Gu'abba

Gu'abba (Gú-ab-baki), also Gu-abba and Guabba, was the name of a city but also in the Ur III period the name of the district around it. It was active in the Early Dynastic III through the Akkadian Empire and Ur III periods. It is known that there was a large harbor and shipyard (mar-sa), where "'big boats' (má-gal-gal) or 'Makkan boats' (má Má-ganki)" were built, that handled trade with the Persian Gulf entities not just for the Girsu province but for other parts of the Ur III Empire as well. These ships had a crew as large as 120 men.[1] There were also regular shipments of sesame stalks reaped in Susa and received at Gu'abba. Susa is know to have had a harbor at that time.[2] In the Ur III period a transportation and messenger resthouse was established in Gu'abba.[3]

The city also had a palace, several temples, large granaries,and a large textile industry which mostly processed wool.[4][5] There were over 4000 weavers employed at Gu'abba along with about 6000 support personnel. The weavers were of some status and were provided with meat and sesame oil.[6][7] Texts from the Ur III period record that there was a "village of traveling merchants" from Meluhha in Gu'abba.[8]

Nin-MAR.KI is the city goddess of Gu'abba. A year name of Ur-Baba, a ruler of the 2nd dynasty of Lagash who preceded Gudea was "Year in which the temple of Ninmarki in Gu'abba was built". The temple owned large segments of the land and industry in the city.[9] There was also a shrine to the deified ruler Shulgi in the city.[10] The city was mentioned in Sumerian temple hymns as "a house which extends over the midst of the sea".[11] In the Sumerian literary composition Lament for Sumer and Ur it states:

"Enlil brought down Elam, the foe, from the mountain, He made Nanse, the princely daughter, to dwell in a strange city. He put Ninmar to the flames in the shrine Gu'abba, Its silver and lapis lazuli is carried off in big boats. The queen—her possessions destroyed completely—the holy Ninmar ..."[12]

In a text of the Lagash ruler Gudea it states

"To Ninmar, pretty woman, first child of Nanše, his lady, did Gudea, governor of Lagash, her wall of Guabba, the corral, build; within her house he built for her."[13]

History

The city was known in the Early Dynastic II and Akkadian Empire periods

but did not become prominent until the time of the Ur III Empire. In the Ur III period the nation-states of Girsu and Lagash, independent powers during the Early Dynastic period, were combined into a single province with an area of around 3000 square kilometers extending 80 kilometers north to south and 40 kilometers east to west which is sometimes referred to as Girsu and sometimes as Ĝirsu-Lagaš.[14] Canals connected the major cities of Girsu, Lagaš, Nigen, and Guabba. It consisted of three districts, Ĝirsu, Kinunir-NIĜIN ("the banks of the canal flowing towards NIĜIN") and Gu'abba ("the sea shore"). The Kinunir-NIĜIN district included the towns of Lagaš, Kinunir, NIĜIN (Tell Zurghul), Kiesa/Kiessa/Ki'eš, and Urub and had temples of Inanna, Dumuzi-abzu (Kinunir), Nanše (Ningin), Nindara (Ki'eš), Bagara, Ĝatumdu, and Lugal-Urub (Urub).[15][16] There were also known to have been shrines to the deified ruler Shulgi in that district, at Nina, Kiešsa, Kinunir, and Guabba.[17] The Gu'abba district included Gu'abba, Old Gu'abba, Asuna, Hurim, and Gukara. In this period the coastline was receding to the south and it is thought that Old Gu'abba was on the former coastline. Other known towns were Kisura, Kalamsaga, and Kimadasal. Kinunir is closely associated with Niĝin. Kinunir and Niĝin have also been referred to as "satellites" of Gu'abba.[18][19]

The "Going-to-Nigin Canal", known as early as the Early Dynastic III period, linked the cities of Girsu, Lagash, Nigin, and Gu'abba.[20] During this period the northern coastline of the Persian Gulf would have been much further to the north then it currently is.[21]

