For the Gods of Girsu: City-State Formation in Ancient Sumer

Rey, Sebastien De

doi:10.2307/j.ctvxrq02j

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…Pioneering explorations at Girsu in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries led to the discovery of the Sumerians and brought to light some of the most important monuments of Sumerian art and architecture. Excavations carried out between 1877 and 1933 and the decipherment of the cuneiform tablets from the site were ground breaking because they revealed the principal catalysts for the "Sumerian takeoff "-a multiplicity of major innovations including the appearance of a bounded city and countryside continuum, the emergence of literacy, bronze manufacture, and the development of monumental art and sacred architecture (Rey 2016).…”

Section: Girsu: Home Of the Thunderbirdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the great treasures of archaic art from Girsu are the Stele of the Vultures (or victory stele of Eanatum of Lagash), the first historiographical document relating the conflict between the rival city-states of Lagash and Umma (Finkel and Rey 2018), the Ur-Nanshe bas-relief celebrating the religious deed of the founder of the dynasty presiding over the rituals of foundation of the state's principal sanctuary (Rey 2016), and the votive stone plaque of the ruler Enanatum (fig. 2).…”

Section: Sébastien Reymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2). Spectacular remains of Early Dynastic Girsu (3000-2350 BCE) were exposed, including the great temple complex dedicated to the tutelary god Ningirsu (Eninnu), the sacred enclosure or temenos wall of the sacred precinct (Urukug), and temple annexes such as storerooms for votive artifacts and kitchens for the processing of divine offerings (Rey 2016). Most of the Presargonic cuneiform tablets from Girsu belonged to the managerial household of the last queens of Lagash in the reigns of Enentarzi, Lugal-Anda, and Urukagina (2450-2350 BCE).…”

Section: Sébastien Reymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By 2500 BCE a patchwork of independent city-states developed across the floodplain, each surrounded by an agricultural hinterland (Glassner 2000: 35-53;Westenholz 2002: 23-42;Rey 2016). Writing was invented in response to the growing administrative needs of urban communities.…”

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Divine Cults in the Sacred Precinct of Girsu

Rey¹

2021

Near Eastern Archaeology

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Section: Girsu: Home Of the Thunderbirdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sébastien Reymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sébastien Reymentioning

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Divine Cults in the Sacred Precinct of Girsu

Rey¹

2021

Near Eastern Archaeology

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“…Field systems and their control were critical to an agricultural-based economy. In the 25th century BCE, history's first recorded water conflict, between the cities and states of Lagash and Umma, revolved around a dispute related to different areas that also included irrigated lands and canals the states used (Foster, 1984;Rey, 2016). Perhaps such conflicts already had their origin by the fourth millennium BCE, as towns and population grew.…”

Section: The Uruk Phenomenon and Urbanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southern Mesopotamia: Water and the rise of urbanism

Altaweel

2019

WIREs Water

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The region of southern Mesopotamia, in modern southern Iraq, was home to perhaps the world's oldest cities and complex societies. Such cities and towns developed closely to irrigation works and other water features, with major settlements developed along levees and so-called turtle backs made up of natural accumulation and human-made debris. While water was a critical component to the rise of cities, it was also the unique evolution of societies to their complex landscape, including the development of different social practices that made the region develop early cities. By-products of these social developments included religious institutions and inequality but also the rise of governments, written language, laws, and other forms of social development we associate with our own societies. Recent work in southern Iraq demonstrates that the region was likely occupied much earlier than we thought; new climate data and other work will mean our picture on how the environment shaped the development of urban-based societies in southern Mesopotamia will evolve in the coming years. New fieldwork, including surveys and excavations, will also shape a new understanding of how urbanism arose in this complex landscape.

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Development of water management strategies in southern Mesopotamia during the fourth and third millennium B.C.E.

Mantellini,

Picotti,

Al‐Hussainy

et al. 2024

Geoarchaeology

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The last two decades witnessed increasing scholarly interest in the history of water management in southern Mesopotamia. Thanks to many geoarchaeological research projects conducted throughout the central and southern Iraqi floodplains, a general understanding of the macrophases of anthropogenic manipulation of this vast hydraulic landscape has been achieved. However, current narratives mostly rely on studies at a regional scale and are based on excessively long chronological phases (often spanning a whole millennium). A finer‐tuned analysis at a submillennial scale is needed to better appreciate the dynamics that led to the development of artificial canals and irrigation systems and the creation of harbours in cities and other navigation‐related facilities. The Iraqi‐Italian QADIS project is addressing this issue through a systematic geoarchaeological investigation in the south‐eastern area of the Qadisiyah province. We aim to update the current narrative by analysing case studies involving specific periods of occupation. We performed 17 boreholes to propose a date on the functioning period of the hydraulic works in five selected archaeological sites of this region. This approach allowed us to understand changes in water management strategies in both the short and the medium term (i.e., on a scale of centuries). In this paper, we present the results for the fourth and third millennia B.C.E. This period witnessed a crucial passage from the basic exploitation of natural watercourses for irrigation and occasional navigation to the emergence of the first system of artificial canals and intraurban harbours.

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For the Gods of Girsu: City-State Formation in Ancient Sumer

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Divine Cults in the Sacred Precinct of Girsu

Divine Cults in the Sacred Precinct of Girsu

Southern Mesopotamia: Water and the rise of urbanism

Development of water management strategies in southern Mesopotamia during the fourth and third millennium B.C.E.

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