Kish (Sumer)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox ancient site Kish (Sumerian: Kiลก; transliteration: Kiลกki; cuneiform: Template:Cuneiform;<ref>The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature</ref> Template:Langx,<ref>Electronic Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (EPSD)</ref> near modern Tell al-Uhaymir) is an important archaeological site in Babil Governorate (Iraq), located Template:Convert south of Baghdad and Template:Convert east of the ancient city of Babylon. The Ubaid period site of Ras al-Amiyah is Template:Convert away. It was occupied from the Ubaid period to the Hellenistic period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Early Dynastic times the city's patron deity was Ishtar with her consort Ea. Her temple, at Tell Ingharra, was (E)-hursag-kalama.<ref name="RIME1" /><ref>Inanna's Descent to the Underworld translation at ETCSL</ref> By Old Babylonian times the patron deities had become Zababa, along with his consort, the goddess Bau and Istar. His temple Emeteursag (later Ekiลกiba) was at Uhaimir.<ref>McEwan, G. J. P., "Late Babylonian Kish", Iraq, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 117โ23, 1983</ref>
History
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Kish was occupied from the Ubaid period (c.5300โ4300 BC), gaining prominence as one of the pre-eminent powers in the region during the Early Dynastic Period when it reached its maximum extent of 230 hectares.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=":3">[1] J. "Ur, Kish and the Spatial Organization of Cities in Third-Millennium BC Southern Iraq", pp. 227โ239 in Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 71, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 2021 Template:ISBN</ref>
3rd Millennium BC
[edit]The Sumerian King List (SKL) states that Kish was the first city to have kings following the deluge.<ref>[2] Thorkild Jacobsen, "The Sumerian King List", Assyriological Studies 11, Chicago: University of Chricago Press, 1939</ref> The 1st dynasty of Kish begins with ฤushur. ฤushur's successor is called Kullassina-bel, but this is actually a sentence in Akkadian meaning "All of them were lord". Thus, some scholars have suggested that this may have been intended to signify the absence of a central authority in Kish for a time. The names of the next nine kings of Kish preceding Etana are Nanฤiลกliลกma, En-tarah-ana, Babum, Puannum, Kalibum, Kalumum, Zuqaqip, Aba, Maลกda, and Arwium. Archaeological finds from the Uruk period indicate that the site was part of the Uruk Expansion and hence originally Sumerian language speaking.<ref name="Gibson"/> Ignace Gelb identified Kish as the center of the earliest East Semitic culture which he calls the Kish civilization, however the concept has been challenged by more recent scholarship.<ref>I. J. Gelb, "Mari and the Kish Civilization", in Mari in Retrospect: Fifty Years of Mari and Mari Studies (ed. Gordon D. Young), Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992</ref><ref name=WS>Template:Cite book</ref>
Of the twenty-first king of Kish on the list, Enmebaragesi, who is said to have captured the weapons of Elam, is the first name confirmed by archaeological finds from his reign.<ref name="RIME1" >Frayne, Douglas R, "KIล ", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Vol 1, pp. 49-60, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008 Template:ISBN</ref> He is also known through other literary references, in which he and his son Aga of Kish are portrayed as contemporary rivals of Dumuzid, the Fisherman, and Gilgamesh, early rulers of Uruk.
Some early kings of Kish are known through archaeology, but are not named on the SKL. It can be difficult to determine if these are actually rulers of Kish or had merely adopted the common appellation "King of Kish". This includes Mesilim, who built temples in Adab and Lagash, where he seems to have exercised some control. Two other examples were the sleeve of an Early Dynatic II bronze sword found at Girsu which read "Lugal-namni[r]-sum (is) king of Kis" and a statue fragment found at Nippur which read "Enna-il, king of Kis".<ref name="RIME1" /><ref>Frayne, Douglas R, "Rulers with the Title โKing of Kiลกโ Whose Dynastic Affiliations Are Unknown", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Vol 1, pp. 67-76, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008 Template:ISBN</ref>
