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184-503: The oldest attestations of the worship of Nanshe come from the Uruk period . Her cult center was Tell Zurghul , known in antiquity as Nina. Another place associated with her, Sirara , was likely a sacred distrinct in this city. She was also worshiped elsewhere in the state of Lagash . Sanctuaries dedicated to her existed in its eponymous capital, as well as in Girsu , Gu'abba and other settlements. She

368-664: A drain by Ernest de Sarzec under the Eninnu temple complex at Telloh , the ancient ruins of the Sumerian holy city of Girsu , during the first season of excavations in 1877. They were found next to a building known as the Agaren , where a brick pillar (pictured) was found containing an inscription describing its construction by Gudea within Eninnu during the Second Dynasty of Lagash. The Agaren

552-433: A messenger . After a scene of sacred marriage between Ningirsu and Bau, a seven-day celebration is given by Gudea for Ningirsu with a banquet dedicated to Anu , Enlil and Ninmah ( Ninhursag ), the major gods of Sumer, who are all in attendance. The text closes with lines of praise for Ningirsu and the Eninnu temple. The modern name for the myth contained on both cylinders is "The building of Ningirsu's temple". Ningirsu

736-461: A 'periphery', and with an interest in how they related to the 'centre', the site of Uruk. Subsequently, theories and knowledge have developed to the point of general models, drawing on parallels from other places and periods, which has posed some problems in terms of getting the models and parallels to fit the facts revealed by excavations. The main issue here is how to interpret the word ‘expansion’. Nobody really doubts that, for many centuries, there

920-405: A brick mold and carrying basket, in front of Gudea – while a donkey gestured impatiently with its hoof. After waking, Gudea could not understand the dream so traveled to visit the goddess Nanse by canal for interpretation of the oracle. Gudea stops at several shrines on the route to make offerings to various other deities. Nanse explains that the giant man is her brother Ningirsu, and the woman with

1104-457: A building with a labyrinthine plan, called the 'Stone building', was built. The function of these buildings, which are unparalleled in their size and the fact that they are gathered in monumental groups, is debated. The excavators of the site wanted to see them as 'temples', influenced by the fact that in the historic period, the Eanna was the area dedicated to the goddess Inanna and the other sector

1288-461: A central court, with a large structure to the north which might be a public building. The material culture has some traits which are shared with that of Late Uruk and Susa II. Level V of Godin Tepe could be interpreted as an establishment of merchants from Susa and/or lower Mesopotamia, interested in the location of the site on commercial routes, especially those linked to the tin and lapis lazuli mines on

1472-421: A commemoration of the full moon . She also regularly received animal sacrifices, chiefly ewes , considered to be particularly valuable. While Nanshe is one of the best attested deities in the corpus of Sealand texts next to Ishtar , Ninurta , Shamash and Sin , it is not known if the available documents are entirely representative. Despite appearing frequently in offering lists, she is presently only known from

1656-471: A day in the distant past when destinies were determined with Enlil , the highest god in the Sumerian pantheon, in session with the Divine Council and looking with admiration at his son Ningirsu (another name for Ninurta ) and his city, Lagash. Upon the day for making of decisions in matters of the world, Lagash in great office raised the head, and Enlil looked at Lord Ningirsu truly, was moved to have

1840-630: A deity named Nazit, who occurs in a text from Susa attributed to the Elamite king Untash-Napirisha , a contemporary of the Kassite king Burna-Buriash II (reigned 1359-1355 BCE according to middle chronology ). It has been suggested that people from Nina might have settled in the proximity of Susa in the Old Babylonian period already, as evidenced by the presence of a deity named Nasi in theophoric names. Attested examples include Puzur-Nasi and Puzur-Nasit, with

2024-418: A diameter of 32 cm and B being 56 cm with a diameter of 33 cm. The cylinders were hollow with perforations in the centre for mounting. These were originally found with clay plugs filling the holes, and the cylinders themselves filled with an unknown type of plaster . The clay shells of the cylinders are approximately 2.5 to 3 cm thick. Both cylinders were cracked and in need of restoration and

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2208-406: A goddess sitting on a large bird known from seals from Lagash (and in one case Ur ) can be identified as representations of her. In at least one text, a fish appears to be referred to as an emblem of Nanshe as well. In two hymns, she appears in company of various fish, presumed to be marine or anadromous : the "scepter fish," which she holds like the object it was named after; the "sandal fish;"

2392-523: A hymn of praise to it. Lines 738 to 758 describe the house being finished with " kohl " and a type of plaster from the " edin " canal: The fearsomeness of the E-ninnu covers all the lands like a garment! The house! It is founded by An on refined silver! It is painted with kohl , and comes out as the moonlight with heavenly splendor! The house! Its front is a great mountain firmly grounded! Its inside resounds with incantations and harmonious hymns! Its exterior

2576-461: A level belonging to the Uruk period has been revealed on the tell southeast of the site of Abu Salabikh ('Uruk Mound'), covering only 10 hectares. This site was surrounded by a wall which has been only partially revealed and several buildings have been brought to light, including a platform which supported a building, only traces of which remain. As for the site of Jemdet Nasr , which has given its name to

2760-486: A meaningful presence in the Sealand texts. It is possible the Sealand state controlled her old cult center Nina, but most likely the former Lagashite territories were neither the core area of the kingdom nor the point of origin of its ruling house. Nanshe's cult was nonetheless sponsored by the kings themselves, and she presumably belonged to the state pantheon. She received offerings referred to as nindabû , which might have been

2944-749: A more reliable absolute chronology. The traditional chronology is very imprecise and is based on some key sondages in the Eanna quarter at Uruk. The most ancient levels of these sondages (XIX–XIII) belong to the end of the Ubaid period (Ubaid V, 4200–3900 or 3700 BC); pottery characteristic of the Uruk period begins to appear in levels XIV/XIII. The Uruk period is traditionally divided into many phases. The first two are "Old Uruk" (levels XII–IX), then "Middle Uruk" (VIII–VI). These first two phases are poorly known, and their chronological limits are poorly defined; many different chronological systems are found in scholarship. From

3128-490: A period of expansion (Middle Uruk), with a peak during which the characteristic traits of the 'Uruk civilization' are definitively established (Late Uruk), and then a retreat of Urukian influence and increase in cultural diversity in the Near East along with a decline of the 'centre'. Some researchers have attempted to explain this final stage as the arrival of new populations of Semitic origin (the future Akkadians ), but there

3312-515: A platform which might have been an altar and is decorated with gold leaf, lapis lazuli, silver nails, and white marble in a central T-shaped room. The most remarkable find are over two hundred "eye figurines" which give the building its name. These figurines have enormous eyes and are definitely votive deposits. Tell Brak has also produced evidence of writing: a numeric tablet and two pictographic tablets showing some unique features in comparison to those of southern Mesopotamia, which indicates that there

3496-538: A possible emesal spelling. In the Nippur god list, the traditional spelling and na-zi are juxtaposed as two orthographies of a single theonym . Further syllabic spellings are also known, for example na-áš , na-an-še and na-aš-še . The last of them occurs in the Old Babylonian lexical list " Diri Nippur ." It is possible that šar-ra-at-ni-na , "queen of Nina", was an alternate name of Nanshe. However, this name

3680-455: A praise formula addressed to Nanshe. As of 2004, Nanshe and the Birds was only known from six fragmentary tablets. Five of them come from Nippur , while the sixth is unprovenanced . However, the figures around whom the plot revolves belong to the tradition of Lagash . It is presumed that the composition belonged to the curriculum of Old Babylonian scribal schools. The composition The Home of

3864-565: A prayer to the Anunnaki. Gudea then announces the house ready for the accommodation of Ningirsu and his wife Bau. Food and drink are prepared, incense is lit and a ceremony is organized to welcome the gods into their home. The city is then judged again and a number of deities are appointed by Enki to fill various positions within the structure. These include a gatekeeper , bailiff , butler , chamberlain , coachman , goatherd , gamekeeper , grain and fisheries inspectors, musicians, armourers and

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4048-503: A result of their shared association with water. Another deity she could be paired with was Nammu . According to Wolfgang Heimpel, they appear together commonly in sources postdating the Ur III period. The incantation Gattung II groups Nanshe with both Nammu and Ningirima and, if the restoration of the text is correct, refers to her as the "prime daughter of Enki" ( dumu-munus sag en-ki-ga-ke 4 ) while similar text, Gattung III , places her in

