Ur-Nammu

 

According to the Sumerian King List, Ur-Nammu reigned for 18 years.^[4] Year-names are known for 17 of these years, but their order is uncertain. One year-name of his reign records the devastation of Gutium, while two years seem to commemorate his legal reforms ("Year in which Ur-Nammu the king put in order the ways [of the people in the country] from below to above", "Year Ur-Nammu made justice in the land").^[5]

Among his military exploits were the conquest of Lagash and the defeat of his former masters at Uruk. He was eventually recognized as a significant regional ruler (of Ur, Eridu, and Uruk) at a coronation in Nippur, and is believed to have constructed buildings at Nippur, Larsa, Kish, Adab, and Umma. ^[6] He was known for restoring the roads and general order after the Gutian period.^[7] In the internegum after the fall of the Akkadian Empire a number of cities became independent and an area in the northeast came under the control of Elam. Ur-Nammu in his Sumerian language inscriptions reports defeating a coalition of Kutik-Insusinak, Elamite ruler, and some other cities including Tutub and Eshnunna.^[8] It has been suggested that this was another name for the Elamite ruler Puzur-Inshushinak, about whom little is known. There is equal support for the idea that Puzur-Inshushinak with contemporary with Akkad ruler Naram-Sin a century earlier.^{[9] [10][11]}

 

Ur-Nammu was also responsible for ordering the construction of a number of ziggurats, including the Great Ziggurat of Ur.^[12] It has been suggested, based on a much later literary composition, that he was killed in battle after he had been abandoned by his army.^[7] He was succeeded by his son Shulgi.^[4] One known daughter, Ama-barag, married a local man. The other known daughter was consecrated as the en-priestess of Nanna in Ur, taking the clerical name En-nir-gal-an-na (En-nirgal-ana). ^[13] Two inscriptions found in Ur read:

" For the goddess Ningal, his [la]dy, or the [li]fe of Ur-Nammu, [m]ighty [man], king] of the lands of Sumer and Akkad, her father, En-nirgal-ana, [e]n of the god Nanna, dedicated (this object) to her"^[8]

 

A later Sumerian literary composition known variously as "The Coronation of Ur-Nammu" and "Ur-Namma D" lists canals built by Ur-Nammu.^[14] It is known in three Old Babylonian Period recensions, from Nippur, Ur, and of an unknown provenance. There are a number of known Sumerian literary compositions about Ur-Namma, labeled from A to H.^[15][16] The other important later Sumerian literary work is the "Death of Ur-Nammu" (Ur-Namma A), variously described as a "hymn', "lamentation" or "wisdom".^[17] It describes the death, funeral, and passge through the underworld of Ur-Nammu. It is known from about 9 damaged tablets and fragments, held in various museums, which together allow restoration of much of the text. The description of Ur-Nammu's death is damaged, vague, and metaphoric, which has not stopped later scholars from interpreting it to say Ur-Nammu died in battle at the hands of his own troops.^[18][19][20]

Ur-Nammu is notable for having been one of the few Mesopotamian kings of the third millennium BC who was not deified after his death.^[13] This is testified by the posthumous Sumerian literature which never includes the divine determinative before Ur-Nammu's name (this can be seen on the transliterations for the texts on ETCSL), the themes of divine abandonment in "The Death of Ur-Nammu", and the fact that Shulgi promoted his lineage to members of the legendary Uruk dynasty as opposed to Ur-Nammu.^[21] While some translations of Sumerian texts had included the divine determinative before Ur-Nammu's name^[4] more recent evidence indicates this was a mistaken addition.^[21] Despite this, the belief that the king was deified after death has been expressed just as recently, demonstrating a lack of certainty on this issue (though these were written during the same year as the new interpretations of the evidence and thus could not refer to them).^[22] Sharlach has more recently noted that favour for Ur-Nammu not having been deified has been accepted by many scholars.^[13]