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After its early supremacy, Kish declined economically and militarily, but retained a strong political and symbolic significance.<ref>[3] Steinkeller, Piotr., "An Archaic 'Prisoner Plaque' From Kiลก.", Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archรฉologie Orientale, vol. 107, pp. 131โ57, 2013</ref> Its influence reached as far west as the city of Ebla near the Mediterranean Sea, as shown by the Ebla tablets.<ref>Archi, Alfonso., "More on Ebla and Kiลก", in Ebla and Its Archives: Texts, History, and Society, Berlin, Mรผnchen, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 478-496, 2015</ref><ref>Moorey, P. R. S., "Abu Salabikh, Kish, Mari and Ebla: Mid-Third Millennium Archaeological Interconnections.", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 447โ48, 1981</ref> According to the Ebla tablets, Kish was defeated in the time of Ebla ruler Ishar-Damu, probably by Uruk. Shortly afterward Kish joined Ebla in defeating Mari, followed by the marriage of the Eblan princess Keshdut to a king of Kish.<ref>Archi, Alfonso, and Maria Giovanna Biga, "A Victory over Mari and the Fall of Ebla", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 55: 1โ44, 2003</ref> Just as with Nippur to the south, control of Kish was a prime element in legitimizing dominance over the north of Mesopotamia. Because of the city's symbolic value, strong rulers later claimed the traditional title "King of Kish", even if they were from Akkad, Ur, Assyria, Isin, Larsa or Babylon.<ref>Maeda, T., "'King of Kish' in Pre-Sargonic Sumer", Orient 17, pp. 1โ17, 1981</ref> One of the earliest to adopt this title upon subjecting Kish to his empire was King Mesannepada of Ur.<ref>Albrecht Goetze, "Early Kings of Kish", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 105โ111, 1961</ref>
Sargon of Akkad, the founder of the Akkadian Empire, came from the area near Kish, called Azupiranu according to a much later Neo-Assyrian text purporting to be an autobiography of Sargon.<ref>L. W. King, "Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian Kings", II, London, pp. 87โ96, 1907</ref>
Old Babylonian period
[edit]By the early part of the First Dynasty of Babylon Kish was under the control of Babylon with the tenth year name of ruler Sumu-abum (c. 1897โ1883 BC) being "Year in which (Sumu-abum) made for Kish its city wall (reaching) heaven" (repeated in following year). Not long afterward, Kish was conquered by Sumuel of Larsa as reflected in his eleventh year name "Year the army of Kisz was smitten by weapons", repeated in the following three year names. In the 13th year of Sumu-la-El he reports destroying Kish (repeated in following four years) and then destroying the city wall of Kish in his 19th year and in his 30th year "Year the temple of Zababa, the Emeteursag / the house, ornament of the heros (Zababa), was built". At this point Kish came under the control of the city-state of Eshnunna under rulers DIpiq-Adad II and DNaram-Sin. By the time of Babylon ruler Sin-Muballit (c. 1813โ1792 BC), father of Hammurabi, Kish was firmly under the control of Babylon and would stay that way until the waning days of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The rulers of Babylon at its peak of power, Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna, are known to have done extensive construction at Kish, including rebuilding the city wall. By this time, the eastern settlement at Hursagkalama had become viewed as a distinct city, and it was probably not included in the walled area.<ref name="Gibson">[4] Gibson, McGuire, "The City and Area of Kish", Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida, Field Research Projects, 1972</ref>
At some period or periods within the Old Babylonian period, Kish was under the control of a series of rulers generally called the Manana Dynasty. Most of what is known comes from two illicitly excavated archive thought to be from the town of Damrum, near Kish.<ref>de Boer, Rients, "Two early Old Babylonian "Mananรข" archives dated to the last years of Sumu-la-El", Revue dโAssyriologie et dโarchรฉologie Orientale, vol. 111, pp. 25โ64, 2017</ref><ref>Simmons, Stephen D., "Early Old Babylonian Tablets from Harmal and Elsewhere (Continued)", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 75โ87, 1960</ref><ref>Charpin, D., "Recherches sur la โdynastie de Mananรขโ: Essai de localisation et de chronologie", RA 72, pp. 13โ40, 1978</ref> These rulers include Iawian, Halium, Abdi-Erah, Manana, and four others. Several year names of Iawium are known including "Year Sumu-ditana died". Samsu-Ditana was the last ruler of the First Dynasty of Babylon.<ref>Yuhong, Wu, and Stephanie Dalley, "The Origins of the Manana Dynasty at Kish, and the Assyrian King List", Iraq, vol. 52, pp. 159โ65, 1990</ref> One ruler, Ashduniarim is known from a long inscription on a clay foundation cone found at Kish. Template:Blockquote
Later history
[edit]The succeeding Kassite dynasty moved the capital from Babylon to Dur-Kurigalzu and Kish was diminished. There is some evidence of Kassite activity in Kish.<ref>T. Claydon, "Kish in the Kassite Period (c. 1650 โ 1150 B.C)", Iraq, vol. 54, pp. 141โ155, 1992</ref> Afterward Kish appears to have significantly declined in importance, as it is only mentioned in a few documents from the later second millennium BC. During the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, Kish is mentioned more frequently in texts. However, by this time, Kish proper (Tell al-Uhaymir) had been almost completely abandoned, and the settlement which texts from this period call "Kish" was probably Hursagkalama (Tell Ingharra).<ref name="Gibson"/>
