Urua
Urua (URUxAki) was an ancient Near East city in the border area between ancient Mesoptamia and ancient Elam. It is known in the 3rd millennium BC. Its location is currently unknown but is thought to be in modern Khuzestan Province, Iran. The god Dumuzi-Urua is attested in Umma in the Ur III period.[1]
It is not to be confused with the Uruaz (uru-azki) which was in the same region.[2]
History
[edit]Urua was one of the lands conquered by King Eannatum of Lagash in Sumer, circa 2500 BC reporting in one of his inscriptions "He defeated the ruler of Urua, who stood with the (city’s) emblem in the vanguard". He also reported defeating the land of Uruaz saying "He sacked Uruaz and killed its ruler". Capitves from Uruaz were blinded.[3]
There is a record of Dudu, a high official of Eannatum, buying stone in Urua to make a votive wall plaque.[4]
In the Akkadian Empire period, one of the year names of its first ruler Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334–2279 BC) was "Year in which Uru'a was destroyed".[5]
In the Ur III period, late in the 3rd millennium BC, Urua was a tax paying province of the empire of Ur with an appointed governor.[6] Nin-kalla, wife of the second ruler of Ur III, Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC), held large estates at Urua. Prince Etel-pū-Dagān, son of Shulgi, is known to have been sent to Urua to supervise sheering of sheep. Urua is known to have been a producer of wool at that time.[7] In the 7th regnal year of ruler Shu-Sin (c. 2037–2028 BC) a text mentions "tribute of Urua delivered by Sulgi-adamu, ensi of Urua".[8]
Location
[edit]One proposal is unexcavated Tepe Musiyan, on the Deh Luran Plain in Khuzestan Province, Iran.[9][10] Girsu and Lagash were cities that Urua had close economic ties with. Based on Ur III administrative documents from there an areal location of northeast of Puzriš-Dagān and a short distance from Susa has been proposed, specifically in northwestern Khuzestan. [11][6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H., "D", A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 67-79, 2021
- ^ Tavernier, Jan, "Ur and Other Cities in Some Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names: The Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Periods", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelphia, July 11–15, 2016, edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 485-502, 2021
- ^ Douglas Frayne, "Lagas", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), RIM The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Volume 1, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 77-293, 2008 ISBN 9780802035868
- ^ 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
- ^ Year Names of Sargon of Akkad at CDLI
- ^ a b Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Question of Marḫaši: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of Iran in the Third Millennium B.C." Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 237-265, 1982
- ^ Sharlach, Tonia, "Princely Employments in the Reign of Shulgi", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1-68, 2022
- ^ Hallo, William W., "A Sumerian Amphictyony", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 88–114, 1960
- ^ [1]Lambert, Wilfred G., and Mark Weeden, "A statue inscription of Samsuiluna from the papers of WG Lambert", Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 114.1, pp. 15-62, 2020
- ^ Zeynivand, Mohsen, "A Cylinder Seal with an Amorite Name from Tepe Musiyan, Deh Luran Plain", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 71, pp. 77–83, 2019
- ^ Notizia, Palmiro, "Prince Etel-pū-Dagān, Son of Šulgi", From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22–24 July 2010, edited by Steven J. Garfinkle and Manuel Molina, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 207-220, 2013