First Dynasty of Ur explained

The first dynasty of Ur (abbreviated Ur I) was a dynasty of rulers from the city of Ur in ancient Sumer who . Ur I is part of the Early Dynastic III period of ancient Mesopotamia. ^[1] It was preceded by the earlier First Dynasty of Kish and the First Dynasty of Uruk.^[2]

Rule

According to the Sumerian King List, the final ruler of the First Dynasty of Uruk Lugal-kitun was overthrown by Mesannepada of Ur. There were then four kings in the First Dynasty of Ur: Mesannepada, Mes-kiagnuna, Elulu, and Balulu.^[3] Two other kings earlier than Mes-Anepada are known from other sources, namely Mes-kalam-du and A-Kalam-du.^[3] It would seem that Mes-Anepada was the son of Mes-kalam-du, according to the inscription found on a bead in Mari, and Mes-kalam-du was the founder of the dynasty.^[3] A probable Queen Puabi is also known from her lavish tomb at the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The First Dynasty of Ur had extensive influence over the area of Sumer, and apparently led a union of south Mesopotamian polities.^[3]

Ethnicity and language

Like other Sumerians, the people of Ur were a non-Semitic people who may have come from the east circa 3300 BCE, and spoke a language isolate.^{[4] [5]}

International trade

See main article: Indus-Mesopotamia relations and Egypt-Mesopotamia relations. The artifacts found in the royal tombs of the dynasty show that foreign trade was particularly active during this period, with many materials coming from foreign lands, such as Carnelian likely coming from the Indus or Iran, Lapis Lazuli from the Badakhshan area of Afghanistan, silver from Turkey, copper from Oman, and gold from several locations such as Egypt, Nubia, Turkey or Iran.^[6] Carnelian beads from the Indus were found in Ur tombs dating to 2600-2450, in an example of Indus-Mesopotamia relations.^[7] In particular, carnelian beads with an etched design in white were probably imported from the Indus Valley, and made according to a technique developed by the Harappans. These materials were used into the manufacture of beautiful objects in the workshops of Ur.^[6]

The Ur I dynasty had enormous wealth as shown by the lavishness of its tombs. This was probably due to the fact that Ur acted as the main harbour for trade with India, which put her in a strategic position to import and trade vast quantities of gold, carnelian or lapis lazuli.^[8] In comparison, the burials of the kings of Kish were much less lavish.^[8] High-prowed Sumerian ships may have traveled as far as Meluhha, thought to be the Indus region, for trade.^[8]

Demise

According to the Sumerian King List, the First Dynasty of Ur was finally defeated, and power went to the Elamite Awan dynasty.^[9] The Sumerian king Eannatum (c.2500–2400 BCE) of Lagash, then came to dominate the whole region, and established one of the first verifiable empires in history.^[10]

The power of Ur would only revive a few centuries later with the Third Dynasty of Ur.^{[10] [11]}