After the Achaemenid period, Kish completely disappears from the historical record; however, archaeological evidence indicates that the town remained in existence for a long time thereafter.<ref name="Gibson"/> Although the site at Tell al-Uhaymir was mostly abandoned, Tell Ingharra was revived during the Parthian period, growing into a sizeable town with a large mud-brick fortress. During the Sasanian period, the site of the old city was completely abandoned in favor of a string of connected settlements spread out along both sides of the Shatt en-Nil canal. This last incarnation of Kish prospered under Sasanian and then Islamic rule, before being finally abandoned during the later years of the Abbasid Caliphate (750โ1258).<ref name="Gibson"/>
Archaeology
[edit]Kish is located Template:Convert east of the ancient city of Babylon and Template:Convert south of modern Baghdad. The Kish archaeological site is an oval area roughly Template:Convert, transected into east and west sections by the dry former bed of the Euphrates River, encompassing around 40 mounds scattered over an area of about 24 square kilometers, the largest being Uhaimir and Ingharra.<ref>[5] Naoko Ohgama, Eleanor Robson, "Scribal schooling in Old Babylonian Kish: the evidence of the Oxford tablets", in Your praise is sweet. A memorial volume for Jeremy Black from students, colleagues and friends, British Institute for the Study of Iraq, pp. 207-236, 2010 Template:ISBN</ref>
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After irregularly excavated tablets began appearing at the beginning of the twentieth century, Franรงois Thureau-Dangin identified the site as being Kish.<ref>Thureau-Dangin, F., "Asduni-Erim, roi de kis", Revue d'Assyriologie 8, pp. 65โ79, 1909</ref> Those tablets ended up in a variety of museums. Because of its close proximity to Babylon (of which early explorers believed it was part) the site was visited by a number of explorers and travelers in the 19th century, some involving excavation, most notably by the foreman of Hormuzd Rassam who dug there with a crew of 20 men for a number of months. Austen Henry Layard and also Julius Oppert dug some trenches there in the early 1852 though the finds were lost in the Qurnah Disaster. None of this early work was published. The name of the site as Kish was determined by George Smith in 1872 based on an inscribed brick of Adad-apla-iddina which had been discovered 60 years before. A French archaeological team under Henri de Genouillac excavated at Tell Uhaimir for three months in January 1912, finding some 1,400 Old Babylonian tablets which were distributed to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the Louvre. He also excavated at a Neo-Babylonian monumental building on Tell Ingharra. At Tell Bander he uncovered Parthian materials.<ref>Henri de Genouillac, "Premiรจres recherches archรฉologiques ร Kich : mission d'Henri de Genouillac 1911โ1912 : rapport sur les travaux et inventaires, fac-similรฉs, dessins, photographies et plans. Tome premier", Paris : Libr. ancienne Edouard Champion, 5, quai Malaquais, 1924</ref><ref>Henri de Genouillac, "Fouilles franรงaises d'El-Akhymer", Champion, 1924โ25</ref>
Later, a joint Field Museum and University of Oxford team under Stephen Langdon excavated from 1923 to 1933, with the recovered materials split between Chicago and the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Seventeen different mounds were excavated but the main focus of the excavations was at Tell Ingharra and Tell Uhaimir.<ref>[6]Stephen Langdon, "Excavations at Kish I (1923โ1924)", Paris: P. Geuthner, 1924</ref><ref>[7]Stephen Langdon and L. C. Watelin, "Excavations at Kish: the Herbert Weld (for the University of Oxford) and Field museum of natural history (Chicago) expedition to Mesopotamia. Vol. III: 1925-7", Paris : P. Geuthner, 1930</ref><ref>[8]Stephen Langdon and L. C. Watelin, "Excavations at Kish IV (1925โ1930)", Paris: P. Geuthner, 1934</ref><ref>[9] Henry Field, "The Field Museum-Oxford University expedition to Kish, Mesopotamia, 1923โ1929", Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, 1929</ref><ref name=":4">[10]P. R. S. Moorey, "Kish excavations, 1923โ1933 : with a microfiche catalogue of the objects in Oxford excavated by the Oxford-Field Museum, Chicago, Expedition to Kish in Iraq", New York : Oxford University Press, 1978, Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="Langdon1933" >S. Langdon and D. B. Harden, "Excavations at Kish and Barghuthiat 1933", Iraq, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 113โ136, 1934</ref><ref>S. D. Ross, "The excavations at Kish. With special reference to the conclusions reached in 1928โ29", in Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, vol. 17, iss. 3, pp. 291โ300, 1930</ref> The actual excavations at Tell Uhaimir were led initially by E. MacKay and later by L. C. Watelin. Work on the faunal and flora remains was conducted by Henry Field.