of the kingdom, a very prosperous agricultural and urban region, where a very advanced economic administration was established, based on the temple domains controlled by the royal power. Under his reign, military campaigns expanded further the influence of Ur, creating an "Empire." Shulgi's successors managed to maintain the empire for a quarter of a century. Then it gradually disintegrated, under the combined action of incursions of Amorite populations from the North and internal forces which restored their autonomy to several important cities and regions. The kingdom of Ur was destroyed around 2004 BC by an Elamite army.
In Mesopotamian history, this imperial experiment can be seen as a continuation of the Akkadian Empire, which preceded it by about two centuries and served as a model. The Third Dynasty of Ur, however, is of Sumerian, not Akkadian, identity. Because its kings, administrators, and scholars primarily used the Sumerian language and promoted literature in Sumerian, this period is sometimes called the "Neo-Sumerian period" or even a "Sumerian Renaissance" (which also includes the dynasty of Gudea of Lagash, which ended with the beginning of the reign of Ur III).
The Ur III period is also remarkable for the quantity of written documents that have come down to us, the vast majority of which are administrative in nature. They give us an impressive amount of informations relating to the functioning of the kingdom, and of certain aspects of its society and its economy. This abundance of documents and the analysis of the administrative practices of the time may have given the impression of a "bureaucratic" state. It is at least certain that this empire saw official institutions (temples and palaces) take on an unprecedented importance, rarely equaled subsequently in Mesopotamian history, and gave rise to original administrative experiments.
The main type of source documenting the Third Dynasty of Ur are administrative tablets, which number in the tens of thousands: an estimate of the number of unearthed tablets from this period is around 120,000, not including an undetermined number in the National Museum of Iraq. According to a 2016 inventory, "only" 64,500 of these have been the subject of a scientific publication with a copy/photograph and transliteration and/or translation. They come primarily from a handful of sites. The oldest known group of tablets was unearthed in 1894 at the site of Tello, ancient Girsu. The site's excavators came across a deposit of around thirty thousand tablets, clearly a governor's archive. But they did not clearly identify the place of origin, and some of the tablets were plundered by clandestine diggers. During these same years, regular and clandestine excavations of Nippur uncovered other tablets from the period, in smaller quantities (around 3,600). Then in 1909 and 1911, clandestine diggers discovered other deposits of tablets from the period, first at the site of Tell Jokha, ancient Umma (about 30,000 tablets) from the archive of the local governor, then at Drehem, ancient Puzrish-Dagan (about 15,000 tablets). Then the regular excavations of Ur brought to light more than 4,000 tablets from the period. In the 1990s-2000s, two other important archives were plundered during illegal excavations, on sites whose exact location is uncertain, but whose ancient name is known: Garshana near Umma (more than 1,500 tablets), and Irisaĝrig near Nippur (about a thousand texts).
The vast majority of these are administrative documents from the archives of governors or temples, and date from the reigns of Shulgi (the last decade), Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and the very beginning of Ibbi-Sin, a period of approximately forty years. They generally take the form of small tablets recording the movement of goods, for example, 'bills' or receipts in the form of square cushions. But there are also more elaborate and larger management documents, often rectangular in shape, such as inventories, summary balance sheets, personnel management or planning documents, including cadastral registers and lists of workers. Non-administrative types of documents, found in lesser quantities, include: trial records, contracts (of lease, sale, loan), letters.
The political history of the Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed primarily through the year names of the kings, which are known in full from the reign of Shulgi onward. Indeed, during this period, years were named according to events deemed significant by royal power (often military or religious). For example, the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign is titled "Year Shu-Sin the king of Ur erected a magnificent stele for Enlil and Ninlil," and the seventh "Year Shu-Sin, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali." The chosen event had already taken place, during the previous year: thus, the capture of Zabshali took place in the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign and, because of its importance, it was elected to name the following year. Since they are chosen by the royal authorities, year names give an "official" version of the history of the dynasty. They are used in the dating formula of administrative documents, and are also known from summary lists dated from later periods.
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Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Mesopotamian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 21st century BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by historians as the Neo-Sumerian Empire.
The Third Dynasty of Ur is commonly abbreviated as "Ur III" by historians studying the period. It is numbered in reference to previous "dynasties" of Ur according to the historical reconstruction of the Mesopotamian past written in the Sumerian King List, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26–25th century BC), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur was never recorded.
