Editing Eridu (section)

==History==
[[File:Painted pottery vessel (jug or ewer). From Eridu (Tell Abu Shahrain), Iraq. 3500-2800 BCE. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.jpg|thumb|left|Painted pottery vessel from Eridu (Tell Abu Shahrain), Iraq. 3500-2800 BCE. Iraq Museum, Baghdad]]
Eridu is one of the earliest settlements in the region, founded [[6th millennium BC|{{circa|5400&nbsp;BC}}]] during the early [[Ubaid period]], at that time close to the [[Persian Gulf]] near the mouth of the [[Euphrates]], although in modern times it is about 90 miles inland. Excavation has shown that the city was founded on a virgin sand dune site with no previous habitation. According to the excavators, construction of the [[Third Dynasty of Ur|Ur III]] ziggurat and associated buildings was preceded by the destruction of preceding construction and its use as leveling fill so no remains from that time were found. At a small mound 1 kilometer north of Eridu two Early Dynastic III palaces were found, with an enclosure wall. The palaces measured 45 meters by 65 meters with 2.6 meter wide walls and were constructed in the standard Early Dynastic period method of plano-convex bricks laid in a herringbone fashion.<ref name="Safar1947"/>

[[File:Bowl MET DP104228 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Bowl excavated in the Ubaid Cemetery at Eridu (Grave 134)]]
With possible breaks in occupation in the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic III]] and [[Akkadian Empire]] periods, the city was inhabited until the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], though in later times it was primarily a cultic site.

[[File:Bowl MET DP104229.jpg|thumb|left|Bowl; mid 6th–5th millennium BC; [[ceramic]]; 6.99 cm; Tell Abu Shahrain; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]]]
During the [[Ubaid period]] the site extended out to an area of about 12 hectares (about 30 acres). Twelve neolithic clay tokens, the precursor to [[Proto-cuneiform]], were found in the Ubaid levels of the site.<ref>Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. ''Before writing: From counting to cuneiform'', Vol. II, University of Texas Press, 1992</ref><ref>Overmann, Karenleigh A., ''The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East'', Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, Table 9.2, pp. 169-170, 2019</ref><ref>[https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/heartland_of_cities.pdf] Wright, H. T., "Appendix: The Southern Margins of Sumer. Archaeological Survey of the Area of Eridu and Ur", In: R. M. Adams (ed.), The Heartland of Cities: Survey of Ancient Settlement and Land Use on the Central Flood Plain of the Euphrates (Chicago-London), pp. 295–345, 1981</ref> Eighteen superimposed mudbrick temples at the site underlie the unfinished [[ziggurat]] of [[Amar-Sin]] (c. 2047–2039 BC). Levels XIX to VI were from the Ubaid period and Levels V to I were dated to the [[Uruk period]].<ref>Quenet, Philippe, "Eridu: Note on the Decoration of the Uruk ‘Temples.’", Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East: Vol. 2: Field Reports. Islamic Archaeology, edited by Adelheid Otto et al., 1st ed., Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 341–48, 2020</ref> Significant habitation was found from the Uruk period with "non-secular" buildings being found in soundings. Uruk finds included decorative terracotta cones topped with copper, copper nails topped with gold, a pair of basalt stone lion statues, columns several meters in diameter coated with cones and gypsum, and extensive Uruk period pottery.<ref>[https://findit.library.yale.edu/images_layout/view?parentoid=15763208&increment=41] Lloyd, S., "Uruk Pottery: A Comparative Study in relation to recent Finds at Eridu", Sumer, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 39–51, 1948</ref><ref>Van Buren, E. Douglas, "Excavations at Eridu", Orientalia, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 115–19, 1948</ref><ref>Becker, A., "Uruk Kleinfunde I", Stein. Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka Endberichte 6, Mainz, 1993</ref><ref>[https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/resources/alsoof/files/10213436.pdf] al-Soof A.B., "Uruk Pottery from Eridu, Ur, and al-Ubaid", Sumer, vol. 20,  no. 1-2, pp. 17–22, 1973</ref> Occupation increased in the Early Dynastic period with a monumental  100 meter by 100 meter palace being constructed.<ref>Adams, Robert McCormick, "The Evolution of Urban Society: Early Mesopotamia and Prehistoric Mexico", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966</ref> An inscription of [[Elulu]], a ruler of the [[First Dynasty of Ur]] ({{circa|2600&nbsp;BC}}), was found at Eridu.<ref>Sollberger, Edmond, and Jean-Robert Kupper, "Inscriptions royales sumeriennese akkadiennes", Littératures Anciennes du Proche-Orient 3, Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1971</ref> On a statue of the Early Dynastic ruler of [[Lagash]] named [[Entemena]] ({{circa|2400&nbsp;BC}}), it reads, "he built Ab-zupasira for Enki, king of Eridu  ...",<ref>Schmandt-Besserat, Denise, "Six Votive and Dedicatory Inscriptions", When Writing Met Art: From Symbol to Story, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 71-86, 2007</ref>