<ref>Henry Field, "Ancient Wheat and Barley from Kish Mesopotamia", American Anthropologist, New Series, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 303โ309, 1932</ref><ref>L. H. Dudley Buxton and D. Talbot Rice, "Report on the Human Remains Found at Kish", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 61, pp. 57โ119, 1931</ref><ref>Davies, D. C., "Unearthing the Past at Kish.", Scientific American, vol. 138, no. 3, pp. 216โ18, 1928</ref> Even by the standards of the day, the documentation of this excavation (findspots provenance etc.), were sorely lacking. This was compounded by the death of the principals within a few years and the beginning of World War II. In recent decades there has been a major effort to recreate the data from all the old field notes and finds.<ref>[11] Stephanie Dalley, "Life and Death in Early Dynastic Kish: The Evidence from Ingharra, Trench Y", in Karen L. Wilson and Deborah Bekken, "Where Kingship Descended from Heaven: Studies on Ancient Kish", Studies in Ancient Cultures 1, Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, pp. 23-48, 2023 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>[12] McGuire Gibson, "The First Actual Stratigraphic Profile of Part of the Y Trench", in Karen L. Wilson and Deborah Bekken, "Where Kingship Descended from Heaven: Studies on Ancient Kish", Studies in Ancient Cultures 1, Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, pp. 57-104, 2023 Template:ISBN</ref> A bone awl from Phase 2 in the YWN area, the transition between Early Dynastic and Akkadian periods, was accelerator radiocarbon dated to 2471โ2299 BC (3905 ยฑ 27 C14 years BP).<ref>Zaina, F., A Radiocarbon date from Early Dynastic Kish and the Stratigraphy and Chronology of the YWN sounding at Tell Ingharra, Iraq, vol. 77(1), pp. 225โ234, 2015</ref>
A surface survey of Kish and the area around it was conducted in 1966โ1967. It showed that there were villages at Uhaimir and Ingharra in the Ubaid and Protoliterate periods. These expanded into two cites in ED I and reached a peak in Ed III with Ingharra becoming the larger city at that time. The site was lightly occupied in the Akkadian period with modest towns on Ingharra and Mound W. During Ur III, Isin-Larsa, and Old Babylonian times there was a revival mostly centered around Uhaimir. The later half of the 2nd millennium BC showed light occupation, all on Mound W. In the Neo-Babylonian period the rivercourse shifted from north to west, with Uhaimir having a large temple with associated fort, a major temple on Ingharra, and a major town on Mound W. The Achaemenid/Seleucid settlement was limited to the western end of Uhaimir. The Parthian and Sassanian periods showed light occupation, except for Tell Bandar.<ref name="Gibson" /> As part of this survey soundings were made at Umm-el-Jir (the site named Umm el-Jerab that Oriental Institute had found Old Akkadian tablets in 1932) 27 kilometers from Kish.<ref>Gibson, McGuire, "Umm El-Jฤซr, a Town in Akkad", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 237โ94, 1972</ref>
More recently, a Japanese team from the Kokushikan University led by Hideo Fuji and Ken Matsumoto excavated at Tell Uhaimir in 1989โ89, 2000, and 2001. The final season lasted only one week. Work was focused mainly on Tell A with some time spent at the plano-convex building.<ref name=":5">K. Matsumoto, "Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Kish/Hursagkalama 1988โ1989", al-Rฤfidฤn 12, pp. 261-307, 1991</ref><ref>K. Matsumoto and H. Oguchi, "Excavations at Kish, 2000", al-Rฤfidฤn, vol. 23, pp. 1โ16, 2002</ref><ref>K. Matsumoto and H. Oguchi, "News from Kish: The 2001 Japanese Work" al-Rafidan, vol. 25, pp. 1โ8, 2004</ref>
In February 2022 Iraqi archaeaologists conducted Ground Penetrating Radar and Electrical Resistivity scans of a test 30 meter by 30 meter section at Kish.<ref>[13]All-Rawi, Zubayda A., and Ahmed Sh Al-Banna, "Integration of Ground Penetrating Radar and Electrical Resistivity Methods to Investigate Subsurface Features at Kish Archaeological site, Babylon, Iraq", The Iraqi Geological Journal, pp. 224-232, 2023</ref><ref>[14]Al-Rawi, Zubayda A., and Ahmed Sh Al-Banna, "Application of 2D Electrical Resistivity Method and Ground Penetration Rader for Detection of the Archaeological Remains in Kish Site, Babylon, Iraq", Iraqi Journal of Science, pp. 6326-6335, 2023</ref>
In the Chicago expedition to Kish in 1923โ1933, several other sections are included:
- Tell Ingharra โ Twin ziggurats and Neo-Babylonian Temple Complex.
- Area P: Located in the Northern part of Kish which the Plano-convex Building resided
- Mound A, which includes a palace and a cemetery
- Tell H, identified roughly as "The Sasanian Settlement"<ref name=":4" />
Tell Uhaimir
[edit]This site consists of three subtells (T, X, and Z). Tell Z was the location of one of the main ziggurats and where temples had been built and rebuilt from the Old Babylonian to the Neo-Babylonian periods. At Tell X a 1st Millennium BC fort was uncovered and at Tell T some Old Babylonian structures were found. Between Uhaimir and Ingharra are three smaller tells and further east Tell W where Neo-Assyrian tablets as well as an entire Neo-Babylonian archive was found consisting of about 1000 tablets.
