Near East Kingdoms

Uruk (Unug / Urak) & Eanna (Erech) (City State) (Sumer)

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The city states of Sumer formed one of the first great civilisations in human history (see feature link). This Near Eastern civilisation emerged a little way ahead of that of Africa's ancient Egypt, and up to a millennium before that of the Indus Valley culture. It developed out of the end of the Pottery Neolithic across the Fertile Crescent, a period which had seen Neolithic Farmer practices spread far and wide across the Near East and beyond.

As irrigation improved so the more southerly reaches of the Euphrates could at last be occupied by humans and their animals. Southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and the western edge of Iran) was subjected to permanent settlement, initially in the form of pastoralists but soon as farmers too. Cultures around the edges of this progression included the Hassuna and Samarra which began this settlement process, and perhaps elements of the Hissar culture in the Iranian highlands were also involved.

By the late fourth millennium BC, Sumer was divided into approximately a dozen city states which were independent of one another and which used local canals and boundary stones to mark their borders. Many early historical events in the region are found only in the Sumerian king list, which notates the rulers of the city states (and see feature link), but archaeology has also uncovered a wealth of detail.

The city of Uruk was situated to the east of the present course of the Euphrates, on the line of the ancient Nil Canal, in a region of marshes. Sometimes labelled the 'mother of all cities', it was one of the oldest and most important cities in Sumer. It led the way in the advance towards the formation of individual city states and was an influential leader during the fourth millennium BC, the Uruk IV cultural period (around 3900-3100 BC).

Uruk was already a major city by 3300 BC, and it was here that Sumerian civilisation seems to have reached its creative and social peak. Many familiar urban human themes and groupings seem to have emerged during this period. Trade with many regions outside of Mesopotamia was already flourishing by the start of the third millennium BC, notably with the Hatti in Anatolia. But very few cities last forever.

It was in AD 1856 that members of the Royal Asiatic Society were informed of a ruin site which had been found in southern Mesopotamia's remote desert region. The Arabs knew it as Warka, a mangling of the Old Testament's Erech in the 'land of Shinar (Sumer)'. This was the ruins of the ancient city of Uruk (or Unug or Urak in some later records). The visible site was vast even when half-covered by desert sand, with a still-discernable ring of city walls of about nine kilometres in circumference.

Initial archaeological investigations took place between 1850-1856, but discoveries at the time were less exciting than elsewhere. More detailed examinations took place around twentieth century wars, in 1912-1914, 1928-1939, and 1953-1990. German archaeologists especially provided highly-detailed reports.

Kings did not generally appear until the 'Early Dynastic I' period at the start of the third millennium BC. The position generally grew out of senior temple posts, with head priests - the en - coming to command entire cities as those cities grew and as they needed more centralised leadership. Older leadership posts may have had a basis in pre-city tribal groups, but details have not been preserved. Initially the new city rulers could hold varying titles, with lugal (initially an important figure, or a rich and influential one, but later a king) only eventually emerging as the default.

Meskiaggasher, the first documented king of Uruk, was one of the first kings anywhere, and Uruk may even have driven the formation of the concept of kingship. He founded his own dynasty in the temple of Eanna (E-anna, or temple of Inanna, the holy sanctuary which was mentioned many times in the Epic of Gilgamesh).

Eanna was the most prominent of archaeological mounds, one which contained a dense sequence of nineteen building levels for the early fifth millennium BC and the fourth millennium BC, plus some later remains from the post-Sumer second millennium BC. These levels revealed a great deal of advancement and improvement, but Eanna only became part of the greater (and expanding) city of Uruk during the reign of Enmerkar in the later twenty-eighth century BC.

As the first king (if somewhat unofficially as far as the later Sumerian king list may be concerned), Meskiaggasher won control of the region which extended from the Mediterranean to the Zagros Mountains, to the east of Sumer. His son, the aforementioned Enmerkar, officially gained the kingship after conquering Kish's 'First Dynasty'.

According to the Sumerian king list, a total of twenty-two kings ruled in Uruk for 2,610 + X years, six months and fifteen days, five times (dynasties). Here, List 1 is primarily used, backed up by List 2 and List 3. Note that older dating systems place the earliest reigns at dates which have been shown to be unrealistically early.

