Lagash

Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: Lagaš) was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba in Dhi Qar Governorate) was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East. The ancient site of Nina (Tell Zurghul) is around away and marks the southern limit of the state. Nearby Girsu (modern Telloh), about northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state. The Lagash state's main temple was the E-ninnu at Girsu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. The Lagash state incorporated the ancient cities of Lagash, Girsu, Nina.
History
Though some Uruk period pottery shards were found in a surface survey, significant occupation at the site of Lagash began early in the 3rd Millennium BC, in the Early Dynastic I period (c. 2900-2600 BC), surface surveys and excavations show that the peak occupation, with an area of about 500 hectares occurred during the Early Dynastic III period (c. 2500–2334 BC). The later corresponds with what is now called the First Dynasty of Lagash. Lagash then came under the control of the Akkadian Empire for several centuries. With the fall of that empire Lagash had a period of revival as an independent power during the 2nd Dynasty of Lagash before coming under the control of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur. After the fall of Ur there was some modest occupation in the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods. Lagash was then largely deserted until a Seleucid era fortress was built there in the 2nd century BC.
First dynasty of Lagash (c. 2500–2300 BC)
The dynasties of Lagash are not found on the Sumerian King List (SKL) despite being a power in the Early Dynastic period and a major city in the centuries that followed. One tablet, from the later Old Babylonian period and known as The Rulers of Lagash, was described by its translator as "rather fanciful" and is generally considered to be a satirical parody of the SKL. The thirty listed rulers, in the style of the SKL, having improbable reigns, include seven known rulers from the 1st Dynasty of Lagash, including Ur-Nanshe, "Ane-tum", En-entar-zid, Ur-Ningirsu, Ur-Bau, and Gudea..
Little is known of the first two rulers of Lagash. En-hegal is believed to be the first ruler of Lagash. A tablet with his name describes a business transaction, in which a possible King En-hegal buys land. Both his status and date are disputed. He was followed by Lugalshaengur about whom also little is known. Mesilim, who called himself King of Kish though it is uncertain which city he was from, named Lugalshaengur as an "ensi" of Lagash on a mace head.
Ur-Nanshe
While many details like the length of reign are not known for the next ruler, Ur-Nanshe, a number of his inscriptions have been found, most at Lagash with one stele at Ur, which along with Umma, he claimed to have conquered in battle. Almost all deal with the construction of temples, one details how he "built the wester[n] channel at the side of Sa[la]/ channel at the side of S[al] (against) the Amorites". He is described as the "son of Gu-NI.DU" (occasionally as "son of Gur:SAR"), and his inscriptions list a number of sons and daughters. Several inscription say "He [had the ships of Dil]mun sub[mit] [timber] (to Lagaß) as tribute." His son Akurgal ruled briefly after him.
Eannatum
The next ruler, Eannatum (earlier referred to as "Eannadu"), son of Akurgal and grandson of Ur-Nanshe, turned Lagash into an major power extending throughout large areas of Mesopotamia and to the east as well. In an inscription found at ancient Adab:
Another inscription detail his destruction of "Kiß, Akßak, and Mari at a place named Antasur". He also claimed to have taken the city of Akshak and killed its king its king, Zuzu.Eannatum took the city of Uru'az on the Persian Gulf, and exacted tribute as far as Mari; however, many of the realms he conquered were often in revolt. During his reign, temples and palaces were repaired or erected at Lagash and elsewhere and canals and reservoirs were excavated. During his reign, Dilmun was a major trading partner.
A long running border dispute, dating back at least to the time of Lugalshaengur, existed between the city-states of Umma and Lagash. In the time of Umma ruler Mesilim a formal border was established. Eannatum restored the border, including the boundary markers of Mesilim.
In c. 2450 BC, Lagash and the neighboring city of Umma fell out with each other after a border dispute over the Guʾedena, a fertile area lying between them. As described in Stele of the Vultures, of which only a portion has been found (7 fragments), the current king of Lagash, Eannatum, inspired by the patron god of his city, Ningirsu, set out with his army to defeat the nearby city. According to the Stele's engravings, when the two sides met each other in the field, Eannatum dismounted from his chariot and proceeded to direct his men on foot. After lowering their spears, the Lagash army advanced upon the army from Umma in a dense phalanx. After a brief clash, Eannatum and his army had gained victory over the army of Umma. This battle is one of the earliest depicted organised battles known to scholars and historians.
Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, En-anna-tum I. Given the many inscriptions his reign is assumed to be of some length. Most of them detailed the usual temple construction. On long tablet described the continued conflict with Umma:
The conflict from the Umma side of things from its ruler Ur-Lumma:
Entemena
The next ruler, Entemena increased the power of Lagash during his rule. A number of inscriptions from his reign are known.He was a contemporary of Lugalkinishedudu of Uruk.
Entemena was succeeded by his brother Enannatum II, with only one known inscription where he "restored for the god Ningirsu his brewery". He was followed by two more minor rulers, Enentarzi (only one inscription from his 5 year reign, which mentions his daughter Gem[e]-Baba), and Lugalanda (several inscriptions, one mentions his wife Bara-namtara) the son of Enentarzi. The last ruler of Lagash, Urukagina, was known for his judicial, social, and economic reforms, and his may well be the first legal code known to have existed. He was defeated by Lugalzagesi, beginning when Lugalzagesi was ruler of Umma and culminating as ruler of Uruk, bringing an end to the First Dynasty of Lagash. About 1800 cuneiform tablets from the reigns of the last three rulers of Lagash, of an administrative nature, have been found, mostly. The tablets are mostly from the "woman’s quarter" also known as the temple of the goddess Babu. It was under the control of the Queen.
Under the Akkadian Empire
In his conquest of Sumer circa 2300 BC, Sargon of Akkad, after conquering and destroying Uruk, then conquered Ur and E-Ninmar and "laid waste" the territory from Lagash to the sea, and from there went on to conquer and destroy Umma, and he collected tribute from Mari and Elam. He triumphed over 34 cities in total.
Sargon's son and successor Rimush faced widespread revolts, and had to reconquer the cities of Ur, Umma, Adab, Lagash, Der, and Kazallu from rebellious ensis.
Rimush introduced mass slaughter and large scale destruction of the Sumerian city-states, and maintained meticulous records of his destruction. Most of the major Sumerian cities were destroyed, and Sumerian human losses were enormous: for the cities of Ur and Lagash, he records 8,049 killed, 5,460 "captured and enslaved" and 5,985 "expelled and annihilated".
A Victory Stele in several fragments (three in total, Louvre Museum AO 2678) has been attributed to Rimush on stylistic and epigraphical grounds. One of the fragments mentions Akkad and Lagash. It is thought that the stele represents the defeat of Lagash by the troops of Akkad. The stele was excavated in ancient Girsu, one of the main cities of the territory of Lagash.
Second dynasty of Lagash (c. 2230–2110 BC)
During the reigns of the first two rulers of this dynasty Lugal-ushumgal (under Naram-Sin and Shar-Kali-Sharri) and Puzur-Mama (under Shar-kali-shari), Lagash was still under the control of the Akkadian Empire. It has been suggested that another governor, Ur-e, fell between them. After the death of Shar-Kali-shari Puzur-Mama declared Lagash independent (known from an inscription that may also mention Elamite ruler Kutik-Inshushinak). This independence appears to have been tenuous as Akkadian Empire ruler Dudu reports taking booty from there. With the fall of Akkad Lagash achieved full independence under Ur-Ningirsu I (not to be confused with the later Lagash ruler named Ur-Ningirsu, the son of Gudea). Unlike the 1st Dynasty of Lagash, this series of rulers used year names. Two of Ur-Ningirsu are known including "year: Ur-Ningirsu (became) ruler". His few inscriptions are religious in nature. Almost nothing is known of his son and successor. The next three rulers, Lu-Baba, Lugula, and Kaku are known only from their first year names. The following ruler, Ur-Baba, is notable mainly because three of his daughters married later rulers of Lagash, Gudea, Nam-mahani, and Ur-gar. His inscriptions are all of a religious nature, including building or restoring the "Eninnu, the White Thunderbird". Five of his year names are known. At this point Lagash is still at best a small local power. In some case the absolute order of rulers is not known with complete certainty.
Gudea
While the Gutians had partially filled the power vacuum left by the fall of the Akkadian Empire, under Gudea Lagash entered a period of independence marked by riches and power. Thousands of inscriptions of various sorts have been found from his reign and an untold number of statues of Gudea. A number of cuneiform tablets of an administrative nature, from Gudea's rule were found at nearby Girsu. Also found at Girsu were the famous Gudea cylinders which contain the longest known text in the Sumerian language. He was prolific at temple building and restoring. He is known to have conducted some military operations to the east against Anshan and Elam. Twenty of Gudea's year names are known. All are of a religious nature except for one that marks the building of a canal and year six "Year in which the city of Anszan was smitten by weapons". While the conventional view has been that the reign of Gudea fell well before that of Ur-Nammu, ruler of Ur, and during a time of Gutian power, a number of researchers contend that Gudea's rule overlaps with that of Ur-Nammu and the Gutians had already been defeated. This view is strengthened by the fact that Ur-Baba appointed Enanepada as high preiestess of Ur while Naram-Sin of Akkad had appointed her predecessor Enmenana and Ur-Namma of Ur appointed her successor Ennirgalana.
