Ur III
Ur-Nammu established his control over southern Mesopotamia around 2100 BC. Ur-Nammu and his descendants ruled until approximately 2000 BC when the kingdom collapsed owing to invasion and rebellion.
Description:
The Ur III Period, or Third Dynsaty of Ur arose after the Guti Dynasty of Sumer, and the following power struggle among the city-states. Ur-Nammu expanded the empire to the modern day border with Turkey. This period is also known as the Neo-Sumerian Empire, because of the resurgence of Sumerian art, language, and literature. Shulgi centralized and standardized procedures of the empire, the administrative processes, and tax systems. The dynasty fell to the Elamites, and then to the Amorites.
Ultra Low Chronology: 2018-1911 BCE
Short/Low Chronology: 2048-1940 BCE
Middle Chronology: 2112-2004 BCE
Long/High Chronology: 2161-2054 BCE
Objects: Ur III Export: JSON - XML - CSV
| Object | U Number | Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) | Museum Number (BM Registration Number) | Museum Number (UPM B-number) | Description (Catalog Card) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 16568 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay Tablet. Date: Nur-ili-su buys a house belonging to Adi(?)-ia, which house adjoins his own and that of Ku-ku-ba-ni: area 14 1/2 gin. [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] |
| 2682 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: 14th year of Gungunu: When he introduced the great bronze statue of nannar temple Month As-a. Seal impression of ? scribe? servant of Idin-dagan king of Isin. Text: 2 qa butter, 2 qa cheese, 10 5/6 qa dates, the year ga-zi(d) was destroyed... From ga-nun-mah. ( ) nannar, the archives keeper has received. H.C. |
| 2943 | 47-29-49, 47-29-49 | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: After the great wall was built (=Gimil-Sin) Text: Offering of the king. For the evening sacrifice, on the 7th of Ezen-mah. Before three locations of emblems. H.C. |
| 2941 | 47-29-358, 47-29-358 | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: Gimil-Sin? 2 cows al (mature) 1 cow 2 years old property of E-gu the nubanda, 1 cow al 1 cow, 3 years old, property of? Total 5 cow. Order of Ur-gi? |
| 2940 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: Ibi-Sin 1st year. Text: Woollen garment, weight 2 1/2 maneh. Receipt - Wool property of Lugal magurri (the patesi?) H.C. |
| 16515 | 47-29-17, 47-29-17 | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: mu en dnanar ba-hun-ga. Bur-Sin/ (cf. Ur Inscription (96). [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] |
| 16569 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: mu-ki-27 i-si-inki ba-an-dib Year when Isin was conquered for the 27th time - Rim-Sin. [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] |
| 2942 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: Year after that, when Ibi-Sin "king of Ur, built + the great wall (?) of Nippur "and Ur" - The 28th of Ezen dMe ki gal. Text: Animal offering in the name of the king. H.C. |
| 2647 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date: Year after that, when King Libit-ishtar had a census [transliteration of inscription] of Sumer made? Text: Goods (oil?) regular offering of (Ningal), monthly offering of En-me-gal-an-na. From Lugal-Azag-gi, Ishbi-irra high priest (en-en) has received. Month Bar-zag. H.C. |
| 2625 | (none) | (none) | B16530 | Clay tablet. Date: Year when king Libit-Ishtar made a golden throne for Nin-in-si-na, and Nin-in-si-na with heart rejoicing was placed in the e-gal-mah Month: second Addar. Text: 36 qa sesame oil; 74 qa sour milk; regular offering to Ningal - From Lugal-nannar. Basha x has received. H.C. |
| 16510 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Date:... [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] | |
| 6347 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Dated of Ibi-Sin. Receipt: Gold to cover pedestal of the royal statuete (also inlaid with lapis). New date: When for Ibi-Sin king of Ur, Nannar has let shine (revealed him) as the beloved of his heart. H.C. |
| 6381 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Dated. Gungunu 6th year. H.C. |
| 2584 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Dated: month Bar-zag-gar ( = Nisan) year when the trench of the bank of the canal Anni-pad-da was ?(e gu-id?) Probably Larsa dynasty about BC 2100. Text: 1 gur 60 qa ( =145 / 44) of oil from the great depot (GA-NUN-MAH) For the bolts of the shrines of Enlil, Ninlil, Nannar, Nin-ezen. lal(?), Ninni and ( ), the day..., Li-tar-Nannar, royal messenger. Obverse 7 lines. Reverse 6 lines. H.C. |
| 3054 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Expenditure for royal offering, "in the temple of Nannar, in Ga-eshki, in the month "of Ezen-mah (great feast), year after that when Ibi-Sin king of Ur, built the great wall of Nippur "and Ur." Total: 1 gur 172 qa 10 gin grain for: beer of 2 kinds, floor 2 kinds, a-tir grain, sweet paste and butter, dates, salt, incense (for censer). Detail of shrines: 1) Throne in shrine of Nannar 2) Shrine Bar-dug-kam-kam (great pots) 3) Dub-lal 4) Crod ( ) 5) House of metal and lapis and door in front... H.C. |
| 171 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fr of. Inscribed: [Annotated] Account Tablet. |
| 31 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fr. of, in bad condition. Inscribed. [Annotated] Sumerian account tablet, date broken. [Annotated] Placed in IN/No. 2. |
| 3 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fr. of. Inscribed [Annotated] Sumerian account tablet. Date broken. Placed in IN/No.2 |
| 2699 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Date Gungunu: Year after the igh priest of d? was elected by signs. The following year. Text: Oil? monthly ration (cult?) H.C. |
| 2702 | (none) | 1948,0423.22 | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Date: Dungi? When Simurum was destroyed Text: 229 gur 130 qa of barley ration of the 5th month. Issued from the Ga-num: the depot. ( ) 34 gur 90 qa - month of the feast of Ninazu. |
| 3091 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Date: Ibi-sin. Monthly pay list of the temple servants the trench diggers? The fern [fem?] miller, the keeper of orchards, the cowherds, the asses her, the shephards, etc. H.C. |