List of rulers

	Depiction	Ruler	Succession	Epithet	dates	Notes
Early Dynastic IIIa period
Predynastic Ur
		A-Imdugud				Historicity certain His name does not appear on the SKL Known from an inscribed cylinder seal bearing the title of, "Governor of Ur" (found in tomb PG 1236 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)[12]
		Ur-Pabilsag	Son of A-Imdugud (?)[13]			temp. of Ursangpae[14] Known from an inscription fragment bearing the title of, "King of Ur" (found in tomb PG 779 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)
	Depiction	Ruler	Succession	Epithet	dates	Notes
Early Dynastic IIIb period
		Akalamdug	Son of Meskalamdug (?)			Son of Meskalamdug (?) temp. of Akurgal Known from dynastic beads and tomb inscriptions bearing the title of, "King of Ur" (found in tomb PG 1332 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)
		Meskalamdug	Son of Akalamdug (?)			Son of Akalamdug (?) temp. of Enakalle Known from dynastic beads and tomb inscriptions bearing the title of, "King of Kish" (found in tomb PG 755 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)
		Puabi	to Meskalamdug (?)			Known from inscriptions bearing the title of, "Queen" (found in tomb PG 800 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur) She may have ruled in her own right as queen regent
1st		Mesannepada	Son of Meskalamdug (?)		(80 years)	Son of Meskalamdug (?) temp. of Ur-Lumma Known from the SKL, Tummal Chronicle, and an inscribed seal bearing the title of, "King of Kish" (found in tomb PG 1232/1237 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)
2nd		Meskiagnun	Son of Mesannepada (?)		(30 or 36 years)	Son of Mesannepada (?) temp. of Epa'e Said on the SKL to have been the son of Mesannepada and to have held the title of, "King" of not just Ur; but, all of Sumer Known from the Tummal Chronicle his tomb PG 1157 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur
3rd		Elulu			(25 years)	Historicity certain. Said on the SKL to have held the title of "king" of not just Ur; but, all of Sumer. temp. of Lugalanda
4th		Balulu			Uncertain (36 years)	Historicity uncertain. Known from the SKL; very little otherwise. Said on the SKL to have held the title of "king" of not just Ur; but, all of Sumer.
		Enshakushanna	Son of Elulu (?)		(60 years)	Son of Elulu (?) temp. of Urukagina Held the title of "lord of Sumer and king of all the land".
		Lugal-kinishe-dudu			(120 years)	Originally from Uruk Held the title of "King of Uruk and Ur" temp. of Enannatum II
		Lugal-kisal-si	Son of Lugal-kinishe-dudu			Son of Lugal-kinishe-dudu. Held the title of "king of Uruk and Ur". temp. of Enentarzi
		A'annepada	Son of Mesannepada		Uncertain; this ruler may have sometime during the EDIIIb period	Son of Mesannepada temp. of Entemena Known from dedication tablets with inscriptions bearing the title "King of Ur" (found in tomb PG 580 located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur)
	Depiction	Ruler	Succession	Epithet	dates	Notes
Proto-Imperial period
		Lunanna			Uncertain; this ruler may have sometime during the Proto-Imperial period	Historicity certain. temp. of Sargon

Sumerian King List

Only the final kings of the First Dynasty of Ur, from Mesannepada to Balulu and possibly 4 unnamed kings, are mentioned in the Sumerian King List:^[15]

Artifacts

See main article: Royal Cemetery of Ur. The Royal Cemetery of Ur held the tombs of several rulers of the First Dynasty of Ur.^[3] The tombs are particularly lavish, and testify to the wealth of the First Dynasty of Ur.^[8] One of the most famous tombs is that of Queen Puabi.^[8]

See also

• Sumerian King List
• History of Sumer
• Third Dynasty of Ur

Notes and References

1. Book: The Cambridge Ancient History . 1970 . Cambridge University Press . 9780521070515 . 228 . registration . en.
2. Book: Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East . 2009 . Infobase Publishing . 9781438126760 . 664 . en.
3. Book: Frayne . Douglas . Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC) . 2008 . University of Toronto Press . 9781442690479 . 901–902 . en.
4. "The Sumerians, a non-Semitic people who perhaps came from the east" in Book: Curtis . Adrian . Oxford Bible Atlas . 2009 . Oxford University Press . 9780191623325 . 16 . en. . Mention of Gen 11:2 "And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there." (English Standard Version)
5. Book: Bromiley . Geoffrey W. . The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia . 1979 . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing . 9780802837813 . 392 . en.
6. British Museum notice "Grave goods from Ur"
7. Book: McIntosh . Jane . The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives . 2008 . ABC-CLIO . 9781576079072 . 182–190 . en.
8. Book: Diakonoff . I. M. . Early Antiquity . 2013 . University of Chicago Press . 9780226144672 . 78–79 . en.
9. "Then Urim was defeated and the kingship was taken to Awan." in Book: Kriwaczek . Paul . Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization . 2014 . Atlantic Books . 9781782395676 . 136 . en.
10. Book: Incorporated . Facts On File . Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East . 2009 . Infobase Publishing . 9781438126760 . 664 . en.
11. Book: Knapp . Arthur Bernard . The history and culture of ancient Western Asia and Egypt . 1988 . Wadsworth . 9780534106454 . 92 . en.
12. Woolley. Leonard. Leonard Woolley. Hall. Henry. Henry Hall (Egyptologist). Legrain. L.. 1900. Ur excavations. Trustees of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania by the aid of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 9780598629883. https://archive.org/embed/urexcavations186385join. II. 2010-07-01.
13. Book: Aruz. J.. Wallenfels. R.. 2003. Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art Series. New York. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 9780300098839.
14. Marchesi. Gianni. Sallaberger. Walther. Walther Sallaberger. Schrakamp. Ingo. January 2015. Toward a Chronology of Early Dynastic Rulers in Mesopotamia. History and Philology (ARCANE 3; Turnhout). 139–156.
15. Web site: CDLI-Found Texts . cdli.ucla.edu.