4232-453: A single theophoric name, Uk-ku-lu-Na-zi , the first element of which might be Akkadian and mean "exceedingly dark [is]" or less plausibly Elamite, in which case the translation "grandiose" has been proposed. A single theophoric name invoking Nanshe is attested in the corpus of texts from Nippur from the Kassite period . According to Wouter Henkelman, it is possible she can also be identified with

4416-511: A solid model remains difficult to demonstrate while the Uruk civilization remains poorly known in Lower Mesopotamia aside from the two monumental complexes that have been excavated at Uruk itself. We are therefore poorly placed to evaluate the impact of the development of southern Mesopotamia, since we have almost no archaeological evidence about it. Moreover, the chronology of this period is far from established, which makes it difficult to date

4600-488: A variety of roles and presumed iconographic attributes are attested for her in primary sources. Nanshe was associated with water. Wolfgang Heimpel argues she was believed to reside in the open sea , and points out individual texts allude to her playing with the waves and sea foam , or being born on the waterfront. However, the term ab , "sea", was also used to refer to marshlands in Sumerian and Nanshe has been described as

4784-462: A vast delta , a flat region transected by waterways, resulting in a potentially vast area of cultivable land, over which communications by river or land were easy. It may also have become a highly populated and urbanised region in the 4th millennium BC, with a social hierarchy, artisanal activities, and long-distance commerce. It has been the focus of archaeological investigation led by Robert McCormick Adams Jr. , whose work has been very important for

4968-475: A vast zone of influence, covering the whole Near East, regions which were not all really part of the Uruk culture, which was strictly-speaking limited to Lower Mesopotamia. The relations of some areas with the Uruk culture are very unclear, such as the little-known cultures of the Persian Gulf in this period, and Egypt whose exact relations with the Uruk culture were distant and are the object of debate, as well as

5152-424: A very rich iconography, uniquely emphasising scenes of everyday life, although there is also some kind of local potentate which P. Amiet sees as a 'proto-royal figure,' preceding the 'priest-kings' of Late Uruk. These cylinder seals, as well as bullae and clay tokens, indicate the rise of administration and of accounting techniques at Susa during the second half of the 4th millennium BC. Susa has also yielded some of

5336-411: A wall mosaic were found. A little to the south is Kurban Höyük, where clay cones and pottery characteristic of Uruk have also been found in tripartite buildings. Further to the north, the site of Arslantepe , located in the suburbs of Malatya , is the most remarkable site of the period in eastern Anatolia. It has been excavated by M. Frangipane. During the first half of the 4th millennium BC, this site

5520-461: A weak or non-existent Urukian influence, as well as others where contacts are more or less strong without supplanting the local culture. The case of Susiana and the Iranian plateau, which is generally studied by different scholars from those who work on Syrian and Anatolian sites, has led to some attempted explanations based on local developments, notably the development of the proto-Elamite culture, which

5704-531: Is Habuba Kabira , a fortified port on the right bank of the river in Syria. The city covered around 22 hectares, surrounded by a defensive wall, roughly 10 percent of which has been uncovered. Study of the buildings on this site shows that it was a planned settlement, which would have required significant means. The archaeological material from the site is identical to that of Uruk, consisting of pottery, cylinder-seals, bullae, accounting calculi , and numerical tablets from

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5888-499: Is Level IV of Eanna), the appearance of state institutions, and the expansion of the Uruk civilization throughout the whole Near East. This phase of "Late Uruk" is followed by another phase (level III of Eanna) in which the Uruk civilization declined and a number of distinct local cultures developed throughout the Near East. This is generally known as the Jemdet Nasr period , after the archaeological site of that name. Its exact nature

6072-601: Is also attested in a number of other cities in other parts of Mesopotamia, including Adab , Nippur , Umma , Ur and Uruk , but her importance in their local pantheons was comparatively smaller. Her cult declined after the Ur III period . She was later adopted as a dynastic tutelary deity by the kings of the Sealand , and also came to be worshiped in the Esagil temple complex in Babylon . She

6256-577: Is also known, and was located either in Lagash or in Girsu . In the latter city she was also worshiped in the Šešgarra (or Ešešegarra, "house established by the brother"), which was built by Ur-Nanshe. She also had a shrine in the Eninnu , in which she was worshiped alongside Shul-utula . It bore the ceremonial name Emaḫ, which can be translated as "exalted house", and is also attested as the designation of various other houses of worship in Mesopotamia, for example

6440-472: Is apparently an object of Inanna 's jealousy. She is mentioned in the latter goddess's complaint about not being assigned a specific position, unlike her divine peers. The domain assigned to Nanshe is the open sea, and the text also states that she was capable of saving people from drowning. Nanshe appears in the composition preserved on the Gudea cylinders . It is a hymn commemorating the reconstruction of Eninnu ,

6624-561: Is especially weak. In Egypt, Urukian influence seems to be limited to a few objects which were seen as prestigious or exotic (most notably the knife of Jebel el-Arak), chosen by the elite at a moment when they needed to assert their power in a developing state. It might be added that an interpretation of the relations of this period as centre/periphery interaction, although often relevant in period, risks prejudicing researchers to see decisions in an asymmetric or diffusionist fashion, and this needs to be nuanced. Thus, it increasingly appears that

6808-401: Is highly debated, and it is difficult to clearly distinguish its traits from those of the Uruk culture, so some scholars refer to it as the "Final Uruk" period instead. It lasted from around 3000 to 2950 BC. In 2001, a new chronology was proposed by the members of a colloquium at Santa Fe , based on recent excavations, especially at sites outside Mesopotamia. They consider the Uruk period to be

6992-496: Is known about its religious life. Nanshe continued to be worshiped in Ur, and appears in a handful of religious texts from Nippur as well. In the former of these two cities, she received offerings alongside Ningal in the Isin-Larsa period . It is also possible that while sparsely attested in official documents, she was a popular object of personal devotion there. At some point Nanshe became

7176-540: Is no agreement on the archaeological evidence for a migration, or on whether the earliest form of writing already reflects a specific language. Some argue that it is actually Sumerian, in which case the Sumerians would have been its inventors and would have already been present in the region in the final centuries of the 4th millennium at the latest (which seems to be the most widely accepted position). Whether other ethnic groups were also present, especially Semitic ancestors of

7360-673: Is no conclusive proof of this. In Lower Mesopotamia, the researchers identify this as the Jemdet Nasr period, which sees a shift to more concentrated habitation, undoubtedly accompanied by a reorganisation of power; in southwestern Iran , it is the Proto-Elamite period; Niniveh V in Upper Mesopotamia (which follows the Gawra culture); the "Scarlet Ware" culture in Diyala . In Lower Mesopotamia,

7544-410: Is no single agreed upon translation, and proposals include "white swan ", "sacred seagull ", "holy goose " and "pure cormorant ". In the past it was sometimes assumed this term referred to a part of a ship, perhaps prow or cabin, but this view is no longer accepted today. Various works of art depicting Nanshe in the company of birds presumed to be geese or swans are known. It is also possible images of

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7728-444: Is not certain if it refers to a historical document. The name is written with the traditional logogram in this case, rather than syllabically as Na-zi like in the earlier Sealand texts. Enlil-nādin-apli also mentioned her in a blessing formula alongside Nammu. According to Julia M. Asher-Greve, further attestations of the worship of Nanshe from Babylonia are available from as late as the sixth century BCE. The composition Nanshe and

7912-585: Is not impossible Nanshe was introduced to the pantheon of Nippur as early as in the Early Dynastic period. An offering list from Girsu mentions "Nanshe of Nippur" as the recipient of fruit. A contemporary votive relief dedicated to her is also known from the latter city. Nanshe was also known in Adab , but the evidence is limited to an Early Dynastic literary text, a single offering list and a handful of theophoric names, such as Lu-Nanshe, Me-Nanshe and Ur-Nanshe, all from

8096-487: Is only attested in a list of deities from the Sealand, and an alternative proposal is that it refers to Ishtar of Nineveh , though this proposal is not universally accepted either. Andrew R. George notes that in the Canonical Temple List Sirara , a toponym associated with Nanshe, might have been reinterpreted as an alternate name of her. Nanshe's functions have been described as " heterogeneous ", and

8280-459: Is perhaps the need to control valuable trading networks, and setting up the type of Karum trading posts, which was done during an Old Assyrian period. These types of strategies did not involve the state authorities, as such, but was done by commercial trading houses. Guillermo Algaze adopted the World-systems theory of Immanuel Wallerstein and theories of international trade , elaborating