[[File:Fired clay brick stamped with the name of Amar-Sin, Ur III, from Eridu, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Fired clay brick stamped with the name of Amar-Sin, Ur III, from Eridu, currently housed in the British Museum]]

Eridu was active during the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] (22nd to 21st century BC) and royal building activity is known from inscribed bricks notably those of [[Ur-Nammu]] from his ziggurat marked "Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, the one who built the temple of the god Enki in Eridu."<ref>Frayne, Douglas, "Ur-Nammu E3/2.1.1", Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 5-90, 1997</ref> Three Third Dynasty rulers designated Year Names based on the appointment of an ''en(tu)''-priestess (high priestess) of the temple of Enki in Eridu, the highest religious office in the land at that time. In each the first two cases it was also used as the succeeding Year Name.

*[[Sulgi]] Year 28 - "Year the szita-priest-who-intercedes-for-Szulgi, the son of Szulgi, the strong man, the king of Ur, the king of the four corners of the universe, was installed as en-priest of Enki in Eridu"
*[[Amar-Sin]] Year 8 - "Year (Ennune-kiag-Amar-Sin) Ennune-the beloved (of Amar-Sin, was installed as en-priestess of Enki in Eridu)"
*[[Ibbi-Sin]] Year 11 - "Year the szita-priest who prays piously for Ibbi-Sin was chosen by means of the omens as en-priest of Enki in Eridu"

[[File:Bowl MET DP104227.jpg|thumb|left|Bowl; mid 6th–5th millennium BC; ceramic; Tell Abu Shahrain; Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
After the fall of Ur III the site was occupied and active during the [[Isin-Larsa]] period  (early 2nd Millennium BC) as evidenced by a Year Name of [[Nur-Adad]], ruler of Larsa "Year the temple of Enki in Eridu was built" and prior texts of Isin rulers [[Ishbi-Erra]] and [[Ishme-Dagan]] showing control over Eridu.<ref>De Graef, Katrien. "Bad Moon Rising: The Changing Fortunes of Early Second-Millennium BCE Ur", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelåpåphia, July 11–15, 2016, edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 49-88, 2021</ref> Inscribed construction bricks of Nur-Adad have also been found at Eridu.<ref>“RIME 4.02.08.05, Ex. 01 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 15, 2023. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P345487.</ref> This continued in the [[Old Babylonian period]] with Hammurabi stating in his 33rd Year Name "Year Hammu-rabi the king dug the canal (called) 'Hammu-rabi is abundance to the people', the beloved of An and Enlil, established the everlasting waters of plentifulness for Nippur, Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Uruk and Isin, restored Sumer and Akkad which had been scattered, overthrew in battle the army of Mari and Malgium and caused Mari and its territory and the various cities of Subartu to dwell under his authority in friendship"

[[File:Cup MET ME49 133 5.jpg|thumb|right|Cup; mid 6th–5th millennium BC; ceramic; 8.56 cm; Tell Abu Shahrain; Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
In an inscription of [[Kurigalzu I]] ({{circa|1375&nbsp;BC}}), a ruler of the [[Kassite dynasty]] one of his epitaphs is "[he  one  who  ke]eps  the  sanctuary  in  Eridu  in  order".<ref>Oshima, Takayoshi, "Another Attempt at Two Kassite Royal Inscriptions: The Agum-Kakrime Inscription and the Inscription of Kurigalzu the Son of Kadashmanharbe", Babel und Bibel 6, edited by Leonid E. Kogan, N. Koslova, S. Loesov and S. Tishchenko, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 225-268, 2012</ref>