Tell Ingharra
[edit]Located in the eastern side of the ancient Kish, Tell Ingharra was extensively explored during the Chicago excavation and provided the best known archaeological sequence in the 3rd millennium BC site. The site consists of several subtells (A, B, D, E, F, G, H, and Tell Bandar which is made up of Tells C and V).<ref name="Zaina2016">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Zaina2020">[15]Template:Cite book</ref> In particular, the 1923 excavation concentrated heavily on mound E with its twin ziggurats, while the roughly 130 meter square Neo-Babylonian temple, built on an Early Dynastic plano-copnvex platform, was one of the two buildings that was properly described in a published report.<ref name=":4" />
The twin ziggurats were built of small plano-convex bricks in a herringbone fashion on the summit of Tell Ingharra. The larger one is located on the south-west side of the temple and the smaller one on the south-east side.<ref name=":4" /> The excavation report mainly focused on the larger ziggurat while there had been only one report on the smaller one by Mackay. Based on the findings from the larger ziggurat, it is suggested that the structures were built at the end of the Early Dynastic IIIa period to commemorate the city.<ref name="Zaina2016" /> The fascination of the ziggurats was interesting to the excavators as it was the only Early Dynastic structure that was not destroyed or obscured by later reconstructions, which was why it provided valuable evidence of that time period.<ref name=":4" />
As for the temple complex, the findings of the temple had determined that the mound was part of the city of Hursagkalama. It was used as an active religious centre until after 482 BC. They also had identified the builder as Nabonidus or Nebuchadnezzar II based on the bricks with inscriptions and barrel cylinder fragments reported in the temple.<ref name=":4" />
An Early Dynastic I/IIIa cemetery extended to the south towards Mound A with a number of high status graves containing multiple burials and carts drawn by equids or bovids and are considered as predecessors to the royal burials at Ur.<ref>[16] Guillermo Algaze, "Life and Death in Early Dynastic Kish: The Evidence from Ingharra, Trench Y", in Karen L. Wilson and Deborah Bekken, "Where Kingship Descended from Heaven: Studies on Ancient Kish", Studies in Ancient Cultures 1, Chicago: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, pp. 1โ7, 2023 Template:ISBN</ref>
Area P
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This area, north of tell W, was unearthed during the second excavation season (1923โ1924) led by Mackay, which uncovered the 'Plano-convex building' (PCB).<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6">[17] Zaina, F., "Craft, Administration and Power in Early Dynastic Mesopotamian Public Buildings. Recovering the Plano-convex Building at Kish", Iraq, Palรฉorient, vol. 41, pp. 177โ197, 2015</ref> But outstanding discoveries in Palace A rapidly overshadowed the contemporary excavation here, and the building remained partially uncovered.<ref name=":7">P. R. S. Moorey, "The 'Plano-Convex Building' at Kish and Early Mesopotamian Palaces", Iraq, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 83โ98, 1964</ref>
Revealed by its stratigraphy and pottery assemblage was the existence of three distinct architectural phases.<ref name=":7" /> The earliest archaeological occupation dates back to the ED II period.<ref name=":7" /> Above it, rested the massive ED III construction โ the PCB. Multiple rooms in the PCB exhibited layers of ashes and charcoals with arrowheads and copper blades, attested that the PCB suffered significant destruction twice during the late ED III period.<ref name=":6" /> After its destruction, the PCB was abandoned.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /> Located above later floors of the PCB were scattered burials during the Akkadian period.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />
The 'Plano-convex building'
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The Plano-convex building was a fortified construction built extensively with plano-convex bricks.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" /> It displayed the socio-economic dynamics at Kish during the ED III period.<ref name=":6" /> No characteristic linking the building to a religious construct.<ref name=":4" /> Instead, the Plano-convex building is recognized as a public building associated with the economical production of beer, textile and oil.<ref name=":6" /> The PCB might have also housed the administrative center powered by the elites.<ref name=":6" /> First recognized by Margueron, scholars have divided the building into four main sectors based on the architectural layout:<ref name=":6" />
- Sector A: Production area
- Sector B: Inconclusive but arguably an administration area
- Sector C: Unknown but exhibit a high degree of segregation
- Sector D: Private, domestic area for housing activities
Mound A