8464-427: Is poorly known, and it is presumed that he was primarily worshiped due to his association with Nanshe. Their daughter was the goddess Nin-MAR.KI . Walther Sallaberger notes she had much in common with her mother, for example the location of their respective cult centers (Gu'abba and Nina ), the use of birds as symbols of them both in art, and the connection to the sea. He also suggests that the deity Nin- MÙŠ -bad , who

8648-447: Is possible that Ur-Nanshe , who was the founder of the first dynasty of Lagash, the first attested local user of the title lugal , and a devotee of Nanshe, came from a family which originally lived in the proximity of Nina. Nanshe was a central figure in the pantheon of the state of Lagash. According to Wolfgang Heimpel, she was the second main deity locally, with Ningirsu , her and the "great gods of Lagash" constituting what he deems

8832-473: Is sometimes seen as a product of the expansion and sometimes as an adversary. The case of the southern Levant and Egypt is different again and helps to highlight the role of local cultures as receivers of the Uruk culture. In the Levant there was no stratified society with embryonic cities and bureaucracy, and therefore no strong elite to act as local intermediaries of Urukian culture and as a result Urukian influence

9016-613: Is the sky, a great house rising in abundance! Its outer assembly hall is the Anunnaki gods place of rendering judgments – from its ...... words of prayer can be heard! Its food supply is the abundance of the gods! Its standards erected around the house are the Anzu bird (pictured) spreading its wings over the bright mountain! E-ninnu's clay plaster , harmoniously blended clay taken from the Edin canal, has been chosen by Lord Nin-jirsu with his holy heart, and

9200-430: Is the task of his sister Geshtinanna . Gebhard J. Selz presumes that Nanshe's attested association with wisdom also pertains to divinatory arts. It has also been pointed out that the fact that geese were associated with both wisdom and premonition might have influenced her presumed connection to them. Certain administrative tasks, such as weighing and measuring, were also believed to be among Nanshe's responsibilities. She

9384-587: Is written in cuneiform a Sumerian myth called the Building of Ningirsu 's temple . The cylinders were made by Gudea , the ruler of Lagash , and were found in 1877 during excavations at Telloh (ancient Girsu ), Iraq and are now displayed in the Louvre in Paris, France. They are the largest cuneiform cylinders yet discovered and contain the longest known text written in the Sumerian language . The cylinders were found in

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9568-512: The Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie argues that it is possible the term for the goose was kur-gi 16 , and u 5 might refer to the swan instead. Bendt Alster also supported this interpretation. Julia M. Asher-Greve notes that from a comporative perspective it is important to point out that in contrast with swans and geese, cormorants rarely, if ever, appear as symbolic animals in any culture. The text begins with

9752-461: The Akkadian Empire and the Ur III dynasty, typical of inscriptions dating to the 2nd Dynasty of Lagash. Script differences in the shapes of certain signs indicate that the cylinders were written by different scribes . Detailed reproductions of the cylinders were made by Ernest de Sarzec in his excavation reports which are still used in modern times. The first translation and transliteration

9936-489: The Early Dynastic Period begins around the start of the 3rd millennium BC, during which this region again exerts considerable influence over its neighbours. Lower Mesopotamia is the core of the Uruk period culture and the region seems to have been the cultural centre of the time because this is where the principal monuments are found and the most obvious traces of an urban society with state institutions developing in

10120-626: The Iranian Plateau and in Afghanistan . Further east, the key site of Tepe Sialk , near Kashan , shows no clear evidence of links with the Uruk culture in its Level III, but beveled rim bowls are found all the way out to Tepe Ghabristan in the Elbourz and at Mahtoutabad further to the southeast. In this region, the retreat of the Uruk culture resulted in a particular phenomenon, the Proto-Elamite civilization, which seems to have been centred on

10304-459: The Levant , where the influence of southern Mesopotamia remains barely perceptible. But in other areas the Uruk culture is more evident, such as Upper Mesopotamia, northern Syria, western Iran and southeastern Anatolia. They generally experienced an evolution similar to that of lower Mesopotamia, with the development of urban agglomerations and larger political entities and they were strongly influenced by

10488-584: The Mesopotamian pantheon , Nanshe was believed to have various relatives, as well as a divine court. Enki was regarded as her father, while her mother was his wife Damgalnuna . The text inscribed on the Gudea cylinders calls her the "daughter of Eridu ". The myth Enki and the World Order refers to Enlil as her father, but this tradition is only known from this source, and the text still presents Enki as responsible for determining her destiny. Nanshe's brother

10672-517: The Sargonic period . In Umma , during the reign of the Third Dynasty of Ur the local manifestation of the goddess, "Nanshe of Umma", received regular offerings, as attested in administrative texts. She was venerated in Uruk and Ur in the same period too, but only in a limited capacity. In the beginning of the second millennium BCE, the influence of the area of Lagash declined, which also resulted in

10856-582: The Tigris , the site of Nineveh (Tell Kuyunjik, level 4) was located on some major commercial routes and was also within the Urukian sphere of influence. The site covered roughly 40 hectares—the whole area of Tell Kuyunjik. The material remains of the period are very limited, but beveled rim bowls, an accounting bulla, and a numerical tablet characteristic of the Late Uruk period have been found. Nearby, Tepe Gawra , which

11040-462: The Zame Hymns from Early Dynastic Abu Salabikh. It continued to appear in building inscriptions until the time of Gudea , but in the Ur III period it is only mentioned sporadically in theophoric names and names of fields, and later on its occurrences are limited to literary and lexical texts. A temple named Esirara, originally built by Ur-Nanshe, was located in it. Gebhard J. Selz states that it

11224-461: The theophoric names of two Mariote singers, ur-na-zi and ur-na-zi-a , and by the Old Babylonian period came to be used equally commonly in lexical lists . In texts from the Sealand , it is the typical spelling. It is also present in An = Anum and in the myth Enki and Ninhursag . It has been proposed that it reflects a speculative variant form of the name, Nassi. It has also been interpreted as

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11408-559: The "Late Chalcolithic" (LC). Their LC 1 corresponds to the end of the Ubaid period and ends around 4200 BC, with the beginning of LC 2, which is the first phase of the Uruk period. They divide "Old Uruk" into two phases, with the dividing line placed around 4000 BC. Around 3800 BC, LC 3 begins, which corresponds to the "Middle Uruk" phase and continues until around 3400 BC, when it is succeeded by LC 4. It rapidly transitions to LC 5 (Late Uruk), which continues until 3000 BC. Some other chronological proposals have also been put forward, such as by

11592-564: The "dream interpreter of the gods." Niek Veldhuis argues that this role might be only valid for Nanshe understood as the divine mother of the kings of Lagash, as she does not appear as a dream interpreter in other contexts, and female relatives of the protagonist were often responsible for it in Mesopotamian literary works, as attested in the Epic of Gilgamesh , where Ninsun interprets the dreams of her son, or in narratives focused on Dumuzi , where it

11776-405: The "essential pantheon," though he notes a longer sequence places them respectively in the sixth and seventh spot rather than first and second, after Anu , Enlil , Ninhursag , Enki and Suen . It has also been argued that during the reign of Gudea, Bau was hierarchically elevated above her. Nanshe played a role in the royal ideology during the reign of Ur-Nanshe and might have been connected to

11960-452: The "fire fish," which provides light for her in the depths; the bellowing "bull fish;" and the "swallow fish." However, Bendt Alster noted there is no agreement among researchers if all of these names referred to real animals. The myth Enki and the World Order states that she was responsible for providing Enlil with fish as well. Nanshe was also associated with dream interpretation , prophecies and divination . Gudea referred to her as

12144-540: The 'Limestone Temple' of level V, a programme of construction hitherto unparalleled was begun in level IV. Thereafter, the buildings were vastly larger than earlier, some had novel designs and new construction techniques were used for the structure and the decoration. Level IV of the Eanna is divided into two monumental groups: in the west, a complex centred on the 'Temple with mosaics' (decorated with mosaics made of painted clay cones) of level IVB, subsequently covered by another building (the 'Riemchen Building') of level IVA. To

12328-455: The 'round structure'), which may indicate that Tepe Gawra was a regional political centre. However, it declined before the Uruk expansion into Upper Mesopotamia. Several sites have been excavated in the Euphrates valley in the south east of Anatolia, near the region of the Urukian sites of the middle Euphrates. Hacınebi Tepe , near modern Birecik in Şanlıurfa , was excavated by G. Stein and

12512-569: The 5th millennium BC. The date of its first cultivation by man can't be precisely determined: it is commonly supposed that the culture of this tree knew its development during the Late Uruk period, but the texts are not explicit on this matter. This system which progressively developed over two thousand years enabled higher yields, leaving more surplus than previously for workers, whose rations mainly consisted of barley. The human, material, and technical resources were now available for agriculture based on paid labour, although family-based farming remained

