The city of Ur, the capital of the Sumerians
Ur was one of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia, because it was a large and highly developed society for the period, and it once served as the capital of the southern region of Mesopotamia. It was a major urban center during the Sumerian civilization, which flourished in Mesopotamia from around 4500 to 2000 BCE.
Ur's location on the banks of the powerful Euphrates River provided water and linked it to Mesopotamia's global economy: goods found in burials at Ur—lapis lazuli, carnelian, agate, gold, silver, copper—were all have been imported into a region with few natural resources.
The location
Ur was located in ancient Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq. It was situated along the Euphrates River.
Today it located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq.
It also situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about 10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates.
Its importance
The city was the capital of the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, which ruled over a large empire from around 2112-2004 BCE
Ur was an extremely wealthy and influential city, known for its magnificent temples, palaces, and royal tombs. The famous ziggurats of Ur were large stepped pyramidal temple towers.
Ur, important city of ancient southern Mesopotamia (Sumer), situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about 10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. In antiquity the river ran much closer to the city; the change in its course has left the ruins in a desert that once was irrigated and fertile land.
The cradle of the prophet Abraham (peace be upon him)
Before 2100 BC, in Mesopotamia, the Ur civilization was born in the land of Iraq as the capital of the Sumerians in the form of an oval-shaped city at the mouth of the ancient Euphrates River, to be one of the oldest known civilizations in the history of the world, and the cradle of our master Abraham, peace be upon him, who was born there 2000 years ago BC.
The Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - all trace the origins of their religious tradition back to the prophet Abraham, who was from the city of Ur..
According to the biblical narrative, Abraham was born and raised in the Sumerian city of Ur, which was a major urban center at the time.
The book of Genesis in the Bible and the Quran both state that God called Abraham to leave his homeland of Ur and journey to the land of Canaan.
Manchester university professor Stuart Campbell shows excavation in progress at Tell Khaiber, Iraq a British archeologist says he and his colleagues have unearthed a huge rare complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.
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| tomb of the prophet Abraham in Ur |
Stuart Campbell of Manchester University's Archeology Department says it goes back about 4000 years, around the time Abraham would have lived there, it is believed to be an administrative center of Ur
the beginning
The history of the Ur civilization began as an inhabited city since the slaves period, where the villages were agricultural settlements, but they became large settlements due to the need of these cities for higher standards of living, in terms of control over irrigation in times of drought, and advanced industries, about 2600 years before Christ, and during Under the Third Dynasty, Ur flourished again, became the sacred city of the legendary Eniana, and the kings of the Kingdom of Ur eventually took control of the Sumerian state.
Its area was 240 acres, and it was inhabited by about 24 thousand people. Among its most important monuments is a wall and a wall surrounding a group of ancient temples, and the great sacred mountains, which are pyramids that rise in the form of decreasing terraces and are surrounded by slopes that reach their summit.
The city was inhabited by unidentified people who preceded the Sumerians and Semites. They were among the first to settle in southern Mesopotamia and the region of the middle Euphrates. They were called the First Euphrates. They were believed to be among the Titans due to their strong build and strength. The names of a number of cities were attributed to them, including Ad, Ludg, Ur, Uruk, and Larsa.
The civilization
Ur
The Ur civilization rose as the capital of the Sumerian kingdom in 2120 years BC, when Ottogal, the king of the Uruk civilization, took the initiative to declare the first large-scale rebellion against the tribal rulers of Gutar. He was supported in this work by the rulers of Sumer, among them Ur-Nammu, who liberated Sumer and founded the third dynasty in the city of Ur, the Dynasty Ur III begins the modern Sumerian era.
The city of Ur flourished during the period of the rule of Ur III, in the period extending from 2211 BC to 2003 BC, when five great kings succeeded to the throne of the Third Dynasty of Ur, the first of whom was the founder of Ur-Nammu, and the last of whom was Abisen bin Sushin, who was the fifth and last king in the Dynasty Ur III, where he ruled from 2027 to 2003 BC.
The temples were common places for the idols and the priests together, while the priests were servants of those idols, practicing religious rituals and ceremonies for them, and providing them and their statues with all the requirements they needed.
During that period, many ambitious programs were completed by its five kings, leaving their traces in the cities in the form of temples, ziggurats, and palaces. The step tower of the temple dominated the plain surrounding Ur, reaching a height of 70 feet.
The Zagora of Ur, which was built by King Ur-Nammu, is one of the most famous zaggurats in the country, before 2100 BC. It was dedicated to the worship of the idols of the moon Iniana. It is one of the most famous zaggoras and the most resistant and steadfast in the face of time and its destructive effects, and it still stands tall to this day.
This civilization contains 16 royal tombs, built of mud bricks and clay, and each tomb has a structure surmounted by a dome.
Commercial activity in Ur
The city of Ur was an important commercial center, and early archaeological excavations proved that Ur possessed great wealth, and that the citizens enjoyed an unprecedented level of comfort.
Finally, this city was excavated after World War I by the British Museum. A joint mission was formed by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, which carried out excavation work under the direction of Leonard Wylie in 1934 AD.
But what was discovered was a more complex mystery than the mystery of the Ur civilization. The Great Tomb of Death was discovered, which is a group of royal tombs. These tombs were of enormous size, but they were a profound mystery of the Ur civilization.
Some researchers believe that the secret of this great cemetery came after the Epic of Gilgamesh. After the death of King Enkidu’s friend, the king wanted to search for the philosophy of existence and the herb of immortality, but a poisonous herb led to mass death. However, scholars including anthropologists, historians, and writers rejected this theory and failed to understand the lines of The code written in the ancient Akkadian language, so that history preserves the secret of the Ur civilization like a precious pearl buried in the sea of darkness.
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