An inscription of the [[List of kings of Babylon#Dynasty V (2nd Sealand), 1021–1001 BC|Second Sealand Dynastic]] ruler [[Simbar-shipak]] (c. 1021–1004 BCE) mentions a priest of Eridu.<ref>[https://archive.org/download/babylonianbounda00brituoft/babylonianbounda00brituoft.pdf] L.W. King, "Babylonian Boundary Stones and Memorial Tablets in the British Museum (BBSt)", London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1912</ref>

The [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian emperor]] [[Sargon II]] (722–705 BCE) awarded ''andurāru''-status (described as "a periodic reinstatement of goods and persons, alienated because of want, to their original status") to Eridu.<ref>Frazer, Mary and Adalı, Selim Ferruh, "“The just judgements that Ḫammu-rāpi, a former king, rendered”: A New Royal Inscription in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 111, no. 2, pp. 231-262, 2021</ref>

The Neo-Babylonian ruler [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (605–562 BC) built at Eridu as evidenced by inscribed bricks found there.<ref>BMHBA 94, 17 05 artifact entry (No. P283716). (2005, November 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.ucla.edu/P283716</ref>

===Mythology===
In some, but not all, versions of the [[Sumerian King List]], Eridu is the first of five cities where kingship was received before a flood came over the land. The list mentions two rulers of Eridu from the Early Dynastic period, [[Alulim]] and [[Alalngar]].<ref>G. Marchesi, "The Sumerian King List and the Early History of Mesopotamia", in:ana turri gimilli, studi dedicati alPadre Werner R. Mayer, S.J. da amici e allievi, Vicino Oriente Quader-no5, Rome: Università di Roma, pp. 231–248, 2010</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.2.1.1&charenc=gcirc# | title=The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature }}</ref>
{{Verse translation
|''[nam]-[[lugal]] [[Anu|an]]-[[Ta (cuneiform)|ta]] èd-dè-a-ba''
''[eri]du<sup>[[Ki (cuneiform)|ki]]</sup> [[:wikt:𒈗#Akkadian|nam-lugal-la]]''
''eridug<sup>ki</sup> a₂-lu-lim lugal''
''mu 28800 i₃-ak''
''a₂-lal₃-ĝar mu 36000 i₃-ak''
|When kingship from heaven was lowered,
the kingship was in Eridu
In Eridug, Alulim became king;
he ruled
for 28800 years.
Alaljar ruled for 36000 years<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Sumerian king list: translation|url=https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section2/tr211.htm|access-date=2021-07-04|website=etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>}}

[[File:Jar MET ME49 133 13.jpg|thumb|right|Jar; mid 6th–5th millennium BC; ceramic; 15.24 cm; Tell Abu Shahrain; Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was the home of the [[Abzu]] temple of the god [[Enki]], the Sumerian counterpart of the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]]ian god Ea, god of deep waters, wisdom and magic. Like all the Sumerian and Babylonian gods, Enki/Ea began as a local god who, according to the later cosmology, came to share the rule of the cosmos with [[Anu]] and [[Enlil]]. His kingdom was the sweet waters that lay below earth (Sumerian ''ab''=water; ''zu''=far).<ref>Jacobsen, Thorkild, "The Eridu Genesis", Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 100, no. 4, pp. 513–29, 1981</ref>
The bright star Canopus was known to the ancient Mesopotamians and represented the city of Eridu in the ''Three Stars Each'' [[Babylonian star catalogues]] and later around 1100 BC on the [[MUL.APIN]] tablets.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Rogers | first = John H. | date = 1998 | title = Origins of the Ancient Constellations: I. The Mesopotamian Traditions | journal = Journal of the British Astronomical Association | volume = 108 | issue = 1 | pages = 9–28 | bibcode = 1998JBAA..108....9R}}</ref> Canopus was called MUL.NUN<sup>KI</sup> by the Babylonians, which translates as "star of the city of Eridu". From most southern city of Mesopotamia, Eridu, there is a good view to the south, so that about 6000 years ago due to the [[Axial precession|precession of the Earth's axis]] the first rising of the star Canopus in Mesopotamia could be observed only from there at the southern meridian at midnight. In the city of [[Ur]] this was the case only 60 years later.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bautsch |first1=Markus  |author2-link=Friedhelm Pedde |last2=Pedde |first2=Friedhelm |title=Canopus, der "Stern der Stadt Eridu" |url=https://wfs.berlin/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BROplanet-juni2023ff_www.pdf |journal=Dem Himmel Nahe |issue=17 |pages=8–9 |issn=2940-9330|language=de}}</ref>