[edit]Mound A, which includes a cemetery and an Early Dynastic III palace, was discovered during 1922โ1925 excavations conducted by Ernest Mackay, under the Field Museum and Oxford University.<ref name=":9">[18] E. Mackay, "Report on the excavation of the 'A' Cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia: Part I." Anthropology, Memoirs, vol. 1, no. 1, Chicago: Field Museum, 1925</ref><ref name="Zaina2020" /> Although it was earlier a part of the Ingharra mounds lying about 70 meters to the north, it is now separated by an alluvial valley. The seals and other artifacts found in the graves, dating back to a later age than the palace, show that the site was used as a cemetery from the end of the Early Dynastic period until the early Akkadian Empire period.<ref>Torres-Rouff, Christina, William J. Pestle, and Blair M. Daverman, "Commemorating Bodies and Lives at Kishโs โA Cemeteryโ: (Re)presenting So-cial Memory", Journal of Social Archaeology, 12, pp. 193โ219, 2012</ref><ref name=":9" /><ref>Whelan, E., "Dating the A Cemetery at kish: A reconsideration", JFA 5, pp. 79โ96, 1978</ref><ref>Hrouda, B. and karstens, k., "Zur inneren Chronologie des Friedhofes โ A โ .... bei kig", Zeitschrift fรผr Assyriologie undvorderasiatische Archรคologie 24, pp. 256โ267, 1966</ref><ref>Breniquet, C., "Le cimetiรจre 'A' de kish. Essai d 'interprรฉtation", Iraq 46, pp. 19โ28, 1984</ref>
The Sumerian Palace
[edit]The palace, which was unearthed beneath the mound, had fallen into decay and was used as a burial ground during Early Dynastic III. It comprises three sections โ the original building, the eastern wing and stairway, and the annex. The original building, which was composed of unbaked plano-convex bricks (23 ร 15 ร 3.5โ6 cm), had extremely thick walls, while the annex, which was added later to the south of the building, had comparatively thinner walls. A 2.30 m wide passage was constructed within the outer wall of the original building to prevent invaders from entering the structure.<ref name=":10">[19] E. Mackay, "A Sumerian Palace and the "A" Cemetery: Part 2", Anthropology Memoirs, vol. 1, no. 2, Chicago: Field Museum, 1929</ref>
The archaeological findings within the palace lack pottery items, the most remarkable among them was a fragment of slate and limestone inlay work, which represents the scene of a king punishing a prisoner.<ref name=":10" />
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Tell H
[edit]
In the 1923โ1933 Expedition, Tell H became the focus of its final three seasons (1930โ1933). For personal reasons of the excavators, the Kish material in this section remained selective, mainly yielding Sasanian pottery, coins, incantation bowls and so on.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Langdon1933" /> The dating of this section crossed a range of periods, with layer upon layer built on the site. Evidence shows that in the Early Dynastic III Period, there once even existed a twin city.<ref name=":3" /> Therefore, the city occupies a relatively unsettled presence in chronology. But from the excavation, eight buildings were identified as from the Sasanian period, thus making this place primarily identified as the Sasanian Settlement. Researchers suspect that some of the buildings might function together as a complex serving different purposes, including royal residence, storage, and administration.<ref name=":4" />
The most prominent finding is the stucco decoration in the first two buildings, while the 1923โ1933 team also figured out the floor plan and architectural structure of others. It was partly through these stucco decorations that researchers identified the royal resident to be Bahram V (420โ438 AD)โSasanian kings had their distinctive crowns separately, and the unique crown pattern on stucco served as evidence to support this argument. In Kish, which once functioned as a transfer station between Ctesiphon and Hira, Bahram V built palaces for summer entertainment, which explains why one of the buildings has a huge water tank in the middle, probably functioning to cool down the court in summers. Around Bahram V's palaces, a group of Sasanian people also took residence and developed a system of settlement and commercial activities.<ref name=":4" />
List of rulers
[edit]The Sumerian King List (SKL) lists only 39 rulers among four dynasties of Kish. A fifth dynasty is known and it was an Amorite dynasty unnamed on the SKL. The following list should not be considered complete:
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Dynastic I period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| First dynasty of Kish / Kish I dynasty (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| 1st | File:Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq (detail).jpg | Jushur ๐๐ก |
Template:Fl. (1,200 years) |
|||
| 2nd | File:Sumerian King List, 1800 BC, Larsa, Iraq.jpg | Kullassina-bel ๐ข๐ท๐ฃ๐พ๐๐๐ป |
Uncertain (960 years) |
| ||
| 3rd | File:Sumeriankinglist.jpg | Nangishlishma ๐ข๐ท๐ฃ๐พ๐๐ |
Uncertain (670 years) |
| ||
| 4th | En-tarah-ana ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐พ |
Uncertain (420 years) |
| |||
| 5th | Babum ๐๐๐ |
Uncertain (300 years) |
| |||
| 6th | Puannum ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ |
Uncertain (840 years) |
| |||
| 7th | Kalibum ๐ต๐๐๐ |
Uncertain (960 years) |
| |||
| 8th | Kalumum ๐ ๐ป๐ฌ๐ |
Uncertain (840 years) |
| |||
| 9th | Zuqaqip ๐ ๐ต๐๐ |
Uncertain (900 years) |
| |||
| 10th | Atab ๐๐ฐ |
Uncertain (600 years) |
| |||
| 11th | Mashda ๐ฆ๐๐ค |
Son of Atab | Uncertain (840 years) |
| ||
| 12th | Arwium ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ |
Son of Mashda | Uncertain (720 years) |
| ||
| 13th | File:Fragment of the Epic of Etana, Akkadian, Mesopotamia, First Dynasty of Babylon, c. 1895-1595 BC, clay - Morgan Library & Museum - New York City - DSC06599.jpg | Etana ๐๐ซ๐พ |
"the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries" | Template:Reign (1,500 years) |
| |
| 14th | File:Lista Reale Sumerica.jpg | Balih ๐๐ท๐ด |
Son of Etana | Uncertain (400 years) |