12696-540: The ARCANE team (Associated Regional Chronologies for the Ancient Near East). Although the chronology of the Uruk period is full of uncertainties, it is generally agreed to have a rough span of a thousand years covering the period from 4000 to 3000 BC and to be divided into several phases: an initial urbanisation and elaboration of Urukian cultural traits marks the transition from the end of the Ubaid period (Old Uruk), then

12880-523: The Akkadians or one or several 'pre-Sumerian' peoples (neither Sumerian nor Semite and predating both in the region) is also debated and cannot be resolved by excavation. Out of these urban agglomerations, it is Uruk, the period's eponymous site, which was the largest by far, according to our current knowledge, and it is the main one from which the chronological sequence of the period has been constructed. It may have covered 230–500 hectares at its peak during

13064-433: The Birds deals with the connection between the eponymous goddess and the u 5 bird, variously interpreted as a goose , swan , gull , cormorant , or pelican . Niek Veldhuis refers to it as a goose in his edition of the text, and points out that identifying it as a cormorant, pelican or gull is implausible, as the u 5 is described in other sources as a grain-eating bird which can raise its voice. Wolfgang Heimpel in

13248-510: The Fish is assumed to feature Nanshe, though her name only occurs in a restored passage. It is sometimes questioned if the restoration is correct, though Niek Veldhuis argues the composition shows a degree of similarity to Nanshe and the Birds , and points out that a number of animal names and uncommon writings of well attested ones are shared by both texts. Both of them, as well as texts such as Dumuzid 's Sheep (also called Dumuzid-Inanna W ; despite

13432-428: The Late Uruk period, more than the other contemporary large settlements, and it may have had a population of between 25,000 and 50,000 people. The architectural profile of the site consists of two monumental groups located 500 metres apart. The most remarkable constructions are located in the sector called the Eanna (after the temple which was located there in subsequent periods and possibly already at this stage). After

13616-461: The Louvre still holds 12 cylinder fragments, some of which can be used to restore a section of cylinder B. Cylinder A contains thirty columns and cylinder B twenty four. These columns are divided into between sixteen and thirty-five cases per column containing between one and six lines per case. The cuneiform was meant to be read with the cylinders in a horizontal position and is a typical form used between

13800-593: The Middle Euphrates. Tell Sheikh Hassan was located on the left (eastern) bank of the river, and it was founded during the Middle Uruk period. Later, during the earlier part of the Late Uruk period, Jebel Aruda, and Habuba Kabira-South, together with Tell Qanas right next to it, were founded on the opposite bank of the river. Together the last three comprised a much larger urban enclave (about 20–40 ha in extent) compared to Sheikh Hassan. Later, questions arose about

13984-496: The Near East (the dromedary was only domesticated in the 3rd millennium BC, in Arabia ). With its high transport capacity (about double that of a human), it enabled the further development of trade over short and long distances. Pastoralism of animals which had already been domesticated (sheep, horses, cattle) also developed further. Previously these animals had been raised mainly as sources of meat, but they now became more important for

14168-437: The Near East that was the most agriculturally productive, as a result of an irrigation system which developed in the 4th millennium BC and focused on the cultivation of barley (along with the date palm and various other fruits and legumes) and the pasturing of sheep for their wool. Although it lacked mineral resources and was located in an arid area, it had undeniable geographic and environmental advantages: it consisted of

14352-509: The Ur III period. Another title associated with the worship of Nanshe was abgal , "wise person", which is not attested in connection with the cult of any other deities. It has been proposed that the abgal also functioned as the en in early times, but this is uncertain. Other members of the temple personnel included gala clergy, harpists and mourners. Various workmen are also attested in association with them, for example smiths and herdsmen. Theophoric names invoking Nanshe were common in

14536-490: The Uruk period). The second monumental sector was attributed to the god Anu by the excavators of the site, because it was the location of a sanctuary for this god some 3000 years later. It is dominated by a series of temples built on a high terrace after the Ubayd period. The best-preserved of these is the "White Temple" of level IV, which measures 17.5 x 22.3 m and gets its name from white plates that covered its walls. At its base,

14720-490: The Uruk period. These different inventions allowed the progressive development of a new agricultural landscape, characteristic of ancient Lower Mesopotamia. It consisted of long rectangular fields suited for being worked in furrows, each bordered by a little irrigation channel. According to M. Liverani, these replaced the earlier basins irrigated laboriously by hand. As for the date palm , we know from archaeological discoveries that these fruits are consumed in Lower Mesopotamia in

14904-452: The anonymous king who serves as the narrative's protagonist. Uruk period The Uruk period ( c.  4000 to 3100 BC ; also known as Protoliterate period ) existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia , after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period . Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk , this period saw

15088-411: The base unit. All of this undoubtedly led to population increase and thus urbanisation and the development of state structures. The Uruk period also saw important developments in the realm of pastoralism. First of all, it is in this period that the wild onager was finally domesticated as the donkey. It was the first domesticated equid in the region and became the most important beast of burden in

15272-472: The better known cities of southern Mesopotamia, such as Uruk. Egypt-Mesopotamia relations seem to have developed from the 4th millennium BCE, starting in the Uruk period for Mesopotamia and in the pre-literate Gerzean culture for Prehistoric Egypt (circa 3500-3200 BCE). Influences can be seen in the visual arts of Egypt, in imported products, and also in the possible transfer of writing from Mesopotamia to Egypt, and generated "deep-seated" parallels in

15456-406: The capacities of the elites of this period. Uruk is also the site of the most important discoveries of early writing tablets , in levels IV and III, in a context where they had been disposed of, which means that the context in which they were created is not known to us. Uruk III, which corresponds to the Jemdet Nasr period, sees a complete reorganisation of the Eanna quarter, in which the buildings on

15640-425: The court of this god, between Nammu and Ara , a well attested servant deity. A late expository text equates Nammu and Nanshe with Apsu and another figure whose name is not preserved, possibly Tiamat . Wilfred G. Lambert concluded this singular source might be an example of the influence of Enūma Eliš on other theological works, and as such does necessarily represent an independent tradition. He also notes Nammu

15824-416: The culture of the 'centre' in the later part of the period (c. 3400–3200), before a general strengthening of their own regional cultures took place at the turn of the 3rd millennium BC. The interpretation of the expansion of the Uruk culture into neighbouring regions poses numerous problems and many explanatory models (general and regional) have been proposed in order to explain it. The region around Susa in

16008-519: The deities present in this section of the narrative were not chosen based on any theological factors, but due to potential for reinterpreting their names through word play , which in Nanshe's case relies on the fact that zi , the second sign alternate writing of her name, Na-zi , could be used to write the word "throat". Nanshe also appears in Enki and the World Order , where the u 5 bird standing next to her

16192-503: The detriment of its neighbours (notably the region to the north, around Adab and Nippur ) in the final part of the period. The ethnic composition of this region in the Uruk period cannot be determined with certainty. It is connected to the problem of the origins of the Sumerians and the dating of their emergence (if they are considered locals of the region) or their arrival (if they are thought to have migrated) in lower Mesopotamia. There

16376-466: The development of state-societies, such that specialists see fit to label them as 'complex' (in comparison with earlier societies which are said to be 'simple'). Scholarship is therefore interested in this period as a crucial step in the evolution of society—a long and cumulative process whose roots could be seen at the beginning of the Neolithic more than 6000 years earlier and which had picked up steam in

16560-423: The discovery in Syria of the sites at Habuba Kabira (see above) and Jebel Aruda in the 1970s, they were identified as colonies or trading posts of the Uruk civilisation settled far from their own lands. Indeed these two sites, along with the smaller site of Tell Sheikh Hassan , feature no significant preexisting occupation, and are in fact all located in the same geographical area at a significant river ford along

16744-412: The earlier tradition of this state had no bearing on the new dynasty who came to worship Nanshe, or that the latter only controlled a small part of the former Lagashite territory. While the god list An = Anum equates Nanshe's spouse Nindara with Sin , she does not appear in relation with the moon god in this corpus, which according to Odette Boivin indicates this tradition was not related to her role in

16928-417: The early stages of both cultures. On the cusp of prehistory and history, the Uruk period can be considered 'revolutionary' and foundational in many ways. Many of the innovations which it produced were turning points in the history of Mesopotamia and indeed of the world. It is in this period that one sees the general appearance of the potter's wheel , writing, the city, and the state. There is new progress in