In the flood myth tablet<ref>UET 6, 61 + UET 6, 503 + UET 6, 691 (+) UET 6, 701 or [https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts/346146 CDLI Literary 000357, ex. 003 (P346146)]</ref> found in Ur, how Eridu and Alulim were chosen by gods as first city and first priest-king is described in more detail.<ref>Ansky, S., "The Eridu Genesis", The Harps that Once..., edited by David G. Roskies, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 145-150, 1992</ref> The following is the English translation of the tablet:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Jeremiah |title=The Divine Appointment of the First Antediluvian King: Newly Recovered Content from the Ur Version of the Sumerian Flood Story |journal=Journal of Cuneiform Studies |date=January 2018 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=37–51 |url=https://www.academia.edu/37013183 |doi=10.5615/jcunestud.70.2018.0037}}</ref>
{{Verse translation
|(Obverse)
1 They (the chief deities) created humanity
2 After the [animals/vermin?] were proliferating below/from the earth in unison
3 They made livestock and quadrupeds as fitting things in the steppe(eden-na)
4 In the high steppe ... joyous plants broadly
5 At that time, the canal was not dug ...
6 The dike and ditch [were not dredged(?) ...]
7 The ox ... the plow/farmer/furrow(?) ...
8 The lands ... a single track ...
9 Humanity ... their eyes/faces ... [rain?]
10 Šakkan/Šumugan [did not go out(?)] in the desert ...
11 Weaving the cap/headcloth(?) ...
12 Humanity ...
13 At that time, the snake was not present, [the scorpion was not present ...]
14 The lion was not present, [the hyena was not present ...]
15 The dog and wolf were not present ...
16 Humanity [had no opponent ...]
17 Fear and [gooseflesh(?) were not present ...]
18 ... 
19 The king ...
20 ...

|(Reverse)
1 First ... were giving [Eridu or Ku’ara?] to Asalluhi,
2 Second ... were giving [Bad-tibira to the nugig midwife?],
3 Third ... were giving [Larak[ to Pabilsaĝ,
4 Fourth ... were giving [Sippar to Utu?]
5 Fifth ... were giving Š[uruppak?] to [Sud?].
6 Those cities .. their settlements ...
7 An, Enlil, [Enki?] and Ninhursaĝ
8 Among(?) those cities, Eridu .. they established at the front/as the leader(?)
9 They led(?) a man who was lying(?) among its vast and many people ...
10 An, Enlil, and Enki, the father(s) of the gods(?)
11 They chose Alulim/the "seed of the red deer" for the shepherdship of the entirety of the many people
12 They named him(!) Alulim/named the "seed of the red deer" ...
13 After they served according to the command to check thusly/forever after(?)
14 [So that?] humanity, whoever possessed a name, were grasping his feet (in submission)/following his path(?)
15 They put both (capital) offense and sin(?) in his hand
16 was giving ... to him
17 ...
18 ...
}}

[[File:Cup MET ME49 133 6.jpg|thumb|left|Cup; mid 6th–5th millennium BC; ceramic; 9.53 cm; Tell Abu Shahrain; Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
[[Adapa]], a man of Eridu, is depicted as an early culture hero. Although earlier tradition, Me-Turan/Tell-Haddad tablet, describes [[Adapa]] as postdiluvian ruler of Eridu,<ref>Cavigneaux, Antoine. “Une version Sumérienne de la légende d’Adapa (Textes de Tell Haddad X) : Zeitschrift Für Assyriologie104 (2014): 1–41.</ref> in late tradition, [[Adapa]] came to be viewed as Alulim’s vizier,{{sfn|Peterson|2018|p=40}} and he was considered to have brought civilization to the city as the sage of King [[Alulim]].<ref>Brandon, S. G. F., "The Origin of Death in Some Ancient Near Eastern Religions", Religious Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 217–28, 1966</ref><ref>Milstein, Sara J., "The “Magic” of Adapa", Texts and Contexts: The Circulation and Transmission of Cuneiform Texts in Social Space, edited by Paul Delnero and Jacob Lauinger, Berlin, München, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 191-213, 2015</ref>