| |
| 15th | En-me-nuna ๐๐จ๐ฃ๐พ |
Uncertain (660 years) |
| |||
| 16th | Melem-Kish ๐จ๐๐ง๐ |
Son of En-me-nuna | Uncertain (900 years) |
| ||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| 17th | Barsal-nuna ๐๐ฉ๐ฃ๐พ |
Son of En-me-nuna | Uncertain (1,200 years) |
| ||
| 18th | Zamug ๐พ |
Son of Barsal-nuna | Uncertain (140 years) |
| ||
| 19th | Tizqar ๐พ๐๐ผ |
Son of Zamug | Uncertain (305 years) |
| ||
| 20th | Ilku ๐ ๐ช๐ |
Uncertain (900 years) |
| |||
| 21st | Iltasadum ๐ ๐ซ๐๐บ๐ |
Uncertain (1,200 years) |
| |||
| 22nd | File:Mebaragsi, King of Kish (transcription of fragment, original in Iraq National Museum).jpg | En-me-barage-si ๐๐จ๐๐๐ |
"who made the land of Elam submit" | Template:Reign (900 years) |
| |
| 23rd | File:Aga of Kish Stele of Ushumgal.png | Aga ๐๐ต |
Son of En-me-barage-si | Template:Reign (625 years) |
| |
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
| Early Dynastic II period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Munushushumgal ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ |
Uncertain; this ruler may have Template:Fl. sometime during the ED I, II, and/or IIIa period(s)<ref name=":0"/> |
| ||||
| Early Dynastic IIIa period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Lugalmen | Uncertain; this ruler may have Template:Fl. sometime during the ED II and/or IIIa period(s)<ref name=":0"/> |
| ||||
| Lugalutu ๐๐ |
Uncertain; this ruler may have Template:Fl. sometime during the ED IIIa period<ref name=":0"/> |
| ||||
| Menunesi | Uncertain; this ruler may have Template:Fl. sometime during the EDIIIa period<ref name=":0"/> |
| ||||
| File:Uhub vase inscription.jpg | Uhub ๐๐ธ |
Template:Reign |
| |||
| File:Mace head of Mesilim Louvre AO2349.jpg | Mesilim ๐จ๐ฒ |
Template:Reign |
| |||
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
| Early Dynastic IIIb period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Second dynasty of Kish / Kish II dynasty (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| 1st | File:Transcription of the Weld-Blundell Prism. Stephen Herbert Langdon (1876-1937) Published in 1923.jpg | Susuda ๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐๐ |
"the fuller" | Template:Reign (201 years) |
| |
| Aya'anzud ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ท |
Uncertain; these two rulers may have Template:Fl. sometime during the EDIIIb period.<ref name=":0"/> |
| ||||
| Ennail ๐๐พ๐ |
| |||||
| Zuzu ๐ช๐ช |
Template:Reign | |||||
| 2nd | File:Translation of the Weld-Blundell Prism. Stephen Herbert Langdon (1876-1937) Published in 1923.jpg | Dadasig ๐๐๐ |
Uncertain (81 years) |
| ||
| 3rd | Mamagal ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฒ |
"the boatman" | Uncertain (360 years) |
| ||
| 4th | Kalbum ๐ ๐ ๐๐ |
Son of Mamagal | Uncertain (195 years) |
| ||
| 5th | Tuge ๐๐ |
Uncertain (300 years) |
| |||
| 6th | Men-nuna ๐๐ฃ๐พ |
Son of Tuge | Uncertain (180 years) |
| ||
| 7th | Lugalngu ๐๐๐น๐ฏ |
Template:Reign (290 years) |
| |||
| Ibbi-Ea ๐๐๐น๐ฏ |
Template:Reign (420 years) |
| ||||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
| Third dynasty of Kish / Kish III dynasty (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| 1st | Kug-Bau ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ |
"the woman tavern-keeper, who made firm the foundations of Kish" | Template:Reign (100 years) |
| ||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
| Proto-Imperial period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Fourth dynasty of Kish / Kish IV dynasty (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| 8th | File:Weld-Blundell Prism with transcription by Stephen Herbert Langdon (1876-1937).jpg | Enbi-Ishtar ๐๐๐น๐ฏ |
Uncertain (290 years) |
| ||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| 1st | File:Weld-Blundell Prism with transcription and translation by Stephen Herbert Langdon (1876-1937).jpg | Puzur-Suen ๐ ค๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ช |
Son of Kug-bau | Template:Reign (25 years) |
| |
| 2nd | Ur-Zababa ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ท๐ท |
Son of Puzur-Suen | Template:Reign (6 years) |
| ||
| Akkadian period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| 3rd | File:The Sumerian King List, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.jpg | Zimudar ๐ฃ๐ฌ๐ฏ |
Uncertain (30 years) |
| ||
| 4th | Usi-watar ๐๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฏ |
Son of Zimudar | Uncertain (7 years) |
| ||
| 5th | Eshtar-muti ๐น๐ฏ๐ฌ๐พ |
Uncertain (11 years) |
| |||
| 6th | Ishme-Shamash ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ |
Uncertain (11 years) |
| |||
| 7th | Shu-ilishu ๐๐๐๐ |
Uncertain (15 years) |
| |||
| 8th | Nanniya ๐พ๐ญ๐๐ |
"the jeweller" | Uncertain (7 years) |
| ||
| Template:Quotation | ||||||
| Iphur-Kish | Template:Reign |
| ||||
| # | Depiction | Ruler | Succession | Epithet | Template:Abbr dates | Notes |
| Isin-Larsa period (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Manana dynasty (Template:Circa) | ||||||
| Iawian | Template:Reign | |||||
| Manana | Template:Reign | |||||
| Halium | Uncertain | |||||
| Abdi-Erah | Uncertain | |||||
| Ahi-marasy | Uncertain | |||||
| Naqimum | Template:Reign | |||||
| Sumu-iamutbala | Template:Reign | |||||
| Ashduniarim | Template:Reign | |||||
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_Published_in_1923.jpg){kind=link}
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Gallery
[edit]-
Ruins of a ziggurat at the Sumerian city of Kish. Babel Governorate, Iraq.
