UR CITY

Location : -

Ur, modern Tall al-Muqayyar or Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq, important city of ancient southern
Mesopotamia (Sumer), situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about
10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. Although Ur was once a coastal city
near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now
well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates, 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from Nasiriyah in modern-
day Iraq. the city is named after the man who founded the first settlement there, Ur, though this has
been disputed

Intro -

Ur city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, Ur was a highly centralized, wealthy, bureaucratic
state during the third millennium BCE. As with other great urban complexes in the region, the city
began as a small village which was most likely led by a priest or priest-king. The king of the First
Dynasty, Mesannepadda, The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in
written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC,

Founded: 3800 BC

Age: About 5,820 years

Excavation dates: 1853–1854, 1922–1934

Location: "Tell" el-Muqayyar, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq

Area: 71 ha (0.27 sq mi)

Date dissolved: 500 BC

Periods - Ubaid period to Iron Age

Cultures Sumerian

Foundation of the city-

At some time in the 4th millennium BCE, the city was founded by settlers thought to have been from
northern Mesopotamia, farmers still in the Chalcolithic phase of culture. There is evidence that their
occupation was ended by a flood, formerly thought to be the one described in Genesis.

Prehistory-

When Ur was founded, the Persian Gulf's water level was two-and-a-half metres higher than today.
Ur is therefore thought to have had marshy surroundings; irrigation would have been unnecessary,
and the city's evident canal system was likely used for transportation. Fish, birds, tubers, and reeds
might have supported Ur economically without the need for an agricultural revolution sometimes
hypothesized as a prerequisite to urbanization.

Music-

Excavation in the old city of Ur in 1929 revealed lyres, instruments similar to the modern harp but in
the shape of a bull and with eleven strings.
RELIGION-

Sumerian religion was the religion practiced and adhered to by the people. Sumerian religion heavily
influenced the religious beliefs of later Mesopotamian peoples; elements of it are retained in the
mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other Middle
Eastern culture groups.

Social classes -

Ur had three social classes. The richer, like government officials, priests, and soldiers, were at the
top. The second level was for merchants, teachers, laborers, farmers and craftmakers. The bottom
were for slaves captured in battle.

Planning-

The cities were closed by a wall and surrounded by suburban villages and hamlets.

The two monumental centers were the Ziggurat complex with its own defensive wall, overseen by a
powerful priesthood, and Palace of the king.

Lessertemples were sprinkled here and there within the rest of the urban fabric, which was a
promiscuous blend of residential and commercial architecture.

Small shops were at times incorporated into the houses.

In the later Sumerian period at Ur, an example of a bazaar was found.

The city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, was apparently divided into neighbourhoods,
with merchants living in one quarter, artisans in another. There were streets both wide and narrow,
and open spaces for gatherings. Many structures for water resource management and flood control
are in evidence. Ur was surrounded by sloping ramparts 8 metres high and about 25 metres wide,
bordered in some places by a brick wall. Elsewhere, buildings were integrated into the ramparts. The
Euphrates River complemented these fortifications on the city's western side.

Residence-

The houses were, for the most part, one-storey structures of mud-brick, with several rooms wrapped
around a central court. There were usually no outside windows, no attempt to contribute to a street
architecture. The wealthier classes of Ur lived in ample hoses of dozen or so rooms, arranged on two
storeys, and whitewashed inside and out.

Materials - Houses were constructed from mudbricks and mud plaster. In major buildings, the
masonry was strengthened with bitumen and reeds. For the most part, foundations are all that
remain today.

Society and culture- It is thought that Ur had a stratified social system including slaves (captured
foreigners), farmers, artisans, doctors, scribes, and priests. High-ranking priests apparently enjoyed
great luxury and splendid mansions.
Tens of thousands of cuneiform texts have been recovered from temples, the palace, and individual
houses, recording contracts, inventories, and court documents, evidence of the city's complex
economic and legal systems.

Custom followed - People were often buried (separately and alone; sometimes with jewellery, pots,
and weapons) in chambers or shafts beneath the house floors.

TEMPLES –

In the Sumerian city-states, temple complexes originally were small, elevated one-room structures.
In the early dynastic period, temples developed raised terraces and multiple rooms. Toward the end
of the Sumerian civilization, ziggurats became the preferred temple structure for Mesopotamian
religious centers. Temples served as cultural, religious, and political headquarters until
approximately 2500 BC, with the rise of military kings known as Lu-gals after which time the political
and military leadership was often housed in separate "palace" complexes.

The Ziggurat Of Ur-

The ziggurat was built by King Ur-Nammu, this is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur
near Nasiriyah, in present-day Dhi Qar Province, Iraq. The structure was built during the Early Bronze
Age (21st century BC) but had crumbled to ruins by the 6th century BC of the Neo-Babylonian
period, The massive step pyramid measured 64 m (210 ft) in length, 45 m (148 ft) in width and over
30 m (98 ft) in height. The height is speculative, as only the foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat
have survived.

The ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city,
and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur.

There were two ways in which this temple differed from others in the city. It stood on a tremendous
platform called the ziggurat, and being free of the pressures of density in its ample precinct, its form
could afford to be both regular and open

GOD - The moon god was the tutelary deity of the city of Ur. His reach and importance, however,
was far greater than just a city god, the moon god is clearly one of the most important deities in the
wider pantheon of Mesopotamia.

Language - The people of Ur were Sumerian speakers for much of the city-state's history,