17112-407: The east there is a very important group of structures—notably a 'Square Building' and the 'Riemchen Temple Building', which were subsequently replaced by other buildings with original plans, like the 'Hall with Pillars' and the 'Hall with Mosaics', a square 'Grand Court' and two very large buildings with a tripartite plan, 'Temple C' (54 x 22 m) and 'Temple D' (80 x 50 m, the largest building known from

17296-465: The emergence of political structures and administrative states. In the agricultural sphere, several important innovations were made between the end of the Ubayd period and the Uruk period, which have been referred to in total as the 'Second Agricultural Revolution' (the first being the Neolithic Revolution ). A first group of developments took place in the field of cereal cultivation, followed by

17480-486: The emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization . The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries) saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age ; it has also been described as the "Protoliterate period". It was during this period that pottery painting declined as copper started to become popular, along with cylinder seals . The term "Uruk period"

17664-427: The emphasis on this aspect of her character in one of the hymns dedicated to her indicates that it was a fundamental element of her character, rather than just an extension of the typical roles of any tutelary deity of a Mesopotamian city, and points out that a single administrative text lists grain rations for a widow alongside these meant for Nanshe's clergy. Texts from Lagash might indicate that Nanshe could fulfill

17848-431: The encounter between Nanshe and the aforementioned bird. According to Wolfgang Heimpel, after hearing the calls of this animal and noticing its beauty, Nanshe adopted it. Subsequently she descends to the earth, where she erects a temple dedicated to herself, and places the bird from the earlier section at her feet as her symbol. This passage apparently indicates she was believed to be capable of bird-like flight herself. While

18032-474: The end of the period. Thus this new city has every appearance of being an Urukian colony. Around 20 residences of various sorts have been excavated. They have a tripartite plan, arranged around a reception hall with a foyer opening onto an internal courtyard, with additional rooms arranged around it. In the south of the site is a hill, Tell Qanas, which has a monumental group of several structures identified speculatively as 'temples' on an artificial terrace. The site

18216-408: The expansion. It has proven difficult to make the levels at different sites correspond closely enough to attribute them to a single period, making the elaboration of relative chronology very complicated. Among the theories that have been advanced to explain the Uruk expansion, the commercial explanation is frequently revived. However, although long-distance trade is undoubtedly a secondary phenomenon for

18400-406: The fact that the original stratigraphy of the central quarter of Uruk is ancient and very unclear and the excavations of it were conducted in the 1930s, before many modern dating techniques existed. These problems are largely linked to the difficulty specialists have had establishing synchronisms between the different archaeological sites and a relative chronology, which would enable the development of

18584-427: The fashioning of a new throne for Nanshe. In the text inscribed on his cylinders he designated her as his divine mother, though Ninsun appears in this role in relation to him too. A hymn to Nanshe describes Gudea as her protegee. Nanshe's clergy included a head priest referred to as en or enmezianna . While the office might have already existed in the Early Dynastic period, the first certain attestations come from

18768-467: The first brick in a festive ritual. Materials for the construction are brought from over a wide area including Susa , Elam , Magan Meluhha and Lebanon . Cedars of Lebanon are apparently floated down from Lebanon on the Euphrates and the "Iturungal" canal to Girsu. To the mountain of cedars , not for man to enter, did for Lord Ningirsu, Gudea bend his steps: its cedars with great axes he cut down, and into Sharur ... Like giant serpents floating on

18952-662: The flashing thunderbird". It is directly referred to as thunderbird in Gudea's second dream and in his blessing of it. Preceded by the Kesh temple hymn , the Gudea cylinders are one of the first ritual temple building stories ever recorded. The style, traditions and format of the account has notable similarities to those in the Bible such as the building of the tabernacle of Moses in Exodus 25 and Numbers 7 . Victor Hurowitz has also noted similarities to

19136-412: The goddess of this biome. She was associated with the animals inhabiting it, namely fish and birds. The text Nanshe and the Birds calls her "the one who loves fish and fowl". These two groups of animals were commonly associated with each other in Sumerian literary texts. The inscription on one of the Gudea cylinders states that Nanshe's emblem was an u 5 -ku , agreed to be a type of bird, though there

19320-424: The golden stylus is Nisaba goddess of writing, directing him to lay out the temple astronomically aligned with the "holy stars". The hero is Nindub an architect-god surveying the plan of the temple. The donkey was supposed to represent Gudea himself, eager to get on with the building work. Nanse instructs Gudea to build Ningirsu – a decorated chariot with emblem, weapons, and drums, which he does and takes into

19504-448: The impact of Uruk is generally distinguished in specific sites and regions, which has led to the development of multiple typologies of material considered to be characteristic of the Uruk culture (especially the pottery and the beveled rim bowls). It has been possible to identify multiple types of site, ranging from colonies that could be actual Urukian sites through to trading posts with an Urukian enclave and sites that are mostly local with

19688-481: The invention of the ard —a wooden plough pulled by an animal (ass or ox)—towards the end of the 4th millennium BC, which enabled the production of long furrows in the earth. This made the agricultural work in the sowing season much simpler than previously, when this work had to be done by hand with tools like the hoe . The harvest was made easier after the Ubayd period by the widespread adoption of terracotta sickles . Irrigation techniques also seem to have improved in

19872-428: The key developments which make this period a crucial step in the history of the ancient Near East, research focusses mainly on the centre, Lower Mesopotamia, and on sites in neighbouring regions which are clearly integrated into the civilization which originated there (especially the 'colonies' of the middle Euphrates). The aspects traced here are mostly those of the Late Uruk period, which is the best known and undoubtedly

20056-430: The largest of the Uruk period, since it covered over 110 hectares at its height. Some residences from the period have been uncovered, along with pottery typical of Uruk, but what has received the most attention is a succession of monuments which are definitely for cultic purposes. The 'Eye Temple' (as its final stage is known) has walls decorated with terracotta cones which form a mosaic and with inlays of coloured stones and

20240-402: The latter according to Ran Zadok using an Akkadianized form of the theonym with a feminine suffix. The text known as Topography of Babylon or Tintir = Babylon , most likely compiled in the twelfth century, indicates that Nanshe was worshiped in the Esagil temple complex in Babylon , where she had a cultic seat named Ešbanda, "little chamber". Andrew R. George assumes that her presence there

20424-418: The links tying southern Mesopotamia to its neighbours in this period should be seen as a 'world culture' rather than an economic 'world system', in which the Uruk region provided a model to its neighbours, each of which took up more adaptable elements in their own way and retained some local traits essentially unchanged. This is intended to explain the different degrees of influence or acculturation. In effect,

20608-546: The local pantheon of the Sealand. In Ur in the Old Babylonian period, Nanshe came to be integrated into the circle of deities associated with Ningal , the wife of the moon god. In the Gula Hymn of Bulluṭsa-rabi , Nanshe is among the deities equated with the eponymous goddess. Her presence in this text is considered unusual, though information about her usual character is preserved. In incantations, Nanshe could be linked with Ningirima . Invoking them together might have been

20792-423: The loss of importance of local deities, including Nanshe. An analogous phenomenon is attested for many other southern Mesopotamian deities, such as Shara , the tutelary god of Umma. Evidence for the worship of Nanshe in the Old Babylonian period is rare, for example she only sporadically appears in personal letters. It is known that the city of Nina still existed, though references to it are not frequent and nothing

20976-427: The middle of the 4th millennium, it transitions to the best-known period, "Late Uruk", which continues until around 3200 or 3100 BC. It is in fact in this period that the features which are generally seen as most characteristic of the civilization of the Uruk period occur: high technological development, the development of important urban agglomerations with imposing monumental structures (the most characteristic of these

21160-476: The model colonialism and incipient imperial expansion that sought to explain the Uruk civilization. In his view, which has met with some approval, but has also found many critics, the 'Urukians' created a collection of colonies outside Lower Mesopotamia, first in Upper Mesopotamia (Habuba Kabira and Jebel Aruda, as well as Nineveh, Tell Brak and Samsat to the north), then in Susiana and the Iranian plateau. For Algaze,

21344-571: The most ancient writing tablets, making it a key site for our understanding of the origins of writing. Other sites in Susiana also have archaeological levels belonging to this period, like Jaffarabad and Chogha Mish . Further north, in the Zagros , the site of Godin Tepe in the Kangavar valley is particularly important. Level V of this site belongs to the Uruk period. Remains have been uncovered of an ovoid wall, enclosing several buildings organised around