The king list presents kingship as a divine gift which had been bestowed upon mankind in primordial times. It was passed down from king to king and from city to city through the will of the gods and could only be held by one person at a time. This now appears to be more of a high kingship, with each city recognising the most powerful king of the period while ruling their own territory. Only later did the concept of empire emerge to remove or minimise local rule under a more powerful empire-builder.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, Gwendolyn Leick (Penguin Books, 2001), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, Samuel Noah Kramer ('List 1' of Sumerian rulers, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963), from Political Change and Cultural Continuity in Eshnunna from the Ur III to the Old Babylonian Period, Clemens Reichel (List of Eshnunna's rulers, providing some names which are not on the Bruce R Gordon list as part of a dissertation proposal for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, 11 June 1996), from First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies, Peter Bellwood (Second Ed, Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), from Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Heywood (Barnes & Noble, 2000), from The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Amélie Kuhrt (Routledge, 2000, Vol I & II), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Enrico Ascalone (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1, University of California Press, 2007), from The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, S Lloyd (Revised Ed, London, 1984), from Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History, J N Postgate (Routledge, 1994), from The First Empires, J N Postgate (Oxford 1977), from History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), from Ancient History: A Theory About Ancient Times, L C Gerts (List 4 of Sumerian rulers, Chapter 12: The Sumerian king list, 2002), from Mesopotamia, Chris Scarre (Ed, Past Worlds - The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Guild Publishing, London 1989), from The Age of the God-Kings, Kit van Tulleken (Ed, Time Life Books, Amsterdam 1987), and from External Links: Ancient Worlds, and The Sumerian Kings List, J A Black, G Cunningham, E Fluckiger-Hawker, E Robson, & G Zólyomi ('List 2' of Sumerian rulers, available via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Oxford, 1998), and Ancient History, Anthony Michael Love ('List 3' of Sumerian rulers at Sarissa.org), and Images from History (University of Alabama), and Evolution of Sumerian kingship (Ancient World Magazine).)

c.3900 BC

As early as 8000 BC, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, small clay tokens of various distinctive shapes are evidently being used by Near Eastern farmers to keep an inventory of their commodities. A cone-shaped token, for instance, may indicate that a farmer has a certain amount of barley in his granary.

This already-ancient system is greatly expanded during the Uruk IV period which begins around 3900 BC (or 3800 BC according to some). The ancient Sumerian religious centre of Eridu - already a millennium old - is gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of Uruk, with the Eanna mound being its oldest and most continuously inhabited part until the third millennium BC. The Kullab mound comes into use during the period as the city's other focus of building works.

Metalwork also appears, marking the beginning of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) and the fading of the stone age period which had seen Neolithic Farmer practices transform human lives between about 10,000-4000 BC.

The Uruk IV period which lasts between about 3900-3100 BC sees this city flourish as the only real urban centre in Sumer, and one which sits at the heart of a great trading and cultural centre. Building works reach a frenzy of succession and experimentation. New structures are continuously erected, pulled down, and built up again.

c.3100 - 2900 BC

The Uruk IV influence suddenly fades around 3100 BC (or 3200 BC in some modern sources) for reasons unknown. Local traditions re-emerge in places which had previously taken on board Uruk influences. Elam's advanced city of Susa experiences an influx of immigrants who introduce great changes there.

The Uruk III or Jemdet Nasr period in Sumer is one of comparative isolation as it rebuilds a new social structure which will become a fundamental part of the successive 'Early Dynasty' period. A host of early cities are mentioned at this time, on seals which are discovered at Jemdet Nasr itself. These cities include Kesh, Larsa, Nippur, Ur, Uruk, and Zabalam.

Uruk itself is suddenly rebuilt, with construction taking place in more permanent mudbrick. The city continues to thrive in the Jemdet Nasr period but an entirely new complex of buildings is erected over the carefully-levelled remains of those of the previous period. Sumer remains culturally inward-looking for this period.

c.2900 BC

The Jemdet Nasr period fades in favour of a new, outward-looking 'Early Dynastic' period. True writing now blossoms as it moves closer to spoken Sumerian, archives explode with mercantile records and administrative acts, and the first kings begin to appear as leading city figures take on more duties and increasing power, ostensibly as deputies of the gods themselves.