-
An ancient mound at Kish, Babel Governorate, Iraq
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An ancient mound at the city of Kish, Mesopotamia, Babel Governorate, Iraq
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Pottery fragments, illegal exavations at the ancient city of Kish, Tell al-Uhaymir, Iraq
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Ancient mound at the city of Kish, Mesopotamia, Babil Governorate, Iraq
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Ruins near the ziggurat of Kish at Tell al-Uhaymir, Mesopotamia, Babel Governorate, Iraq
-
Ruins near the ziggurat of Kish, Tell al-Uhaymir, Babylon Governorate, Iraq
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Ruins near the ziggurat of the city of Kish at Tell al-Uhaymir, Babel Governorate, Iraq
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Ruins of the ziggurat of the ancient city of Kish, Tell al-Uhaymir, Mesopotamia, Iraq
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Indus Valley civilisation "Unicorn" seal excavated in Kish, early Sumerian period, c. 3000 BC. An example of ancient Indus-Mesopotamia relations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- [20]al-Ruwayshdi, S., "A Comparison Between the Palace at Kish and Later Palaces", Sumer 30, p. 47-49, 1974
- Algaze, G., "Private Houses and Graves at Ingharra. A Reconsideration", Mesopotamia 18โ19, pp. 135โ195, 1983โ84
- Charvat, Petr, "The Kish Evidence and the Emergence of States in Mesopotamia."., Current Anthropology, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 686โ88, 1981
- Charvรกt, Petr, "Thresher of the Goddess Sud. An Early Dynastic Sealing from Kish", Pearls, Politics and Pistachios. Essays in Anthropology and Memories on the Occasion of Susan Pollock's 65th Birthday, hrsg. v. Aydin Abar, pp. 143-150, 2021
- Charvat, Petr, "Earliest History of the Kingdom of Kiลก", P. Charvรกt and P.M. Vlฤkovรก (eds.), Who Was King? Who Was Not King? The Rulers and the Ruled in the Ancient Near East, Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences, Prague, pp. 16โ23, 2010
- Couturaud, Barbara, "Some inlays, a stone mace and an engraved plaque: Elements for a short note on Kish iconography of war", Ash-sharq: Bulletin of the Ancient Near EastโArchaeological, Historical and Societal Studies 6.2, pp. 127-141, 2022
- Dalley, Stephanie, "Old Babylonian Prophecies at Uruk and Kish" Opening the Tablet Box. Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster, hrsg. v. Sarah C. Melville, Alice L. Slotsky (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 42), pp. 85-98, 2010
- [21] I. J. Gelb, "Sargonic Texts in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford", Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary 5, University of Chicago Press, 1970 Template:ISBN
- McGuire Gibson, "The Archaeological uses of Cuneiform Documents: Patterns of Occupation at the City of Kish", Iraq, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 113โ123, Autumn 1972
- Harper, Prudence O., "Tomorrow We Dig! Excerpts from Vaughn E. Crawfordโs Letters and Newsletters from al-Hiba", in Leaving No Stones Unturned: Essays on the Ancient Near East and Egypt in Honor of Donald P. Hansen, edited by Erica Ehrenberg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 89โ102, 2002
- Harden, D.B, "A Typological Examination of Sumerian Pottery from Jamdat Nasr and kish.", Iraq 1, pp. 30โ44, 1934
- Langdon, S.H., "Tablets from Kiลก", Proceedings of the Society of Babylonian Archaeology, vol. 33, pp. 185โ96, 232โ42, 1911
- Molleson, Theya, and Joel Blondiaux., "Riders' bones from Kish, Iraq.", Cambridge Archaeological Journal 4.2, pp. 312โ316, 1994
- P. R. S. Moorey, "A Re-Consideration of the Excavations on Tell Ingharra (East Kish) 1923-33", Iraq, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 18โ51, 1966
- P. R. S. Moorey, "The Terracotta Plaques from Kish and Hursagkalama, c. 1850 to 1650 B.C.", Iraq, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 79โ99, 1975
- P. R. S. Moorey, "Kish Excavation 1923โ1933", Oxford: Oxford Press, 1978 Template:ISBN
- P. R. S. Moorey, "Cemetery A at Kish: Grave Groups and Chronology", Iraq, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 86โ128, 1970
- Nissen, Hans "The early history of the ancient Near East, 9000โ2000 B.C." Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 1988. Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN) Elizabeth Lutzeir, trans.
- Steinkeller, Piotr, "A Campaign of Southern City-States against Kiลก as Documented in the ED IIIa Sources from ล uruppak (Fara)", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 76.1, pp. 3-26, 2024
- Watelin, L.Ch., "Rapport sur les Fouilles de kish", Journal Asiatique 215, pp. 103โ116, 1929
- Watelin, L.Ch., "Note sur l'Industrie Lithique de kish", L'Anthropologie 39, pp. 65โ76, 1929
- Yoffee, Norman, "Towards a Biography of Kish: Notes on Urbanism and Comparison", in Literature as Politics, Politics as Literature: Essays on the Ancient Near East in Honor of Peter Machinist, edited by David S. Vanderhooft and Abraham Winitzer, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 527โ544, 2013
- [22] Norman Yoffee, "The Economics of Ritual at Late Old Babylonian Kish", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 312โ343, 1998
- Westenholz, Aage, "Was Kish the Center of a Territorial State in the Third Millennium?โand Other Thorny Questions", The Third Millennium, Brill, 686-715, 2020
- Zaina, F., "Il sondaggio Y a Kiลก. Cronologia, stratigrafia ed architettura", in G. Guarducci, S. Valentini (eds.), Il futuro dellโarcheologia. Il Contributo dei Giovani Ricercatori. Atti del IV Convegno nazionale dei giovani archeologi, Tuscania (VT) 12-15 maggio 2011, Roma, pp. 195-204, 2011
- Zaina, Federico, "Delving into Archaeological Archives, a Single-researcher Approach. The Case Study of Ancient Kish (Central Iraq)", Mesopotamia, vol. 000, no. 053, pp. 1-14, 2018