21528-407: The most dynamic and influential. At some other sites, construction from this period has been found, but they are usually known only as a result of soundages. In the current state of knowledge it remains impossible to determine whether the site of Uruk was actually unique in this region or if it is simply an accident of excavation that makes it seem more important than the others. This is the region of

21712-564: The motivation of this activity is considered to be a form of economic imperialism: the elites of southern Mesopotamia wanted to obtain the numerous raw materials which were not available in the Tigris and Euphrates floodplains, and founded their colonies on nodal points which controlled a vast commercial network (although it remains impossible to determine what exactly was exchanged), settling them with refugees as in some models of Greek colonisation . The relations established between Lower Mesopotamia and

21896-523: The myth Enki and Ninhursag , Nanshe is one of the eight deities created by Ninhursag to cure Enki's illness which developed after he consumed a number of plants. Her responsibility in this text is curing the throat of this god. The remaining seven are Abu , Ninsikila ( Meskilak ), Ningiritud ( Ningirida ), Ninkasi , Azimua , Ninti and Ensag ( Inzak ). After Enki recovers from the issues ailing him, new roles are assigned to all of them, with Nanshe's destiny being to marry Nindara . According to Dina Katz,

22080-453: The name of a temple located in it, though they might have also been two separate nearby settlements, which perhaps at some point fused into a single urban area, similarly to Uruk and Kullaba. Andrew R. George also accepts that Sirara was a location within Nina. It is first mentioned in texts from the reign of Entemena . It is mentioned alongside Nina as a cult center of Nanshe in the thirty third of

22264-414: The neighbouring regions up to central Iran and southeastern Anatolia . The Uruk culture itself is certainly characterised mainly by sites of southern Mesopotamia and others which seem to have directly resulted from migrations from this region (the 'colonies' or 'emporia'), which are clearly part of the Uruk culture. But the phenomenon which is known as the Uruk expansion is detected on sites situated across

22448-652: The neighbouring regions were thus of an asymmetric kind. The inhabitants of Lower Mesopotamia had the advantage in the interactions with neighbouring regions as a result of the high productivity of their lands, which had allowed their region to "take off" (he speaks of "the Sumerian takeoff") resulting in both a comparative advantage and a competitive advantage . They had the most developed state structures and were thus able to develop long-distance commercial links, exercise influence over their neighbours, and perhaps engage in military conquest. Algaze's theory, like other alternative models, has been criticised, particularly because

22632-468: The openings of other myths with the destinies of heaven and earth being determined. Various conjectures have been made regarding the supposed contents of an initial cylinder. Victor Hurowitz suggested it may have contained an introductory hymn praising Ningirsu and Lagash. Thorkild Jacobsen suggested it may have explained why a relatively recent similar temple built by Ur-baba (or Ur-bau), Gudea's father-in-law "was deemed insufficient". Cylinder A opens on

22816-412: The pantheon mentioned in association with her in hymns include Nisaba , Haya , Ningublaga , Ningishzida and Ištaran , though in the case of the last two the context in which they appear is unclear. None of the deities associated with Nanshe in Lagash appear in the texts from the Sealand , with the exception of Ningirsu, who is only present in a single offering list. Their absence might indicate that

23000-503: The period in which the most rapid change took place—it is the moment when the characteristic traits of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization were established. The 4th millennium BC saw the appearance of new tools which had a substantial impact on the societies that used them, especially in the economic sphere. Some of them, although known in the preceding period, only came into use on a large scale at this time. The use of these inventions produced economic and social changes in combination with

23184-468: The period of transition from the Uruk period to the Early Dynastic period, it is divided into two main tells and it is on the second ( Mound B ) that the most important building has been brought to light, which contained a substantial cache of administrative documents—more than 200 tablets with impressions of cylinder seals. The sources relating to the Uruk period derive from a group of sites distributed over an immense area, covering all of Mesopotamia and

23368-471: The preceding Ubayd period in Mesopotamia. This is especially the case in English-language scholarship, in which the theoretical approaches have been largely inspired by anthropology since the 1970s, and which has studied the Uruk period from the angle of 'complexity' in analysing the appearance of early states, an expanding social hierarchy, intensification of long-distance trade, etc. In order to discern

23552-429: The products which they provided (wool, fur, hides, milk) and as beasts of burden. This final aspect was especially connected with the cattle, which became essential for work in the fields with the appearance of the ard, and the donkey which assumed a major role in the transportation of goods. Gudea cylinders The Gudea cylinders are a pair of terracotta cylinders dating to c.  2125 BC , on which

23736-505: The region of Tell-e Malyan and Susiana and seems to have taken over the Uruk culture's links with the Iranian plateau. Several important sites of the Uruk period have been excavated in the Middle Euphrates region, during the salvage campaigns preceding the construction of hydroelectric dams in the area. It is largely as a result of the findings of these excavations that ideas of an "Uruk expansion" have arisen. The best known site

23920-453: The regions neighbouring Lower Mesopotamia did not wait for the Urukians in order to begin an advanced process of increasing social complexity or urbanisation, as the example of the large site of Tell Brak in Syria shows, which encourages us to imagine the phenomenon from a more 'symmetrical' angle. Indeed, at Tell Brak, we find that this city developed as an urban center slightly earlier than

24104-426: The reign of Shulgi and still active after assumption of the throne by Ibbi-Sin , Ur-Ningirsu (not to be confused with the ensi Ur-Ningirsu II , possibly also a contemporary of Shulgi) might have ruled over Lagash as an independent polity in the final years of the Ur state. It has been argued that in other local pantheons Nanshe never reached a comparable prominence as in Lagash. Julia M. Asher-Greve argues that it

24288-429: The relationship between Lower Mesopotamia and the neighbouring regions. The fact that the characteristics of the culture of the Uruk region are found across such a large territory (from northern Syria to the Iranian plateau), with Lower Mesopotamia as a clear centre, led the archaeologists who studied this period to see this phenomenon as an 'Uruk expansion'. Recent excavations have focused on sites outside Mesopotamia, as

24472-445: The religious legitimization of his dynasty, as evidenced by the fact that Entemena credited her with granting him rule over his kingdom. Entemena built a temple dedicated to Nanshe which bore the ceremonial name Ešapada, "house chosen in the heart". It was one of the three primary houses of worship in the city of Lagash, next to the temples of Inanna and Ningirsu. A shrine dedicated to her, Eagasulim, possibly "house, hall of radiance",

24656-672: The rest of the composition is not fully preserved, the surviving passages indicate Nanshe gathers various birds in a single place, and the Anzû bird and the Anunna , in this context the great gods of the pantheon, declare fates for them. The next section is a compilation of short statements about various birds. They provide information about the beliefs pertaining to the individual animals, as well as their behavior, diet and calls . Some of their names are provided with folk etymologies . A number of them are not attested in any other known texts. The text ends with

24840-458: The ritual order of events of a seven-day festival. This proposition was met with limited acceptance. Interpretation of the text faces substantial limitations for modern scholars, who are not the intended recipients of the information and do not share a common knowledge of the ancient world and the background behind the literature. Irene Winter points out that understanding the story demands "the viewer's prior knowledge and correct identification of

25024-544: The role of a so-called Lamma . This term can be translated as "protective goddess." According to Gina Konstantopoulos, the responsibility of any deity considered to be a Lamma was to "maintain a protected space around an individual, creating a space wherein no harm, be it of demonic origin or otherwise, can threaten whomever they are protecting." Julia M. Asher-Greve notes they could also protect specific locations, for examples temples or private buildings, rather than individuals. Like other deities considered to be major members of

25208-550: The scene – a process of 'matching' rather than 'reading' of imagery itself qua narrative." The hero of the story is Gudea (statue pictured) , king of the city-state of Lagash at the end of the third millennium BC. A large quantity of sculpted and inscribed artifacts have survived pertaining to his reconstruction and dedication of the Eninnu , the temple of Ningursu, the patron deity of Lagash. These include foundation nails (pictured) , building plans (pictured) and pictorial accounts sculpted on limestone stelae. The temple, Eninnu

25392-468: The sea, fish or dream interpretation. The meaning of Nanshe's name is unknown, and it is agreed it has no plausible Sumerian etymology . It was written in cuneiform with the signs AB×ḪA, with the dingir sign being a determinative designating names of the deities, while AB✕ḪA is a combination of the words "shrine" and "fish", with the latter written inside the former. A common phonetic variant, na-zi , first appears in texts from Ebla , for example in

25576-405: The second half of the 4th millennium BC, the first system of writing, and it is the material and symbolic culture of this region which had the most influence on the rest of the Near East at this time. However, this region is not well-known archaeologically, since only the site of Uruk itself has provided traces of monumental architecture and administrative documents which justify seeing this region as