Whatever the current state of the deification debate, Ur-Nammu was clearly worshiped after his death. The palace at Tummal included funerary chapels for Ur-Nammu (e Tum-ma-al Ur-^dNamma) and his wife. His wife is known to have been named SI . A.tum, read as Watartum.^[23] Building materials came from as far away as Babylon, Kutha, and Adab.^[24] The ki-a-nag, or funerary offerings for Ur III ruler Ur-Nammu were carried out at Tummal. As his grave was not found in Ur this has sparked speculation he was buried in Tummal.^[25][26]

Almost all of the year names of Ur-Nammu are known, documenting the major events of his reign.^[27][28] The main year names are:

• "Year Ur-Nammu (became) king"
• "Year Ur-Nammu made justice in the land"
• "Year in which the city wall of Ur was built"
• "Year in which the temple of Nanna was built"
• "Year Gutium was destroyed"
• "Year in which the temple of Enlil was built"
• "Year in which the canal 'en-erin-nun' was dug"
• "Year in which the temple of Ninsun in Ur was built"
• "Year in which the god Lugal-bagara was brought into his temple"^[29]

 

A portion of the stela fragments were found during excavations at Ur in the 1920s, primarily in 1925, by Leonard Woolley under the auspices of the Joint Expedition of The University Museum and The British Museum in the temple precinct of Nanna.

But our main discovery was made in the courtyard of E-dublal-mah and in the gate-chamber leading to it, Here there were scattered over the pavement quantities of limestone fragments, large and small, which proved to be parts of one, or possibly two, huge stelae measuring five feet across and perhaps fifteen feet high, covered on both sides with finely executed reliefs. On some pieces the stone is astonishingly well preserved, on others its surface has suffered greatly by flaking and the action of salts; the reliefs had been intentionally smashed, and the fragments scattered all over the site [...].

— Leonard Woolley^[30]

 

The first publisher of the stela called it the "Stela of the Flying Angels".^[31] Most fragments were found near the base.^[32] Some fragments had been moved and used for other purposes, including door sockets, and found on the Kassite period (c. 1595-1155 BC) levels, over half a millennium later. One side was noticeably better preserved than the other. One large fragment was recovered in the 1932-1933 season.^[33] As a few fragments were found in the level from fall of the Ur III Empire the excavator indicated that the stela had been shattered at the end of the reign of the final Ur III ruler Ibbi-Sin (c. 2028–2004 BC) and the pieces later used as convenient construction material by the Kassites.^[34]

 

The limestone slab measures 3 meters high and 1.52 meters across, assuming it has been re-assembled properly. The stela fragments have been assembled several times, beginning in 1927, each time differently. The underlying basis for re-assembly is 1) one face is noticeably better preserved, 2) figures on the stela are larger the higher up they are, and 3) the edges of the stela are smooth. It is believed that there were originally five horizontal registers on each side. The identification and meaning of the surviving scenes has been much debated. When the stela was disassembled in 1989 for study mineralogical analysis showed that several fragments did not in fact belong to the stela.^[35] At the same time more fragments then in storage were identified as belonging to the stela of Ur-Nammu. This brought the fragment total to 106 including one fragment held at the British Museum (two others there are suspected as also belonging to the Ur-Nammu stela). This stela and the Utuhegal Stela were excavated at the same time and the finds divided between the sponsors. The issue of what fragments belong to this stela is still open.^[36] It is currently held at the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.^{[37][38][39][40]}