| 16069 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Date: Year in which the high-priest Nannar was designated by omens )?) Dungi 41 (SAKI 232) [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] |
| 2700 | 47-29-341, 47-29-341 | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Dated: Time of Gungunum. Text: Butter, Cheese, dates rations (nigaku) of ? from ga-nun-mah dNin-subur?, has received? |
| 3050 | 47-29-193 | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Time of Ibi-Sin. Comptability- Receipts in the names of several scribes for: wool, cloth, oil, perfume, barley. |
| 3045 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay tablet. Fragment. Time: Ibi-Sin. 6 talents, 43 manehs. Copper, from the merchants, entered in E-dubba. H.C. |
| Location | Context Title | Context Description | Description (Modern) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mausolea of Amar-Sin | AD | Amar-Sin annex to Shugli Mausoleum, The excavation area abbreviation AD was apparently duplicated by accident and thus refers to two different areas of the site. Legrain reported the abbreviation as "Annex of Dungi's Tomb," but he was not on site the year that the context was excavated. He placed the abbreviation with this meaning on cards he created for inscribed material that came to him in the museum. Some tablets and cylinder seals were found in the filling of the tomb annex and some even have a note that they are from Seal Impression Strata against the tomb or its foundational fill. These artifacts are clearly from the BC area, that of the Mausoleum of the Ur III kings built by Shulgi and his son Amar-Sin (Amar-Suen). Amar-Sin built two annexes onto the Shulgi building (See area BC), one to the northwest and the other to the southeast. It is not clear which of the two annexes Legrain was referring to with the abbreviation AD, probably either or both. Essentially artifacts from this use of AD can only be located generally to the overall BC area at the eastern edge of the Royal Cemetery (PG). On the excavation site the abbreviation AD was being used for the so-called Palace of Bel-Shalti-Nannar. Artifacts from the two separate AD contexts have been divided in the digital data wherever possible. | (none) | |
| Mausoleum Site | BC | Woolley called the east corner of the Neo-Babylonian temenos the Bur-Sin Corner (area BC) because he found bricks of Bur-Sin (now read Amar-Sin or Amar-Suen) there in early season explorations. Area BC is particularly complex because it consists of substantial building in many periods. The largest building was of the Ur III period, and it is this building to which the abbreviation BC typically refers in field notes. It sits at the northeastern edge of the Royal Cemetery. The main Ur III building was 35 x 27m and its southwest wall was preserved two meters in height, while its northeast wall was largely destroyed. Its walls were built with inscribed bricks of Shulgi. The overall layout of the building is much like a courtyard house but on a large scale and with more ritual furnishings. Attached to this building were two annexes, one northwest and the other southeast, built with bricks of Shulgi's son, Amar-Sin (see context AD). Beneath the entire building were three very large vaults. All of them had been plundered in antiquity and only scattered fragments of artifacts and bones were discovered inside. Nonetheless, Woolley believed that these vaults originally held the remains of the Ur III kings. For this reason, area BC is sometimes referred to as the Mausoleum Site. The building was destroyed by Elamites, according to Woolley, and sometime thereafter houses of the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian period were constructed in the area (see House 30). Finally, the Neo-Babylonian Temenos wall was constructed over and through parts of the remains. | (none) | |
| DP | The excavation area abbreviation DP probably stands for Dungi's Palace; Woolley believed the building with bricks marked e-hur-sag (thought to refer to Shulgi's palace) was too small to be what should be a grandiose building. Thus, he explored the area southeast of the giparu extensively looking for it. Most of his abbreviations for excavations in this area refer to the potential palace. When he found cylinders inscribed with the name of Shulgi beneath a partly ruined floor (excavation area abbreviation DT in the northwestern portion of area EH), he thought he might have found it or at least indications of it. This building turned out to be a temple dedicated to Dimtabba (now read Nimintabba) and its very partial remains extended beyond the line of the Neo-Babylonian temenos wall to the west. Woolley continued to dig into this western area under a new excavation abbreviation, DP. This area did not reveal a palace or additional ruins of the Nimintabba temple, but instead it showed denuded domestic space related to Hall's Area A excavations. Area DP became the northern portion of area EM, but only partial houses are shown here along what Woolley termed Quality Lane. The houses here were never published in great detail, but many of the DP graves appear on the area EM map as falling along Quality Lane. | (none) | |
| Nimintabba Temple | DT | The abbreviation DT stands for Dungi's Temple or Dimtabba Temple and this abbreviation is found within the larger EH excavation area; Woolley discovered cylinders inscribed with the name of Shulgi beneath a partly ruined floor in area EH and assigned the building it was associated with an excavation abbreviation of its own. The building's walls were almost completely destroyed, however, and thus were difficult to follow. They lay in the northwestern portion of area EH and originally defined a temple dedicated to the god Nimintabba (Woolley initially read the name as Dim-Tab-Ba). The ephemeral remains of the temple stretched underneath and beyond the Neo-Babylonian temenos wall and Woolley expanded excavation in search of the rest, but little more of the temple was found. The westward expansion of the excavation beyond the temenos wall became excavation area abbreviation DP. | (none) |
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Related Terms
Ubaid - Uruk - Jemdat Nasr - Early Dynastic / Sumerian - Akkadian Dynasty - Guti/Post Akkadian - Old Babylonian - Middle Assyrian - Kassite - Neo-Assyrian - Neo-Babylonian - Achaemenid Empire (Persian) - Seleucid - Parthian