25760-470: The site became an urban settlement. Susa I saw the beginning of monumental architecture on the site, with the construction of a 'High Terrace', which was increased during Susa II to measure roughly 60 x 45 metres. The most interesting aspect of this site is the objects discovered there, which are the most important evidence available to us for the art of the Uruk period and the beginning of administration and writing. The cylinder seals of Susa I and Susa II have

25944-475: The site thinks that there was an enclave of people from Lower Mesopotamia who lived on the site alongside a majority population of local people. Other sites have been excavated in the region of Samsat (also in the Euphrates valley). An Urukian site was revealed at Samsat during a hasty rescue excavation before the area was flooded as a result of the construction of a hydroelectric dam. Fragments of clay cones from

26128-502: The site was destroyed by a fire. The monuments were not restored and the Kura–Araxes culture centred on the southern Caucasus became the dominant material culture on the site. Further west, the site of Tepecik  [ de ; fr ; tr ] near Çiftlik, Niğde has also revealed pottery influenced by that of Uruk. But in this region, the Urukian influence becomes increasingly ephemeral, as one gets further from Mesopotamia. After

26312-464: The site were razed and replaced by a grand terrace, which ignores the earlier buildings. In their foundations, a deposit which is probably of a cultic nature (the Sammelfund ) was found, containing some major artistic works of the period (large cultic vase, cylinder seals, etc.). Outside Uruk, few sites in southern Mesopotamia have yielded levels contemporary with the Uruk period. Soundages carried out on

26496-429: The sites of most of the key cities of Mesopotamia in the historic period have revealed that they were occupied in this period ( Kish , Girsu , Nippur , Ur , perhaps Shuruppak and Larsa , and further north in Diyala , Tell Asmar and Khafajah ). The sacred quarter of Eridu , site of the main monumental structures of the Ubaid period in Lower Mesopotamia, is poorly known for the Uruk period though Uruk Period pottery

26680-466: The sites of the Syro-Anatolian world, rather than as global theories. Other explanations avoid political and economic factors in order to focus on the Uruk expansion as a long term cultural phenomenon, using concepts of koine , acculturation , hybridity and cultural emulation to emphasise their differentiation according to the cultural regions and sites in question. P. Butterlin has proposed that

26864-468: The south Mesopotamian states compared to local production and seems to follow the development of increased social complexity rather than causing it, this does not necessarily prove a process of colonisation. Some other theories propose a form of agrarian colonisation resulting from a shortage of land in Lower Mesopotamia or a migration of refugees after the Uruk region suffered ecological or political upheavals. These explanations are largely advanced to explain

27048-479: The southwest of modern Iran , is located right next to lower Mesopotamia, which exercised a powerful influence on it from the 5th millennium BC, and might be considered to have been part of the Uruk culture in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, either as a result of conquest or a more gradual acculturation, but it did retain its own unique characteristics. The Uruk period levels at Susa are called Susa I (c. 4000–3700 BC) and Susa II (c. 3700–3100 BC), during which

27232-407: The state of Lagash. In addition to Ur-Nanshe, "servant of Nanshe," some of the other examples include names such as Geme-Nanshe ("maid of Nanshe"), Lu-Nanshe ("man of Nanshe") or Nanshe-urmu ("Nanshe is my heroine"). The worship of Nanshe continued in Nina, Lagash, Girsu and a number of other nearby settlements through the Ur III period. An en priest dedicated to her first attested in documents from

27416-534: The temple Ešapada in Lagash, dedicated to the latter. A deity bearing the name Šagepada was also worshiped in Uruk in the Seleucid period , and might be the same goddess. Her character is poorly known. Nanshe is first attested in sources from the late Uruk period . She is one of the oldest known tutelary goddesses of specific Mesopotamian cities , next to the likes of Nisaba , Ezina , Inanna of Uruk (under various epithets ) and Inanna of Zabalam . Her cult center

27600-568: The temple complex of Ningirsu in Girsu. Gudea asks her to reveal the meaning of a dream to him. After he offers bread to her, she reveals to him that his dream was an indication Ningirsu wants him to rebuild the Eninnu, and that he will be supported in this endeavor by his personal god Ningishzida, as well as Nisaba and Nindub . In the Song of the Plowing Oxen , Nanshe acts as a dream interpreter , and advises

27784-537: The temple of Ninhursag in Adab . The location of a further shrine of Nanshe, Eĝidru, "house of the scepter", is uncertain: it might have been a part of the Eninnu complex in Girsu, though it also has been proposed that it was located in Lagash or Nina. In Gu'abba she was worshiped in the Igigal, literally "wisdom", implicitly "(house of) wisdom". She also had sanctuaries in Kisala, which was either located close to Girsu, or outright

27968-407: The temple with "Ushumgalkalama", his minstrel or harp (bull-shaped harp sound-box pictured) . He is rewarded with Ningirsu's blessing and a second dream where he is given more detailed instructions of the structure. Gudea then instructs the people of Lagash and gives judgement on the city with a 'code of ethics and morals'. Gudea takes to the work zealously and measures the building site, then lays

28152-429: The things appropriate appear in our city. Ningirsu responds that his governor will build a temple dedicated to great accomplishments. Gudea is then sent a dream where a giant man – with wings, a crown, and two lions – commanded him to build the E-ninnu temple. Two figures then appear: a woman holding a gold stylus , and a hero holding a lapis lazuli tablet on which he drew the plan of a house. The hero placed bricks in

28336-490: The title it focuses on plants) and Ninurta 's Fields , constitute examples of so-called "enumeration literature," Mesopotamian texts in which names from a single lexical category are listed following a specific formula. The plot focuses on a banquet to which a figure referred to as the "queen of the fishermen," often interpreted as Nanshe, invites various fish, presumed to be freshwater species. The final section instead focuses on listing animals which prey on individual fish. In

28520-510: The tutelary goddess of the First Sealand dynasty . At this time, she was not associated with any cities outside of the former territory of Lagash. According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz, interpreting the situation both as a "continuation" and as a "revival" of her cult is possible. Odette Boivin argues that it was an "import" in the Sealand court, which according to her might be why Nanshe's traditional retinue and other Lagashite deities do not have

28704-408: The understanding of the emergence of urban societies in this region. A clear settlement hierarchy has been identified, dominated by a number of agglomerations which grew more and more important over the 4th millennium BC, of which Uruk seems to have been the most important by far, making this the most ancient known case of urban macrocephaly , since its hinterland seems to have reinforced Uruk itself to

28888-408: The water, cedar rafts from the cedar foothills. He is then sent a third dream revealing the different form and character of the temples. The construction of the structure is then detailed with the laying of the foundations, involving participation from the Anunnaki including Enki , Nanse, and Bau. Different parts of the temple are described along with its furnishings and the cylinder concludes with

29072-480: Was Ningirsu , who likely initially was also viewed as Enki's child. The connection between them was meant to reflect Nanshe's importance in the local pantheon. They are attested together in various texts from Lagash, for example Entemena mentions border dikes dedicated to them both, while Gudea credits them with facilitating the arrival of goods from distant lands. Nanshe's spouse was the god Nindara . An annual festival celebrated their marriage. Nindara's character

29256-469: Was a city represented by the signs AB×ḪA, which could also be used to write her own name if a different determinative , dingir , was used instead. According to Joan Goodnick Westenholz , the logographic writing of the city's was patterned after the theonym. The name Nina or NINA is employed to refer to it in Assyriological literature. Other proposed readings include Niĝin, Nenua, Ninâ Nimin and Niĝen. It

29440-482: Was a distinct local tradition of writing. A little to the east of Tell Brak is Hamoukar , where excavations began in 1999. This vast site has provided the normal evidence found at sites under Urukian influence in Upper Mesopotamia (pottery, seals) and evidence of the existence of an important urban centre in this region in the Uruk period, like Tell Brak. Further to the east again, the site of Tell al-Hawa , Iraq also shows evidence of contacts with lower Mesopotamia. On

29624-447: Was a formidable complex of buildings, likely including the E-pa, Kasurra and sanctuary of Bau among others. There are no substantial architectural remains of Gudea's buildings, so the text is the best record of his achievements. Some fragments of another Gudea inscription were found that could not be pieced together with the two in the Louvre. This has led some scholars to suggest that there

29808-417: Was a missing cylinder preceding the texts recovered. It has been argued that the two cylinders present a balanced and complete literary with a line at the end of Cylinder A having been suggested by Falkenstein to mark the middle of the composition. This colophon has however also been suggested to mark the cylinder itself as the middle one in a group of three. The opening of cylinder A also shows similarities to