• Nammu: the god Ur-Nammu was named after
• List of Mesopotamian dynasties

• Canby, Jeanny Vorys (1987). "A Monumental Puzzle - Reconstructing the Ur-Nammu Stela" (PDF). Expedition. 29 (1): 54–64.
• Canby, Jeanny Vorys (2004). "More on the 'Ur-Nammu' Stela". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 124 (2): 323–324. doi:10.2307/4132219. JSTOR 4132219.
• Canby, Jeanny Vorys (2001). The "Ur-Nammu" Stela. University Museum Monograph. Vol. 110. The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. ISBN 978-1-931707-89-3.
• Dyson, Robert H. (1977). "Archival Glimpses of the Ur Expedition in the Years 1920 to 1926" (PDF). Expedition. 20 (1): 5–23.
• Frayne, Douglas (1997). "Ur-Nammu E3/2.1.1". Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC). RIM The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia. Vol. 32. University of Toronto Press. pp. 5–90. doi:10.3138/9781442657069. ISBN 9781442657069.
• García Recio, Jesús; Castro Lodeiro, José Antonio; Sánchez Abarrio, José Andrés (2021). "Ur-Nammá en Adab". In Domínguez Monedero, Adolfo J. (ed.). Nomina in aqua scripta. Homenaje a Joaquín María Córdoba Zoilo (in Spanish). pp. 467–486.
• Hallo, William W. (1966). "The Coronation of Ur-Nammu". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 20 (3/4): 133–141. doi:10.2307/1359648. JSTOR 1359648.
• Jacobsen, Thorkild (1939). The Sumerian King List (PDF). Assyriological Studies. Vol. 11. University of Chricago Press.
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (1967). "The Death of Ur-Nammu and His Descent to the Netherworld". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 21: 104–122. doi:10.2307/1359365. ISSN 0022-0256. JSTOR 1359365. S2CID 163757208.
• Kraus, F.R. (1951). "Zur Chronologie der Könige Ur-Nammu und Sulgi von Ur". Orientalia (in German). 20 (4): 385–398. JSTOR 43072988.
• Legrain, Leon (1927). "The Stela of the Flying Angels" (PDF). Museum Journal. 18: 74–98.
• Legrain, Leon (1933). "Restauration de la Stèle d'Ur-Nammu". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (in French). 30 (3): 111–115. JSTOR 23284043.
• Marchesi, Gianni (2013). "Ur-Nammâ (k)'s conquest of Susa". In De Graef, Katrien; Tavernier, Jan (eds.). Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives. Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse. Vol. 58. Brill. pp. 285–291. doi:10.1163/9789004207417. ISBN 978-90-04-20741-7.
• Michalowski, Piotr (2012). "The Mortal Kings of Ur: A Short Century of Divine Rule in Ancient Mesopotamia" (PDF). In Brisch, Nicole (ed.). Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond (PDF). Oriental Institute Seminars. Vol. 4. Chicago: The Oriental Institute. pp. 33–45. ISBN 978-1-885923-55-4.
• Moorey, P. R. S. (1984). "Where Did They Bury the Kings of the IIIrd Dynasty of Ur?". Iraq. 46 (1): 1–18. doi:10.2307/4200207. JSTOR 4200207.
• Reade, Julian E. (2001). "'Stela of Urnammu' fragments in London". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 94 (2): 175–176. doi:10.3917/assy.094.0175.
• Sharlach, T. M. (2017a). "Historical Introduction: The Reigns of Ur-Namma and Shulgi of Ur". An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur. De Gruyter. pp. 3–30. doi:10.1515/9781501505263. ISBN 978-1-5015-0526-3.
• Sharlach, T. M. (2017b). "The Death of Shulgi and his Wives". An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur. De Gruyter. pp. 175–188. doi:10.1515/9781501505263. ISBN 978-1-5015-0526-3.
• Sollberger, Edmond (1956). "Sur la chronologie des rois d'Ur et quelques problèmes connexes". Archiv für Orientforschung (in French). 17: 10–14. JSTOR 41624486.
• Sollberger, Edmond; Brinkman, J. A. (1967). "Ladies of the Ur-III Empire". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 61 (1): 69–70. JSTOR 23283400.
• Steinkeller, Piotr (2013a). "Puzur-Inšušinak at Susa: A Pivotal Episode of Early Elamite History Reconsidered". In De Graef, Katrien; Tavernier, Jan (eds.). Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives. Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse. Vol. 58. pp. 298–299. doi:10.1163/9789004207417. ISBN 978-90-04-20741-7.
• Steinkeller, Piotr (2013b). "Corvée Labor in Ur III Times". In Garfinkle, Steven J.; Molina, Manuel (eds.). From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D. Penn State University Press. pp. 347–424. doi:10.5325/j.ctv1bxgxr7. ISBN 978-1-57506-296-9.
• Suter, Claudia E. (2005). "Review of Canby, Jeanny Vorys, "The" Ur-Nammu" Stela"". American Journal of Archaeology. 109 (2): 301–303. doi:10.1086/AJS40024523. JSTOR 40024523.
• Tinney, Steve (1999). "Ur-Namma the Canal-Digger: Context, Continuity and Change in Sumerian Literature". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 51: 31–54. doi:10.2307/1359728. JSTOR 1359728.
• Winter, Irene (2003). "Review of Canby, Jeanny Vorys, "The 'Ur-Nammu' Stela"". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 123 (2): 402–406. doi:10.2307/3217699. JSTOR 3217699.
• Winter, Irene (2008). "Touched by the Gods: Visual Evidence for the Divine Status of Rulers in the Ancient Near East". In Brisch, Nicole (ed.). Religion and Power: Divine Kingship in the Ancient World and Beyond (PDF). Oriental Institute Seminars. Vol. 4. p. 75-101.
• Woolley, Leonard (1925). "The Excavations at Ur, 1923–1924". Antiquaries Journal. 5: 1–20. doi:10.1017/S0003581500015249.
• Woolley, Leonard (1974). The Buildings of the Third Dynasty. Ur Excavations. Vol. VI. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0686177722.