This kingdom was founded by Ur-Namma (c. 2112-2095 BC), who succeeded in reuniting southern Mesopotamia a few decades after the fall of the Empire of Akkad. His son and successor Shulgi (c. 2094-2047 BC) then firmly held the heart of the kingdom, a very prosperous agricultural and urban region, where a very advanced economic administration was established, based on the temple domains controlled by the royal power. Under his reign, military campaigns expanded further the influence of Ur, creating an "Empire." Shulgi's successors managed to maintain the empire for a quarter of a century. Then it gradually disintegrated, under the combined action of incursions of Amorite populations from the North and internal forces which restored their autonomy to several important cities and regions. The kingdom of Ur was destroyed around 2004 BC by an Elamite army.
In Mesopotamian history, this imperial experiment can be seen as a continuation of the Akkadian Empire, which preceded it by about two centuries and served as a model. The Third Dynasty of Ur, however, is of Sumerian, not Akkadian, identity. Because its kings, administrators, and scholars primarily used the Sumerian language and promoted literature in Sumerian, this period is sometimes called the "Neo-Sumerian period" or even a "Sumerian Renaissance" (which also includes the dynasty of Gudea of Lagash, which ended with the beginning of the reign of Ur III).
The Ur III period is also remarkable for the quantity of written documents that have come down to us, the vast majority of which are administrative in nature. They give us an impressive amount of informations relating to the functioning of the kingdom, and of certain aspects of its society and its economy. This abundance of documents and the analysis of the administrative practices of the time may have given the impression of a "bureaucratic" state. It is at least certain that this empire saw official institutions (temples and palaces) take on an unprecedented importance, rarely equaled subsequently in Mesopotamian history, and gave rise to original administrative experiments.
The main type of source documenting the Third Dynasty of Ur are administrative tablets, which number in the tens of thousands: an estimate of the number of unearthed tablets from this period is around 120,000, not including an undetermined number in the National Museum of Iraq. According to a 2016 inventory, "only" 64,500 of these have been the subject of a scientific publication with a copy/photograph and transliteration and/or translation. They come primarily from a handful of sites. The oldest known group of tablets was unearthed in 1894 at the site of Tello, ancient Girsu. The site's excavators came across a deposit of around thirty thousand tablets, clearly a governor's archive. But they did not clearly identify the place of origin, and some of the tablets were plundered by clandestine diggers. During these same years, regular and clandestine excavations of Nippur uncovered other tablets from the period, in smaller quantities (around 3,600). Then in 1909 and 1911, clandestine diggers discovered other deposits of tablets from the period, first at the site of Tell Jokha, ancient Umma (about 30,000 tablets) from the archive of the local governor, then at Drehem, ancient Puzrish-Dagan (about 15,000 tablets). Then the regular excavations of Ur brought to light more than 4,000 tablets from the period. In the 1990s-2000s, two other important archives were plundered during illegal excavations, on sites whose exact location is uncertain, but whose ancient name is known: Garshana near Umma (more than 1,500 tablets), and Irisaĝrig near Nippur (about a thousand texts).
The vast majority of these are administrative documents from the archives of governors or temples, and date from the reigns of Shulgi (the last decade), Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and the very beginning of Ibbi-Sin, a period of approximately forty years. They generally take the form of small tablets recording the movement of goods, for example, 'bills' or receipts in the form of square cushions. But there are also more elaborate and larger management documents, often rectangular in shape, such as inventories, summary balance sheets, personnel management or planning documents, including cadastral registers and lists of workers. Non-administrative types of documents, found in lesser quantities, include: trial records, contracts (of lease, sale, loan), letters.
The political history of the Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed primarily through the year names of the kings, which are known in full from the reign of Shulgi onward. Indeed, during this period, years were named according to events deemed significant by royal power (often military or religious). For example, the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign is titled "Year Shu-Sin the king of Ur erected a magnificent stele for Enlil and Ninlil," and the seventh "Year Shu-Sin, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali." The chosen event had already taken place, during the previous year: thus, the capture of Zabshali took place in the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign and, because of its importance, it was elected to name the following year. Since they are chosen by the royal authorities, year names give an "official" version of the history of the dynasty. They are used in the dating formula of administrative documents, and are also known from summary lists dated from later periods.
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