29992-609: Was a part of it, and in Sulum, whose location is unknown. Various festivals were held in Nanshe's honor. Some of the sacrifices made during them took place on the banks of canals. Multiple of Gudea 's inscriptions commemorate the rebuilding of Nanshe's temple in Sirara. Furthermore, three clay cones from his reign mention the construction of a temple dedicated to her, the E-angur ("house of deep waters"), in Sulum. The twelfth of his year names refers to

30176-444: Was a significant cultural influence of Uruk in the wide areas north and east of it. But was it really a political takeover of an area, which constitutes the more extreme colonization hypothesis? Or was it perhaps some sort of an infiltration by groups of Urukean or southern Mesopotamian people trying to farm suitable lands – perhaps even by some refugees fleeing growing political oppression and overcrowding at Uruk? Another hypothesis

30360-431: Was abandoned at the end of the 4th millennium BC, apparently without violence, during the period when the Uruk culture retreated. Habuba Kabira is similar in many ways to the nearby site of Jebel Aruda on a rocky outcrop, only 8 km further north. As at Habuba Kabira, there is an urban centre made up of residences of various kinds and a central monumental complex of two 'temples'. It is beyond doubt that this city too

30544-410: Was also important in the Ubayd period, is an important case of the changing scale of monumental architecture and of political entities between the end of the 5th millennium and the first half of the 4th millennium BC (Level XII to VIII). The excavations there have revealed some very rich tombs, different kinds of residence, workshops, and very large buildings with an official or religious function (notably

30728-449: Was apparently understood as a male deity and perhaps Nanshe's husband by the author, despite usually being female. Manfred Krebernik  [ de ] and Jan Lisman suggest that the goddess Kiki (also known as Ninkiki), who occurs in the Zame Hymns as the tutelary deity of the unidentified location AB×AŠ 2 (hymn 28) and in the contemporary god lists from Fara and Abu Salabikh

30912-457: Was associated with the yearly spring rains, a force essential to early irrigation agriculture. Thorkild Jacobsen describes the temple as an intensely sacred place and a visual assurance of the presence of the god in the community, suggesting the structure was "in a mystical sense, one with him." The element "Ninnu" in the name of the temple "E-Ninnu" is a name of Ningirsu with the full form of its name, "E-Ninnu-Imdugud-babbara" meaning "house Ninnu,

31096-429: Was at some point syncretised with Nanshe, as she shared her association with water birds and appears only in Early Dynastic sources. It has been proposed that a goddess known as Ninšagepada ("the appointed mistress") or Šagepada ("the appointed"), who was worshiped in Ur in the temple of Gula and appears in inscriptions of Ur-Nammu , was a Nanshe-like figure ("Nanshe-Gestalt") due to the similarity of her name and that of

31280-464: Was built by 'Urukians'. A little further north, is a third possibly Urukian colony, Sheikh Hassan, on the middle Euphrates. It is possible that these sites were part of a state implanted in the region by people from south Mesopotamia and were developed in order to take advantage of important commercial routes. In the Khabur valley, Tell Brak was an important urban centre from the 5th millennium BC, one of

31464-464: Was coined at a conference in Baghdad in 1930, along with the preceding Ubaid period and following Jemdet Nasr period . The chronology of the Uruk period is highly debated and still very uncertain. It is known that it covered most of the 4th millennium BC. But there is no agreement on the date when it began or ended and the major breaks within the period are difficult to determine. This is due primarily to

31648-471: Was dedicated to the god An. This conformed to the theory of the 'temple-city' which was in vogue during the inter-war period. It is possible that this is actually a place of power formed by a complex of buildings of different forms (palatial residences, administrative spaces, palace chapels), desired by the dominant power in the city, whose nature is still unclear. In any case, it was necessary to invest considerable effort to construct these buildings, which shows

31832-545: Was described on the pillar as a place of judgement, or mercy seat, and it is thought that the cylinders were either kept there or elsewhere in the Eninnu. They are thought to have fallen into the drain during the destruction of Girsu generations later. In 1878 the cylinders were shipped to Paris, France where they remain on display today at the Louvre, Department of Near East antiquities, Richelieu, ground floor, room 2, accession numbers MNB 1511 and MNB 1512. The two cylinders were labelled A and B, with A being 61 cm high with

32016-413: Was dominated by a building called 'Temple C' by the excavators, which was built on a platform. It was abandoned around 3500 BC and replaced by a monumental complex which seems to have been the regional centre of power. The culture of Late Uruk had a discernible influence, which can be seen most clearly in the numerous sealings found on the site, many of which are in a south Mesopotamian style. Around 3000 BC,

32200-409: Was found there. The only important structure from the end of the 4th millennium BC so far known from the region outside Uruk is the 'Painted Temple' on the platform of Tell Uqair , which dates to the end of the Uruk period or perhaps the Jemdet Nasr period, and consists of two terraces superimposed on one another with a building of around 18 x 22 m identified as having a cultic function. More recently,

32384-478: Was located at the crossroads of some important commercial routes. Beveled rim bowls appear from phase B1 (c. 3800/3700 BC) and they are also present in phase B2 (3700–3300 BC), along with other objects characteristic of Late Uruk, like mosaics of clay cones, a terracotta sickle, an accounting bulla imprinted with the pattern from a cylinder seal, an uninscribed clay tablet, etc. This material co-exists with local pottery, which remains dominant throughout. The excavator of

32568-456: Was located in the southeastern part of what eventually came to be the state of Lagash , eight kilometers to the southeast of its eponymous capital, and has been identified with modern Tell Zurghul in Iraq . In the past, the site was located on the coast of the Persian Gulf . According to Dietz-Otto Edzard , Sirara , another toponym associated with Nanshe, might have been a sacred precinct of Nina or

32752-411: Was painted by Gudea with the splendors of heaven as if kohl were being poured all over it. Thorkild Jacobsen considered this "Idedin" canal referred to an unidentified "Desert Canal", which he considered "probably refers to an abandoned canal bed that had filled with the characteristic purplish dune sand still seen in southern Iraq ." The second cylinder begins with a narrative hymn starting with

32936-416: Was provided by Joachim Krecher with legacy material from Hermann Behrens and Bram Jagersma. Samuel Noah Kramer also published a detailed commentary in 1966 and in 1988. Herbert Sauren proposed that the text of the cylinders comprised a ritual play, enactment or pageant that was performed during yearly temple dedication festivities and that certain sections of both cylinders narrate the script and give

33120-487: Was published by Francois Threau-Dangin in 1905. Another edition with a notable concordance was published by Ira Maurice Price in 1927. Further translations were made by M. Lambert and R. Tournay in 1948, Adam Falkenstein in 1953, Giorgio Castellino in 1977, Thorkild Jacobsen in 1987, and Dietz Otto Edzard in 1997. The latest translation by the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL) project

33304-426: Was said to demarcate boundaries, and this role is still attested for her in the Gula Hymn of Bulluṭsa-rabi , where she is called bēlet kudurri , "lady of the boundary stone". She was considered a deity of justice and social welfare . She functioned as the divine protector and benefactor of various disadvantaged groups, such as orphans, widows or people belonging to indebted households. Wolfgang Heimpel notes that

33488-480: Was still venerated in the sixth century BCE . Multiple literary texts focused on Nanshe are known. Nanshe and the Birds focuses on her relation with her symbolic animal, the u 5 bird. Its species is a matter of dispute, with proposed identifications including goose , swan , cormorant , gull and pelican . In the myth Enki and Ninhursag , she appears as one of the deities created by Ninhursag to cure Enki's illness. Other compositions deal with her relation to

33672-465: Was tied to her connection to the god Ea ( Enki ). A late reference to the cult of Nanshe in the Sealand occurs on a kudurru (inscribed boundary stone) of Enlil-nadin-apli of the Second Dynasty of Isin (eleventh century BCE), which mentions that a parcel of land which was the subject of described dispute had originally been donated by " Gulkišar , king of the Sealand, to Nanše, his lady", though it

33856-441: Was worshiped alongside Nin-MAR.KI, might have been initially seen as her brother and Nanshe's son. A further deity closely associated with Nanshe was Hendursaga . He was believed to act as her herald and overseer of her estate. Dumuzi-abzu , who often appears in association with Nin-MAR.KI, as well as Shul-utula , the family god of Ur-Nanshe 's dynasty, were further more deities who belonged to Nanshe's circle. Additional members of

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