• Badamchi, Hossein (2017). "Usurpation of Agricultural Land and Codex Ur-Namma, 39". Akkadica. 138 (2): 81–188.
• Civil, Miguel (1985). "On Some Texts Mentioning Ur-Namma". Orientalia. 54 (1/2): 27–45. JSTOR 43075307.
• Finkelstein, Jacob J. (1968). "The Laws of Ur-Nammu". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 22 (3–4): 66–82. doi:10.2307/1359121. JSTOR 1359121.
• Gurney, Oliver R. (1982). "A Gate Socket of Ur-Nammu". Iraq. 44 (2): 143–144. doi:10.2307/4200160. JSTOR 4200160.
• Jordan, Julius (1932). "Die beiden Tieftempel mit den Aufgängen zur Eanna-Zikurrat aus der Zeit nach Urnammu". Dritter vorläufiger Bericht über die von der Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft in Uruk unternommenen Ausgrabungen (in German). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. pp. 31–35. doi:10.1515/9783112519349. ISBN 978-3-11-251934-9.
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (1954). "Ur-Nammu Law Code". Orientalia. 23 (1): 40–51. JSTOR 43073169.
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (1983). "The Ur-Nammu Law Code: Who Was Its Author?". Orientalia. 52 (4): 453–456. JSTOR 43075250.
• Szlechter, Émile (1953). "A propos du Code d'Ur-Nammu". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (in French). 47 (1): 1–10. JSTOR 23295406.
• Szlechter, Émile (1955). "Le Code d'Ur-nammu". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (in French). 49 (4): 169–77. JSTOR 23295601.
• Yaron, Reuven (1985). "Quelques remarques sur les nouveaux fragments des Lois d'Ur-Nammu". Revue Historique de Droit Français et Étranger (1922-) (in French). 63 (2): 131–142. JSTOR 43848790.
• Yildiz, Fatma (1981). "A Tablet of Codex Ur-Nammu from Sippar". Orientalia. 50 (1): 87–97. JSTOR 43075013.
• [2]Zettler, Richard L., "Archaeology and the problem of textual evidence for the Third Dynasty of Ur", Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 38, pp. 49-62, 2003

 

Wikiquote has quotations related to Ur-Nammu.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ur-Nammu.

• Site drawings of the temple built by Ur-Nammu at Ur to the moon god Nanna.
• Nabonidus dedication to the Ziggurat
• Foundation Figurine of King Ur-Nammu at the Oriental Institute of Chicago
• A brief description of the reign of Ur-Namma.
• I am Ur-Namma. The life and death of Ur-Namma, as told in Babylonian literature.