Gudea was succeeded by his son Ur-Ningirsu, followed by Ur-gar. Little is known about either aside from an ascension year name each and a small handful of inscriptions. It has been suggested that two other brief rulers fit into the sequence here, Ur-ayabba and Ur-Mama but the evidence for that is thin. Two tablets dated to the reign of Ur-Nammu of Ur refer to Ur-ayabba as "ensi" of Lagash, meaning governor in Ur III terms and king in Lagash.
Nam-mahani
Little is known of the next ruler aside from his ascension year name and a handful of religious inscriptions. Nam-mahani is primarily known for being defeated by Ur-Nammu, first ruler of the Ur III empire and being considered the last ruler of the second dynasty of Lagash (often called the Gudean Dynasty). In the prologue of the Code of Ur-Nammu it states "He slew Nam-ha-ni the ensi of Lagash". A number of his inscriptions were defaced and the statues of Nam-mahani and his wife were beheaded (the head were not found with the statues by Ur-Nammu is what is usually called an act of Damnatio memoriae.
Under the Ur III Empire
Under the control of Ur, the Lagash state (Lagash. Girsu, and Nigin) were the largest and most prosperous province of the empire. Such was its importance that the second highest official in the empire, the Grand Vizier, resided there. The name of one governor of Lagash under Ur is known, Ir-Nanna. After the fifth year of the last Ur II ruler, Ibbi-Sin, his year name was no longer used at Lagash, indicating Ur no longer controlled that city.
Archaeology
Lagash is one of the largest archaeological sites in the region, measuring roughly 3.5 kilometers north to south and 1.5 kilometers east to west though is relatively low being only 6 meters above the plain level at maximum. Much of the older area is under the current water table and not available for research. A drone survey determined that Lagash developed on four marsh islands some of which were gated. The notion that the city was marsh-based is in contention. Estimates of its area range from . The site is divided by the bed of a canal/river, which runs diagonally through the mound. The site was first excavated, for six weeks, by Robert Koldewey in 1887. It was inspected during a survey of the area by Thorkild Jacobsen and Fuad Safar in 1953, finding the first evidence of its identification as Lagash. The major polity in the region of al-Hiba and Tello had formerly been identified as ŠIR.BUR.LA (Shirpurla).
Tell Al-Hiba was again explored in five seasons of excavation between 1968 and 1976 by a team from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. The team was led by Vaughn E. Crawford, and included Donald P. Hansen and Robert D. Biggs. Twelve archaeological layers were found with the bottom 9 being Early Dynastic and the lowest under the water table. The primary focus was the excavation of the temple Ibgal of Inanna and the temple Bagara of Ningirsu, as well as an associated administrative area. The team returned 12 years later, in 1990, for a sixth and final season of excavation led by D. P. Hansen. The work primarily involved areas adjacent to an, as yet, unexcavated temple Ibgal of the goddess Inanna in the southwest edge of the city. The Bagara temple of Ningirsu was also worked on. Both were built by Early Dynastic III king Eannatum. Temples to the goddesses Gatumdag, Nanshe, and Bau are known to have existed but have not yet been found. A canal linked linked the E-ninnu temple of Ningirsu at Girsu, the E-sirara temple of Nanshe at Nigin, and the Bagara temple at Lagash, the three cities being part of one large state. In 1984 a surface survey found that most finds were from the Early Dynastic III period. Small amounts of Uruk, Jemdet Nasr, Isin-Larsa, Old Babylonian and Kassite shards were found in isolated areas.
In March–April 2019, field work resumed as the Lagash Archaeological Project under the directorship of Dr. Holly Pittman of the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and Sara Pizzimenti of the University of Pisa. A second season ran from October to November in 2021. A third season ran from March 6 to April 10, 2022. The work primarily involved the Early Dynastic Period Area G and Area H locations along with Geophysical Surveying and Geoarchaeology. The focus was on an industrial area and associated streets, residences, and kilns. Aerial mapping of Lagash, both using UAV drone mapping and satellite imagery was performed. In the fall of 2022 a 4th season of excavation resumed. Among the finds were a public eatery with ovens, a refrigeration system, benches, and large numbers of bowls and beakers.
