Ur: ancient Sumerian city, modern Tell el-Muqayyar.
Ur's ziggurat, partly rebuilt
Prehistory
Ur dates back to the Neolithic Ubaid Period, prior to c.3800 BCE
The region was more humid than today; the sea level appears to have been higher; the Persian Gulf was closer to the city than today; during the Chalcolithic age, heavy floods were always possible. The clay deposits were once interpreted as the Great Flood,
Sumerian Period
Ur is one of the cities where people spoke Sumerian (and Akkadian too). A king Mes-ane-pada is documented in the twenty-sixth century BCE. He is also mentioned in the Sumerian King List, which aklso mentions his succesors Meš-ki'ag-Nuna, Elulu, and Balulu.
This is the age of the First Dynasty of Ur, which is known from splendid royal tombs.
Ur, Royal Tombs, Ram in a Thicket
Ur, Royal Tombs, Harp
Ur, Royal Tombs, Harp, Bull's head
Ur, Royal Tombs, Standard
Third Dynasty
A cadastre (Ur III Period); note Pythagoras' theorem
Ur became part of the Akkadian Empire of king Sargon, who united all of Mesopotamia. After this empire's demise, Ur was independent under its Third Dynasty; Sumerian was the language of the chancelry. Its kings reunited Mesopotamia
The main sanctuary was the temple (with ziggurat) of the goddess Nanna, built by king Ur-Nammu (r.2112-2095 BC; Middle Chronology) towards the end of the third millennium. His successor was his son Šulgi (r.2094-2047), whose reign is documented in a chronicle that has survived: CM 48. The next kings were Amar-Sin (r.2046-2038) and Shu-Sin (r.2037-2029).
The Ur III Empire desintegrates during the reign of Ibbi-Sin (r.2028-2004).
This period is sometimes called "Sumerian Renaissance", a name that implies that the Akkadian Empire, with its Semitic language, was some kind of Medieval dark age
Ur, Votive offering by Ur-Nammu
Ur, Tablet with a hymn to Šulgi
Ur, Foundation statuette of Amar-Sin
Ur, Inscription of Šu-Sin
Later History
Ur became one of the cities in the Babylonian Empire and followed the ups and downs of Babylon. As one of the main ports, it remained an important town.
At the beginning of the first millennium BCE, the city was occupied by the Chaldaeans, who took control of Mesopotamia after the demise of the Assyrian Empire in the seventh century BCE. According to the Bible, the patriarch Abraham originated from Ur.note[Genesis 11.28, 11.31, and 15.7; cf. Nehemia 9.7.]
The last king of Babylonia, Nabonidus, rebuilt the temple of Nanna.note[cf. the Nabonidus Cylinder from Ur.]
In 484 BCE, Ur, Uruk, and Cutha supported the Persian king Xerxes against Bêl-šimânni and Šamaš-eriba, but the city was abandoned in the fifth century BCE; its sanctuary remained in use. The ziggurat was rebuilt in the Hellenistic age.