Nippur becomes the focus of Sumer's unified cult practices, in favour of Ur. Positioned centrally in Sumer, perhaps this location is more satisfactory for the region's cities. All of them seem to be joined together when it comes to paying homage to the Sumerian pantheon of gods, headed by Enlil who is Nippur's patron (another good reason for making this city the religious centre).

This unique status lasts until the eighteenth century BC which witnesses the rise of Babylon. Seals mention it frequently, even when they are found in small or obscure Sumerian cities such as Abu Salabikh, Arina, Kesh, Urum, and Zabalam.

First Dynasty (Uruk / Eanna) (Sumer)
c.2750? - 2550 BC

The leading position which had been held by Uruk in the fourth millennium BC's Uruk IV period began to fade in the early third millennium BC as other Sumerian city states evolved and gained prominence. The city of Kish in the northern part of Sumer became especially important after city states farther down the river had been ravaged by repeated flooding (the likely origin of the division between Antediluvian and 'After the Flood' periods in Sumer's history).

Shortly after the end of the reign of Etana of 'First Dynasty' Kish, Meskiaggasher of Uruk founded a rival dynasty in Uruk, far to the south of Kish. His dynasty quickly came to be the dominant force in the region. Its members gradually grew in importance, and increasingly sought luxury materials to express their power. These goods, often from abroad, were acquired either by trade or conquest.

The first dynasty of Uruk is the second set of entries on the Sumerian king list, comprising kings 24-35. Twelve kings ruled for 2,310 / 3,588 years (Lists 1 & 2), although there is a remarkable lack of familial relationship, with various incomers taking turns at ruling the city. The list for this dynasty seems initially to have been drawn up during the 'Ur III' dynasty, a good five hundred years later. After this period the kingship (or, potentially, the high kingship) was taken to 'First Dynasty' Ur.

fl c.2750 BC

Of Eanna. Son of Utu. Ruled for 324/325 years.

Meskiaggasher (or Mec-ki-aj-gacer according to 'List 3' - see above) is the first documented king of Uruk, and seemingly one of the first true kings anywhere. He founds his own dynasty in the temple of Eanna (E-anna, or temple of Inanna, the holy sanctuary which is mentioned many times in the Epic of Gilgamesh).

This stone bull dates from the 'Late Uruk' period in Sumer (southern Mesopotamia), between about 3300-3000 BC, and probably comes from the then-culturally dominant city of Uruk

fl c.2730 BC

Ruled for 420 years. 'Founded' the greater city of Uruk.

Enmerkar's reign is notable for an expedition against Aratta, a city state which is located far to the north-east of Mesopotamia. He is succeeded by Lugalbanda, one of his military leaders. The exploits and conquests of Enmerkar and Lugalbanda form the subject of a cycle of epic tales which constitute the most important source of information on early Sumerian history.

Unrelated military commander. Ruled 1,200 years. The 'Shepherd'.

c.2700 BC

Following Lugalbanda's reign, military domination of Sumer passes back to Kish, although the Sumerian king list still has Uruk as possessor of the official kingship. Possibly Kish initially defers to Uruk's originally-greater sense of authority and prestige.

Unrelated. Ruled for 100/110 years. Captured by Kish.

Dumuzi (or Dimuzid according to 'List 3' - see above) is 'the fisherman' who comes from the city of Kuara (Kua), a smaller city which is located close to Eridu. He is also placed as a ruler in Bad-tabira, although the available dating construction does not gel with the dating shown here.

According to a potentially later addition to the king list details, he is captured by Enmebaraggesi of Kish, and presumably towards the beginning of the latter's late-twenty-seventh century BC dominance.

fl c.2650 BC

 Unrelated. Ruled for 126 years.

Arguably the most famous of all Sumerian kings, according to the king list Gilgamesh is the son of a nomad. Traditionally, he is responsible for building the massive walls surrounding Uruk and is recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh (see feature link).

The important Eanna temple which is mentioned here is levelled at some point in the early part of this millennium, with its remains being close to the surface for modern archaeologists to examine. Although it is perhaps the oldest part of the city, the rise of kings may have made it obsolete.

Son. Ruled for 30 years.

Ruled for 15 years.

Ruled for 9 years.