Archaeological remains
Area A (Ibgal of Inanna)
Though commonly known as Area A or the Ibgal of Inanna, this temple complex was actually named Eanna during the Ur periods, while Inanna’s sanctuary within Eanna was known as Ibgal.
Level I architecture
Level I of Area A was occupied from Early Dynastic (ED I) to Ur III. It was used for both daily worship activities and festive celebrations, particularly for the queen of Lagash during the Barley and Malt-eating festivals of Nanše.
Level I consists of an oval wall on the Northeast end, surrounding an extensive courtyard. The fragments, together comparison to another Sumerian temple at Khafajah, show that the wall should originally be approximately 130m long.
For the temple-building, it is connected to the courtyard with steps. Twenty-five rooms have been excavated inside the building, in which the western ones would open up to the outside of the temple with corridors and form a tripartite entrance. Both the temple-building and the oval wall were built with plano-convex mud bricks, which was a very common material up to the late Early Dynastic III period. Additionally, foundations are found under the temple-building. They are composed of rectangular areas of various sizes, some as solid mud bricks and some as cavities of broken pieces of alluvial mud and layers of sand, then capped again with mud bricks.
Level II and Level III architecture
Two more levels are present beneath Level I. Interestingly, all of them are similar to each other in terms of layout and construction materials. During the process of building on top of each other, workers at that time would choose to destroy some portions while keeping some others, leading to much open speculation as to the rationales behind.
Area B (3HB Building and 4HB Building at Bagara of Ningirsu)
The 3HB Building
Three building levels were discovered and 3HB III is the earliest and most well-preserved level. 3HB II and 3HB I shared the same layout with 3HB III. All three levels have a central niched-and-buttressed building which is surrounded by a low enclosure wall with unknown height.
An excavator believes that the 3HB Building was a “kitchen temple” that aimed at meeting some of the god’s demands. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the building was a shrine in the Bagara complex as it shared more similarities with other temples than kitchens in terms of layout, features and contents.
The 4HB Building
The excavators discovered five building levels. The layout of 4HB V cannot be obtained due to limited exploration. 4HB IV-4HB I shared the same layout. 4HB IVB was the first level that was exposed completely.
It has been suggested that the 4HB Building is a brewery as ovens and storage vats and a tablet mentioning “the brewery” and “a brewer” were found. An alternate proposal is that 4HB building is a kitchen as it shared lots of similarities with temple kitchens at Ur and Nippur.
Area C
Located 360 meters southeast of Area B. It contains a large Early Dynastic administrative area with two building levels (1A and 1B). In level 1B were found sealing and tablets of Eanatum, Enanatum I, and Enmetena.
Area G
Area G is located at the midway of Area B in the North and Area A in the South. First excavated by Dr Donald P. Hansen in season 3H, Area G consists of a building complex and a curving wall which are separated by around 30-40m.
Western Building Complex
5 building levels are found in the area. There is little information about Levels I and IIA as they were poorly preserved without sealed floor deposits. In Levels IIB, III and IV, changes can be found in the building complex with reconstructions. In Level III, benches are built near the eastern and northern courtyards. Sealings made in the “piedmont” style which are found in the rooms share a resemblance with the Seal Impression Strata of Ur and sealings from Inanna Temple at Nippur, indicating the administrative nature of the buildings. Apart from institutional objects, fireplaces, bins and pottery were found in the rooms as well.
Curving Wall (Eastern Zone)
A 2-m wide wall that runs from the south to the north is found on the eastern part of Area G. The features of the curving wall and the rooms found near it are determined to be different from other oval temples built in the Early Dynastic in other major states. Intrusive vertical drains are found at the base of the plano-convex foundation. Archaeologists excavated further deeper to the water level during season 4H and found extensive Early Dynastic I deposits.
