Ur III Period (2112–2004 BC) Mesopotamian Royal Building: The

Ur III period (2112–2004 BC) After the fall of the Akkadian empire, Ur- Nammu of Ur soon united southern Mesopotamia. The ensuing period was known as the Third Dynasty of Ur or the Ur III period. The heart of the empire was a group of city-states ruled by civil and military governors appointed by the king. Other centers in the region to the north and east were under the control of military officers. The area beyond this was not under the rule of the kings of Ur, but local states were often allied to the Third Dynasty of Ur through marriages or treaties. Several centrally located redistribution centers served as the repositories of commodities sent in from the provinces, and from them the central government supplied the temples and paid those entitled to royal support or rations. The system depended on high degree of central planning and accounting, grounded in a literate bureaucracy. Ceramic forms during the Ur III period tend to be simple, with angular rims and decoration. One of the most common types is a band-rimmed bowl with a flat base. Jars with convex base, high carination, and corrugated rim appear in both regular and miniature forms. Mesopotamian Royal Building: The Ur-Nammu Foundation Deposit OI archaeologists working at Nippur excavated this deposit from a baked brick box in the foundations of the Ekur (“House of the Mountain”)—the temple of Enlil, head of the Sumerian pantheon. The figure depicts the ruler Ur-Nammu, identified by the Sumerian inscription on both his long, belted skirt and on the tablet included in the deposit: “Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, king of the lands of Sumer and Akkad, the one who built the Ekur of Enlil;” he is represented as a builder, carrying a basket upon his head to make the first bricks of the temple. The beads and unworked chips of stone in the deposit had a ceremonial value; in some temples, they were also strewn over the foundations. Foundation figure of Ur- Nammu Copper alloy Iraq, Nippur, Ekur of Enlil Ur III period, reign of Ur- Nammu (2112–2095 BC) Excavated in 1955–56 A30553 Tablet Limestone Iraq, Nippur, Ekur of Enlil Ur III period, reign of Ur- Nammu (2112–2095 BC) Excavated in 1955–56 A30554 Beads and unworked chips of stone Frit, agate, lapis lazuli, carnelian Iraq, Nippur, Ekur of Enlil Ur III period, reign of Ur- Nammu (2112–2095 BC) Excavated in 1955–56 A30555A–T, A0556A–B, A30557.

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