Ruled for 8 years.

fl c.2600 BC

Ruled for 36 years. The 'Smith'.

Ruled for 6/900 years.

fl c.2550 BC

Ruled for 36/420 years.

Unless Lugalkidul literally takes the title of lugal into his name, he should more realistically be shown as Kidul or Kitun. He would appear to be the last of his dynasty, with the (high) kingship subsequently being removed from Uruk.

Second Dynasty (Uruk) (Sumer)
c.2440 - 2420 BC

While it seems that Uruk was briefly dominated by Lagash around the 2440s BC, it eventually recovered enough to take the kingship from Hamazi.

This is the seventh set of entries on the Sumerian list comprising kings 52-54. Three kings ruled for 187 years.

c.2440s BC

Eannatum of Lagash annexes virtually all of 'Post-Diluvian' Sumer, including Kish, Nippur, Uruk (briefly), Ur, and Larsa, and reduces his arch-rivals at Umma, twenty-nine kilometres away, to a tributary state with the defeat of Enakalle.

In addition, he extends his realm to parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf, apparently using terror as a matter of policy. The stele of the vultures describes the violent treatment which is meted out to his enemies.

Urur of Akshak leads a northern coalition against him but that is destroyed, with Akshak recognising Lagash's supremacy along with Mari. Lagash is later eclipsed by Umma under Lugalzaggesi.

fl c.2440/2430 BC

Ruled for 60 years.

Under Enshakushanna, Uruk conquers Hamazi, Agade, Kish, and Nippur to claim hegemony over all of Sumer. He also throws the Elamites out of Awan. He is the first ruler known to take the Sumerian title en ki-en-gi ki-uri, or 'lord of Sumer and Akkad'.

Such a usage would suggest, though, that Agade, or at least the embryonic state of Akkad around it, is already great, on a par with Sumer itself, which seems unreasonable at this time. Despite his own conquests Enshakushanna is also briefly subject to the overlordship of Eannatum of Lagash.

Ruled for 120 years.

c.2430 BC

Uruk helps Lagash to defeat Umma.

A terracotta foundation peg of Entemena from Bad-tibira, dated between 2404-2375 BC, mentioning a treaty with the king of Uruk

Ruled for 7 years.

Third Dynasty (Uruk) (Sumer)
c.2355 - 2330 BC

Under the priest-king Lugalzaggesi, Umma overthrew Lagash's domination, captured Uruk, displaced Kish as the dominating power, and claimed an empire which extended from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.

This is the fourteenth entry on the Sumerian list comprising king 81. One king ruled for 25 / 34 years (Lists 1 & 2). Some lists combine the third and fourth dynasties as the third dynasty of Uruk, which also affects the numbering of the fifth dynasty.

fl c.2355 - 2330 BC

King of Umma. Ruled for 25/34 years.

Lugalzaggesi of Umma is the last ethnically-Sumerian ruler of Uruk. His reign coincides with the burning of Shuruppak, although there is no suggestion that he is the cause.

His reign also coincides with that of Alusarsid of Agade, who seemingly begins to build an empire around his city state. Around 2330 BC, Lugalzaggesi is defeated and captured by Alusarsid's successor, Sargon of the now-expansive Akkadian empire. Sargon claims his territory and the kingship.

Fourth Dynasty (Uruk) (Sumer)
c. 2254/2223? - 2193 BC

According to the Sumerian list, the fourth dynasty of kings saw to the final defeat of Agade and claimed the kingship, or overlordship, of Sumer. In fact, it is possible that they were instead contemporaries of the later kings of Agade, holding some degree of dominance in southern Mesopotamia. The starting date of circa 2254 BC for this dynasty was calculated by counting back from the point at which the Gutians invaded Sumer and using the List 2 lengths of reign. It is perhaps only coincidental that this was the very same year at which it is thought Naram-Sin came to power in Agade, and who faced serious revolts from the start of his reign. Fourth Dynasty Uruk was a key player in those revolts, leading a coalition of southern Sumerian cities under Amar-girid.

