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Learn more about "Ur"
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Ur
Ur (Sumerian language|Sumerian:urim[S. M. Kramer, ''The Sumerians, Their History, Culture, and Character'', University of Chicago Press, 1963, pages 28 and 298] ; Akkadian language|Akkadian:''?'') is modern '''Tell el-Mukayyar''', Iraq, [Tell el-Mukayyar– in Arabic language|Arabic ''Tell'' means "mound" or "hill" and ''Mukayyar'' means "built of bitumen". Mukayyar is variously transcribed as Mugheir, Mughair, Moghair, Muqayyar etc.] and was a city in ancient Sumer. Once a coastal city near the mouth of the then Euphrates river on the Persian Gulf, Ur is now well inland. Currently, Ur is south of the Euphrates on its right bank, from Nasiriyah, Iraq and close to the site of ancient Eridu.
The site is marked by the ruins of a ziggurat, still largely intact, and by settlement mounds. Great Ziggurat of Ur|The ziggurat of Ur was a temple of Nanna (Sumerian deity)|Nanna, the Lunar deity|moon deity in Mesopotamian mythology|Sumerian mythology, and has two stages constructed from brick: in the lower stage the bricks are joined together with bitumen, in the upper stage they are joined with Mortar (masonry)|mortar. The temple was built in 2100 B.C. during the reign of Ur-Nammu. The temple stands high.
History
Ur was inhabited in the earliest stage of village settlement in southern Mesopotamia, the Ubaid period. However, it later appears to have been abandoned for a time. Scholars believe that, as the climate changed from relatively moist to drought in the early 3rd millennium BC, the small farming villages of the Ubaid culture consolidated into larger settlements, arising from the need for large-scale, centralized irrigation works to survive the dry spells. Ur became one such center, and by around 2600 BC, in the Sumerian Sumerian king list|Early Dynastic Period III, the city was again thriving. Ur by this time was considered sacred to the god Sin (mythology)|Nanna.
Political History
The location of Ur was favourable for trade, by both sea and land routes, into Arabia. Many elaborate tombs, including that of Queen Puabi [Queen Puabi is also written Pu-Abi and formerly transcribed as Shub-ab.], were constructed. In this cemetery were also found artifacts bearing the names of kings Meskalamdug and Akalamdug. Eventually, the kings of Ur became the effective rulers of Sumer, in the first dynasty of Ur established by the king Mesannepada (or Mesanepada, Mes-Anni-Padda), who is on the Sumerian king list|king list and is named as a son of Meskalamdug on one artifact.
The first dynasty was ended by an attack of Sargon of Akkad around 24th century BC|2340 BC. Not much is known about the following second dynasty, when the city was in eclipse.
The 3rd dynasty of Ur|third dynasty was established when the king Ur-Nammu (or Urnammu) came to power, ruling between ca. 22nd century BC|2112 BC and 21st century BC|2094 BC. During his rule, temples, including the ziggurat, were built, and agriculture was improved through irrigation. His code of laws, the ''Code of Ur-Nammu'' (a fragment was identified in Istanbul in 1952) is one of the oldest such documents known, preceding the code of Hammurabi by 300 years. He and his successor Shulgi were both deified during their reigns, and after his death, he continued as a hero-figure: one of the surviving works of Sumerian literature describes the death of Ur-Nammu and his journey to the underworld.
According to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c. 2030 to 1980 BC. Its population was approximately 65,000.[Largest Cities Through History]
The third dynasty fell around 1950 BC to the Elamites; the Lament for Ur commemorates this event. Later, Babylon captured the city.
In the sixth century BC there was new construction in Ur under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, improved the ziggurat. However the city started to decline from around 550 BC and was no longer inhabited after about 500 BC, perhaps owing to drought, changing river patterns, and the silting of the outlet to the Persian Gulf.
Biblical Ur
Ur is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the patriarch Abram (Abraham). This identification is, however, disputed. ["Abraham One Man, One God", 1996 - video at Biography.com]
Ur is mentioned four times in the Tanakh or Old Testament, with the distinction "of the Kasdim/Kasdin" — traditionally rendered in English as "Ur of the Chaldees", referring to the Chaldeans, who were already settled there by around 900 BC. The name is found in , , and . In ''Nehemiah'' 9:7, a single passage mentioning Ur is a paraphrase of ''Genesis.''()
The ''Book of Jubilees'' states that Ur was founded in 1688 ''Anno Mundi'' (year of the world) by 'Ur son of Kesed, presumably the offspring of Arphaxad, adding that in this same year, wars began on Earth.
- "And 'Ur, the son of Kesed, built the city of 'Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. (ie, ''Ur Kesdim'')" (Jubilees 11:3)
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