[[File:Statue of a standing lion from Eridu, Iraq, c. mid-3rd millennium BCE. Iraq Museum.jpg|thumb|Statue of a standing lion from Eridu, Iraq, c. mid-3rd millennium BC]]
The stories of [[Inanna]], goddess of [[Uruk]], describe how she had to go to Eridu in order to receive the [[me (mythology)|gifts of civilization]]. At first Enki, the god of Eridu, attempted to retrieve these sources of his power but later willingly accepted that Uruk now was the centre of the land.<ref>Gertrud  Farber-Fliigge, "Der Mythos 'Inanna und Enki' unter  besonderer   Berücksichti-gung der Liste der me", Rome, St Pohl 10, 1973</ref><ref>Alster, Bendt, "On the Interpretation of the Sumerian Myth 'Inanna and Enki'", vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 20-34, 1974</ref>

====List of rulers====
The following list should not be considered complete:
{|class="wikitable"border="1"style="width:100%;text-align:center"
|-
!width="1%"|#
!width="16.5%"|Depiction
!width="16.5%"|Ruler
!width="16.5%"|Succession
!width="16.5%"|[[Akkadian royal titulary|Title]]
!width="16.5%"|{{abbr|Approx.|approximately}} dates
!width="16.5%"|Notes
|-
|colspan="7"align="center"style="background-color:palegoldenrod"|'''[[Early Dynastic I|Early Dynastic I period]] ({{circa|2900|2700 BC|lk=yes}})'''
|-
!colspan="7"|[[Pre-dynastic period of Sumer|Predynastic Sumer]] ({{circa|2900|2700 BC}})
|-
|colspan="7"align="left"|{{blockquote|''"After the [[Throne|kingship]] descended from [[Anu|heaven]], the kingship was in Eridu."''|''[[Sumerian King List]] (SKL)''}}
|-
|1
|[[File:Lista Reale Sumerica.jpg|128px]]
|[[Alulim]]<br>𒀉𒇻𒅆
|
|[[King of Sumer]]<hr>[[Lugal|King]] of Eridu
|{{fl.|{{c.|2874 BC}}}}<br><small>(28800–67200 years)</small>
|
*Is mentioned in the ''[[Weld-Blundell Prism]] (W-B 44)'' version of the ''SKL'' (this version of the ''SKL'' was most likely written ''[[tempore|temp.]]'' of [[Suen-magir]] {{circa|1800 BC}})
*Said on the ''SKL'' to have held the title of, ''"[[lugal|King]]"'' of not just Eridu; but, to have held the ''"[[Hegemony|Kingship]]"'' over ''all'' of Sumer
*The ''Uruk List of Kings and Sages (ULKS)'' version of the ''SKL'' pairs him up with an [[apkallu]] (an apkallu was a [[Sage (philosophy)|sage]] in [[Sumerian literature]] and [[Sumerian religion|religion]]—the first apkallu was named [[Adapa]] and he was paired up with Alulim; additionally, Adapa has been compared with the [[Biblical]] figure [[Adam]])
|-
|2
|[[File:Initial paragraph about rule of Alulim in Eridu for 28800 years (photograph, transcription and translation).jpg|128px]]
|[[Alalngar]]<br>𒀉𒋭𒃻
|Brother of Alulim (?)
|King of Sumer<hr>King of Eridu
|{{reign|single=c. 2866 BC|show=lword}}<br><small>(36000 years)</small>
|
*Historicity uncertain
*Is mentioned in the ''[[Dynastic Chronicle]]'' version of the ''SKL'' (this version of the ''SKL'' was most likely written ''temp.'' of [[Nabonassar]] {{circa|740 BC}})
*The ''ULKS'' (written {{circa|165 BC}}) pairs him up with an apkallu (Uanduga)
|-
|colspan="7"align="left"|{{blockquote|''"2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years. Then Eridu fell and the kingship was taken to [[Bad-tibira#List of rulers|Bad-tibira]]."''|''SKL''}}
|-
|3
|
|Amelon<br>𒁹𒄠𒈨𒇻𒀭𒈾
|
|King of Sumer<hr>King of Eridu
|{{reign|single=c. 2900|era=BC}}<br><small>(46800 years)</small>
|
*Historicity uncertain
*Is mentioned in [[Berossus]]’ version of the ''SKL'' (the ''[[Babyloniaca (Berossus)|Babyloniaca]]'' was written {{circa|290 BC}})
*The ''ULKS'' pairs him up with an apkallu (Enmeduga)
|}