Ur III

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

U Number	Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number)	Museum Number (BM Registration Number)	Museum Number (UPM B-number)	Description (Catalog Card)
2756	(none)	(none)	(none)	Inscribed alabaster vase. Fragment. About BC 2800. H.C. [drawing]
2757	(none)	1927,1003.9	(none)	Clay cylindrical column of Sin-balatsuigbi. Copy of inscriptions of Bur-Sin recording the foundation of 3 statues Ivth column in Semitic: Copy of bricks from? Ur work of Bur-Sin king of Ur, (which) when searching for the plan lines of Egish-shirgal, Sinbalatsuigbi, vice regent of Ur (has found). Nabushumiddina son of Idin-an-ni-u. priest (kal-lu) of Sin, for inspection has singled and inscribed. On the top: (In front) of the shrine of Enlil. H.C. (A15, p384)
2768	(none)	(none)	(none)	Door-socket of Ur-Engur king of Ur who built the house of Nannar.
2769	(none)	1927,1003.32	(none)	Clay cone fragment. King of Larsa? Last lines of Column I -e-bar-bar-ra sul dUtu sa(g) azag gza-a. H.C.
2770	(none)	(none)	(none)	Diorite statue of Dungi. Small inscribed fragment. andof (?)Simu(ru?). Dungi mighty hero, king of Ur, king of the 4 regions of the world, dNin-sun of Ur (to her?) he (built or presented??) Two round holes for small copper rivets have been bored in the inscription. One still filled with copper. H.C.
2771	(none)	(none)	(none)	Door-socket. Ur-Engur. Bluish stone (flakes easily) usual inscription. In text: 3rd Dynasty Terrace(12)
2772	(none)	(none)	(none)	Ur-Engur Door-socket. Bluish stone. Usual inscription. In text: 3rd Dynasty Terrace(12)
2794	(none)	(none)	(none)	Cone of Kudur Mabug. Text complete round stem (head is missing.) H.C.
2795	(none)	1927,1003.21	(none)	Cone of Ur-Engur. Fragment. (Cf. 2595) To Enlil, king of the countries, his king, Ur Engur, reliant hero, king of Ur, of Sumer and Akkad, in Ur. The canal? of Ninni he has dug. H.C.
2801	(none)	1927,1003.17	(none)	Cone of Kudur Mabug. Only the stem, one section badly broken. To nannar his king He gives details on 10) restoration of Ebar-ra;, 20) Door of the great gate of Larsa, 80) peace to all inhabitants, 40) Ur and Larsa abide in? for his life and that of Warad-Sin his son, king of Larsa: he, 10) in the ( ) ki-temen, the place of his joy he introduced ( 1, 20) it stood in front of the god, 30) the e-sa-kalamma (house peace of the land) it is established... For which he expects protection from Nannar and Ningal... H.C.
2855	(none)	(none)	(none)	Ur-Engur door-socket. Usual text: builder of E-Nannar.
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.
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?
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.
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.
2944	47-29-203, 47-29-203	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet. Date. Gimil-Sin 6th year. Recepit for 35 sheep skins seal impression.
2945	(none)	1948,0423.399	(none)	Clay tablet. Date Gimil-Sin 4th year. Receipt for bull's hides.
2946	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet. Date (Ibi-Sin?) "When he made the GIR-NUN (?) the ornament of the god" Receipt of 45 reed bundles: From the dinner of Nannar for Ed za-kar of E-har-sag. Seal impression. H.C.
2950	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Comptability. About Gimil-Sin time.
2951	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Receipt. Date: Gimil-Sin.
2952	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Receipt. Dated: 4th year of Gimil-Sin. Seal of: A-bu-laib Lu Ur dNaminu son of Gimil dNinsun
2953	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Receipt. Date: En d[Ninni] mas-e-n pad. Seal impressions: Abu-laib lu ur dNaminu son of Nu-ur En (?) Son of Gir-ra-ba-ni.
2954	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Receipt: Garment. Date: When the priest of Ninni of Uruk was elected by signs. Seal impression Balali in? son of Gir-ra ( )
2955	(none)	(none)	(none)	Tablet - Fragment. Comptability. Woolen garment. Date: (Ibi-Sin?) "When the patesi of Zabshali married the daughter of the king."
2956	47-29-57, 47-29-57	(none)	(none)	Tablet. Receipt for butter. Dated of Gimil Sin.

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25 of 3824 Objects

Locations: Ur III Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Context Title	Context Description	Description (Modern)
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)
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)
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)