This is the sixteenth set of entries on the list, comprising kings 93-97. Five kings ruled for 30 years (List 1), or five kings ruled for 30 / 43 / 26 years, or three kings ruled for 47 years (List 2).

fl c.2254? BC

Vassal of Agade. Not on the king list.

c.2254? BC

Uruk leads a revolt against the Akkadian empire, rallying the southern Sumerian cities of Ur, Lagash, Umma, Adab, Shuruppak, Isin, and Nippur, placing a well-organised army in the field which is then defeated.

c.2254? BC

Ruled for 7/3/15/30 years.

Son. Ruled for 6/7/15 years.

Ruled for 6 years.

Ruled for 5/20 years.

Ruled for 6/25 years.

c.2193 BC

Uruk is struck and defeated by the Gutians at the same time as they destroy Agade and carry off the kingship. It is from this point that the Gutian kings are recorded in more detail as Mesopotamia apparently undergoes a gradual climate-induced collapse which also affects Egypt, Anatolia (in city states which include Hatti), and Syria (such as in Tuba).

Fifth Dynasty (Uruk) (Sumer)
c.2120 - 2113 BC

A surviving clay tablet containing the Sumerian king list was dated by the scribe who wrote it in the reign of King Utukhegal of Erech (Uruk), which places it at around 2125 BC. Uruk was responsible for driving out the Gutians. It was also prominent in the Sumerian struggles against the Elamites up to 2004 BC, during in which it suffered severely.

This is the eighteenth entry on the king list comprising king 119. One king ruled for seven years, six months, and fifteen days (List 1), or one king ruled for 427 years and an unknown number of days, or seven years, six months, and fifteen days, or seven years, six months, and five days (List 2), or one king ruled for 27 years (List 4).

c.2120 - 2113 BC

Ruled for 7 years, 6 mths, 15 days, or 427 years, or 27 years.

c.2004 BC

With the collapse of Sumerian civilisation and the fall of Ur, Uruk is briefly occupied by invading Elamites before becoming a possession of Isin.

Uruk (Amorite City State) (Southern Mesopotamia)

The Amorites had been inhabitants of Sumer for some centuries, and rose to fill the gap left by the end of Sumerian civilisation. Uruk was controlled by Isin for approximately 133 years before that city state's decline allowed Uruk to break away under its own independent dynasty of kings.

Under Sin-Kashid, Uruk saw the renovation and reconstruction of the Temples of Ishtar/Inanna, which had fallen into disrepair in the previous century, and the building of one of the largest Old Babylonian Period palaces. It also appears to have become a centre of trade, as inscriptions giving the (ideal) prices of goods in the region show. The city became prosperous, although it apparently remained politically insignificant.

c.1865 BC

Sin-Kashid, breaks free from the control of a declining Isin and founds his own dynasty in Uruk, which is the final period of independence for the city. He calls himself 'King of Uruk, king of the Amnanum', which is the name of his tribe of Amorites who had probably settled in the area during the Third Dynasty of Ur.

c.1865 - 1833 BC

Married daughter to king of Babylon and established close ties.

c.1833 - 1827 BC

Son.

c.1827 - 1824 BC

Son.

Records become very sparse from this point under kings who seem to achieve very little.

c.1824 - ? BC

Brother.

c.1816 - 1810 BC

Son. Captured in battle.

c.1810 BC

Rim-Sin of Larsa is aggressively expanding his empire, and following the fall of Isin, Uruk is a prime target. The city falls and becomes a vassal state, although still with its own kings who desperately struggle to assert their own authority.

c.1810 - ? BC

? - 1803/2 BC

c.1803/2 BC

Rim-Sin of Larsa captures the city. It appears that Sinkashid's palace and the surrounding district are plundered and burned to the ground, after which time nothing is built in the area.

The Uruk trough belongs to the late prehistoric period, about 3300-3000 BC, but as it was probably a cult object in Inanna (Ishtar), it may have remained in use for quite some time

c.1787 BC

Still under the control of Larsa, Uruk is attacked and defeated by Hammurabi's Babylonian empire,

c.1763 BC

With the defeat of Larsa by the Babylonian empire, Hammurabi controls Uruk.

AD 224

Following the Sassanid victory over the Parthians at the Battle of Hormozdgān, the Sassanids have become the great power in Persian lands. Ardašīr of Margiana now submits to Ardašīr I.

The former city of Uruk now ends its days as a military outpost of the Sassanids, guarding part of the western border against Roman incursions.