See also
List of cities of the ancient Near East
List of Mesopotamian dynasties
The Sumerian Game
References
Further reading
Al-Hamdani, Abdulameer, "The Lagash Plain During the First Sealand Dynasty (1721–1340 BCE)", in Ancient Lagash Current Research and Future Trajectories - Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016, pp. 161-179, 2022
Robert D. Biggs, "Inscriptions from al-Hiba-Lagash : the first and second seasons", Bibliotheca Mesopotamica. 3, Undena Publications, 1976,
R. D. Biggs, "Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, pp. 26–33, 1973
Vaughn E. Crawford, "Lagash", Iraq, vol. 36, no. 1/2, pp. 29–35, 1974
Foxvog D.A., "Aspects of Name-Giving in Presargonic Lagash", in W. Heimpel – G. Frantz- Szabó (eds.), Strings and Threads: A Celebration of the Work of Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, Winona Lake, 59-97, 2011
Goodman, Reed C., Steve Renette, and Elizabeth Carter, "The al-Hiba Survey Revisited", in Ancient Lagash Current Research and Future Trajectories - Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016, pp. 115-122, 2022
Hansen, D. P., "Lagaš. B. Archäologisch", Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie 6: 422–30, 1980–1983
Harper, Prudence O., "Tomorrow We Dig! Excerpts from Vaughn E. Crawford’s Letters and Newsletters from al-Hiba"., Leaving No Stones Unturned: Essays on the Ancient Near East and Egypt in Honor of Donald P. Hansen, edited by Erica Ehrenberg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 89-102, 2002
Hussey, Mary Inda, "A Statuette of the Founder of the First Dynasty of Lagash", Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale 28.2, pp. 81-83, 1931
Jagersma, Bram, "The calendar of the funerary cult in ancient Lagash", Bibliotheca Orientalis 64.3, pp. 289-307, 2007
Kenoyer, J. M., "Shell artifacts from Lagash, al-Hiba", Sumer 46 (1/2), pp. 123-144, 1989-1990
Marchesi, Gianni, "Notes on Two Alleged Literary Texts from Al-Hiba/Lagaš", Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico 16, pp. 3-17, 1999
Maeda T., "Work Concerning Irrigation Canals in Pre-Sargonic Lagash", Acta Sumerologica Japaniensia 6, 33-53, 1984
Maekawa K., "The Development of the é-mí in Lagash during Early Dynastic III", Mesopotamia 8-9, 77-144, 1973-1974
Mercer, Samuel AB, "Divine service in Early Lagash", Journal of the American Oriental Society, pp. 91-104, 1922
Mudar, K., "Early Dynastic III animal utilization in Lagash: a report on the fauna of Tell al-Hiba", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 41 (1), pp. 23-34, 1982
Muhammed, Qassim M., Muhanad Alrakabi, and Jabbar M. Rashid, "Assessment of natural radioactivity in building material of the ancient city of Tell-Al Hiba in Thi-Qar southern Iraq", Res Militaris 12.2, pp. 3551-3561, 2022
Ochsenschlager, Edward, "Mud objects from al-Hiba: a study in ancient and modern technology", Archaeology 27.3, pp. 162-174, 1974
Pittman, Holly, and Darren P. Ashby, "A Report on the Final Publication of the Excavations of the Tell al-Hiba Expedition, 1968–1990", in Ancient Lagash Current Research and Future Trajectories - Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016, pp. 115-122, 2022
Prentice, R., "The exchange of goods and services in pre-Sargonic Lagash", Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2010
Renette, Steve, "Some Observations on Regional Ceramic Traditions at al-Hiba/Lagash", in Ancient Lagash Current Research and Future Trajectories - Proceedings of the Workshop held at the 10th ICAANE in Vienna, April 2016, pp. 145-160, 2022
Renette, Steve, "Painted Pottery from Al-Hiba: Godin Tepe III Chronology and Interactions between Ancient Lagash and Elam", Iran, vol. 53, pp. 49–63, 2015
Thomas, Ariane, "The Faded Splendour of Lagashite Princesses: A Restored Statuette from Tello and the Depiction of Court Women in the Neo-Sumerian Kingdom of Lagash", Iraq 78, pp. 215-239, 2016
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès, and Fumi Karahashi, "Overseers of textile workers in presargonic Lagash", KASKAL, pp. 1-19, 2016
External links
Drone photos reveal an early Mesopotamian city made of marsh islands - Science News - October 13, 2022
University of Pennsylvania Lagash Current and Legacy excavations page
Excavations in the Swamps of Sumer - Vaughn E. Crawford - Expedition Magazine Volume 14 Issue 2 1972
University of Cambridge Lagash project
Lagash excavation site photographs at the Oriental Institute
Lagash Digital Tablets at CDLI
The Al-Hiba Publication Project
The Al-Hiba Publication Project - digitization
5,000-Year-Old Tavern With Food Still Inside Discovered in Iraq
Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC
1887 archaeological discoveries
Sumerian cities
Archaeological sites in Iraq
Dhi Qar Governorate
Former populated places in Iraq
Former kingdoms
City-states