The Régime of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris:

Cunningham, Brysson

doi:10.1038/142373a0

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…If we take the text literally, this indicates that the grains were ripe, further suggesting that the attack against Lagash occurred in spring, when the Tigris and Euphrates water levels are at their highest and crops most vulnerable (Charles 1988). Recalling Falkenstein from above, this is precisely the time of year that levee and bank failures occur often in lowland Iraq, resulting in expansive and violent flooding throughout the country (Ionides 1937;Morozova 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Flooding of Lagash: Evidence for Urban Destruction under Lugalzagesi, the King of Uruk

Goodman,

Giosan,

Shen

et al. 2024

Preprint

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New research at Tell al-Hiba, ancient Lagash, has uncovered evidence of extensive flooding and sitewide destruction in the latter half of the third millennium BC. Specifically, we characterize and date a prominent water-formed feature that crosses the heart of Lagash’s former temple district. Geoarchaeological trenching and geophysical prospection indicate that the feature, consisting of a series of meander point and counterpoint bars, intercepted and overlies late Early Dynastic cultural materials, suggesting that upstream river avulsion resulted in the rapid and energetic fluvial sedimentation. Based on the site’s broader geomorphological context, this process would have played out widely across the city’s hinterland, leaving lasting consequences, including spatially extensive soil salinization and waterlogging. Additional archaeological, radiometric, and historical data allow us further to propose that this flooding likely developed during or shortly after Lagash was attacked by Lugalzagesi, a king of Uruk. In combination with the site’s surface ceramic record, our evidence indicates that much of the city’s population left in direct response. Ultimately, this work provides evidence of urban environmental devastation through warfare at an early period in time, and it also contributes to the chronometry of 3rdmillennium dynastic history in Mesopotamia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%