Global InformationUr information
Tell el-Muqayyar | |
  Ur Shown within Iraq  Ur Ur (Near East)  Ur Ur (West and Central Asia) | |
| Location | Tell el-Muqayyar, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq |
|---|---|
| Region | Mesopotamia, Middle East |
| Coordinates | 30°57′42″N 46°06′18″E / 30.9616529°N 46.1051259°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 3800 BC |
| Abandoned | after 500 BC |
| Periods | Ubaid period to Iron Age |
| Cultures | Sumerian |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1853–1854, 1922–1934, 2015-present |
| Archaeologists | John George Taylor, Charles Leonard Woolley, Elizabeth C Stone, Paul Zimansky, Adelheid Otto |
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Official name | Ur Archaeological City |
| Part of | Ahwar of Southern Iraq |
| Criteria | Mixed: (iii)(v)(ix)(x) |
| Reference | 1481-006 |
| Inscription | 2016 (40th Session) |
| Area | 71 ha (0.27 sq mi) |
| Buffer zone | 317 ha (1.22 sq mi) |
Ur (/ʊər/ oor; Sumerian: 𒌶𒆠, 𒋀𒀕𒆠, or 𒋀𒀊𒆠[note 1] Urim;[1] Akkadian: 𒋀𒀕𒆠 Uru;[2] Arabic: أُوْر, romanized: ʾūr; Hebrew: אוּר, romanized: ʾūr) was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar (Arabic: تل ٱلْمُقَيَّر) in south Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate.[3] Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates, 16 km (10 mi) from Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq.[4] The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC, its first recorded king being King Tuttues.
The city's patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian and Akkadian moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the god's name, UNUGKI, literally "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna".[4] The site is marked by the partially restored ruins of the Ziggurat of Ur, which contained the shrine of Nanna, excavated in the 1930s. The temple was built in the 21st century BC (short chronology), during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th century BC by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon.[5]
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Kramer, S. N. (1963). The Sumerians, Their History, Culture, and Character. University of Chicago Press. pp. 28, 298.
- ^ Edwards, I. E. S.; et al. (December 2, 1970). The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. Part 1, p. 149. ISBN 9780521070515.
- ^ Tell el-Muqayyar: in Arabic Tell means 'mound' or 'hill' and Muqayyar means 'built of bitumen'. Muqayyar is variously transcribed as Mugheir, Mughair, Moghair, etc.
- ^ a b Ebeling, Erich; Meissner, Bruno; Edzard, Dietz Otto (1997). Meek – Mythologie. Reallexikon der Assyriologie (in German). De Gruyter. p. 360. ISBN 978-3-11-014809-1.
- ^ Zettler, R. L.; Horne, L., eds. (1998). Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.