Location

The location of Gu'abba is unknown though its general area is known to be in the southeastern part of the ancient Girsu province and on what would have been the north coastline of the Persian Gulf in that period. It is also known to have been on a canal linking it to other cities in the province.[20] Text indicate that it was 12 days travel by boat from Gu'abba to Puzrish-Dagan and also that is five "towing days" from Girsu to Gu'abba. A towing day was about 10 kilometers.[22] Ur III texts indicate that by the time the sea had continued to recede and that by then Gu'abba was several days travel from the sea.[23]

One proposal for the city's location is Ishan Hoffa which is 65 kilometers east of Girsu.[24] Another proposal is Tell Ijdaiwah, 63 kilometers south of Girsu.[23] A final proosal is an unnamed site 58 kilometers south-east of Girsu. None of these proposals has gained support as their size and occupation period are not appropriate. A further proposal is Tell Turoum which lies about 10 kilometers south of Nigin (47 km southeast of Girsu, and 18 km southeast of Lagash). The site has an area of about 30 hectares and a surface survey indicates occupation in the Early Dynastic III through the Third dynasty of Ur periods.[22][25][26]

Kinunir

Kinunir (ša3 ki-nu-nirki), also Kinirsha, was a town in the southern region of Mesopotamia, occupied in the Early Dynastic III, Akkadian Empire, and Ur III periods. It is still unlocated. Rarely, it is called Kinirša. It is first mentioned in the Early Dynastic III period as one of the places, along with Ki'eš, sacked by Lugal-Zage-Si. It had a temple of the god Dumuzi-abzu, E-Kinirsha, as well as a shrine to the deified Ur III ruler Shulgi.[27]

Ur III ruler Shulgi established a roadhouse at Kinunir which was on primary trade route between Ur and Susa, which was then part of the Ur III Empire. Texts show a number of Elamites housed there in transit.[28] As an example a text lists provisions for 30 Elamites and to Simmu, the "man of Marhasi" on the way to Drehem. In another text the 30 are called "Elamites of Marhasii".[29] Similar roadhouses were established at Girsu and Gu'abba.[30][31]

Patronyms like "Lu-Kinunir" and Ki-nu-nir-ki-du10 "Kinunir is a good place" are known from this period.[32][33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Laursen S, Steinkeller, "Babylonia, the Gulf Region, and the Indus: archaeological and textual evidence for contact in the Third and Early Second Millennium B.C.", Winona Lake, In: Eisenbrauns, 2017
  2. ^ Maekawa, K., "Agricultural Production of the Girsu-Lagaš Institution at Susa During the Ur III Period", In Susa and Elam II. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 48–80, 2023
  3. ^ Heimpel, W, "Towards an Understanding of the Term Sikkum", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 88, no. 1, pp. 5–31, 1994
  4. ^ Steinkeller, Piotr, "Trade routes and commercial networks in the Persian Gulf during the third millennium BC", Collection of Papers Presented to the Third International Biennial Conference of the Persian Gulf (History, Culture, and Civilization). Tehran: Scientific Board of the Third International Conference of the Persian Gulf, Department of History, University of Tehran, 2013
  5. ^ Alivernini, Sergio, "Some Considerations on the Management of an Administrative Structure in Ur III Mesopotamia: The Case of mar-sa", From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22–24 July 2010. Penn State Press, 2013
  6. ^ Steinkeller, Piotr, "Care for the Elderly in Ur III Times: Some New Insights", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie & Vorderasiatische Archäologie 108.2, 2018
  7. ^ Lafont, Bertrand, "Women at Work and Women in Economy and Society during the Neo-Sumerian Period", The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East, edited by Brigitte Lion and Cécile Michel, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 149-173, 2016
  8. ^ Vermaak, P. S. 2008, "Guabba, the Meluhhan Village in Mesopotamia", Journal for Semitics 17, pp. 553–570, 2008
  9. ^ Sjöberg, Å.W., Bergmann, E. 1969. The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns. Locust Valley, New York: J.J. Augustin Publisher, 1969
  10. ^ [1] Witzig, Sophia, "Les gouverneurs de Girsu/Lagas sous la IIIe dynastie d'Ur (2112-2002 AEC)", Dissertation, Université Lumière-Lyon II, 2023
  11. ^ Sj6berg, A., and Bergmann, E., "The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns", Locust Valley, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin, 1969
  12. ^ Kramer, Samuel Noah, "Ancient Sumer and Iran: Gleanings from Sumerian Literature", Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 1, pp. 9–16, 1987
  13. ^ https://cdli.earth/P432006 "RIME 3/1.01.07.070 Composite Artifact Entry." (2012) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 1, 2023
  14. ^ Yoffee, Norman, "Myths of the Archaic State. Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005
  15. ^ Bartash, Vitali, "Humans as Donations and the Question of Temple Slavery in Early Mesopotamia", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 49-82, 2025
  16. ^ [2] Notizia, Palmiro, "Institutional Lending Practices in the Ur III Period (ca. 2110–2003 BCE): the še-ur5-ra-Loans from Ĝirsu-Lagaš", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 112.2, pp. 154-183, 2022
  17. ^ [3] Pitts, Audrey, "The Cult of the Deified King in Ur III Mesopotamia", Harvard University, 2015
  18. ^ Sharlach, T. M.,"III. The Bala of the Province of Lagash: Part I: Commodities", in Provincial Taxation and the UR III State. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 61–102, 2004
  19. ^ [4] Alivernini, Sergio, "A Catalogue of Harbours in the Province of Ĝirsu/Lagaš Documented in the Administrative Texts of the Ur III Period", Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 72.3, pp. 275-286, 2019
  20. ^ a b Hammer, Emily, Elizabeth Stone, and Augusta McMahon, "The structure and hydrology of the early dynastic city of lagash (tell al-hiba) from satellite and aerial images", Iraq 84, pp. 103-127, 2022
  21. ^ Iacobucci, G., Troiani, F., Milli, S., & Nadali, D., "Geomorphology of the lower mesopotamian plain at tell zurghul archaeological site", Journal of Maps, 19(1), 2023
  22. ^ a b [5] al-Hamdani, Abdulamir, "Shadow States: The Archaeology of Power in the Marshes of Southern Mesopotamia. Doctoral Dissertation submitted at StonyBrook University", 2015
  23. ^ a b Zarins, Juris, "The early settlement of southern Mesopotamia: review of recent historical, geological and archaeological research", JAOS 112/1, pp. 55-77, 1992
  24. ^ Heimpel, Wolfgang, "Assyriologische Feldforshung", in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft im Alten Vorderasien by Harmatta, J & Komoróczy, G (eds.), pp. 527-529, 1976
  25. ^ Al-Ḥamdani, Abdulamir, "Kingdom of reeds: the archaeological heritage of southern Iraqi marshes", The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII) Newsletter, No. 9, pp. 15-20, 2014
  26. ^ Al-Ḥamdani, Abdulamir, "Dirasa Maidaniya lil mawaqei al-Athariya fi Hawr al-Hammar [A field study for the archaeological sites in Hawr al-Hammar]", Sumer 59, pp. 63-115, 2014
  27. ^ Foxvog, Daniel A., "A Third Arua Summary from Ur III Lagash", Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie Orientale, vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 19–29, 1986
  28. ^ [6] Li, Zhi, "Support for messengers: road stations in the Ur III period", Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München, 2021
  29. ^ Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Question of Marḫaši: A Contribution to the Historical Geography of Iran in the Third Millennium B.C", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 72, no. 2, pp. 237-265, 1982
  30. ^ Veldhuis, Niek, "A multiple month account from the Gu'abba rest house", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 91.1, pp. 85-109, 2001
  31. ^ Notizia, Palmiro, "Prince Etel-pū-Dagān, Son of Šulgi", From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD, pp. 207-20, 2013
  32. ^ Garfinkle, S. J., "Merchants and State Formation in Early Mesopotamia", in Opening the Tablet Box. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, pp. 185–202, 2010
  33. ^ [7] Tavernier, Jan, "Ur and Other Cities in Some Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names: The Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Periods", Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale: Ur in the 21st Century, 2016

Further reading

  • Borrelli, N., & Notizia, P., "Prestige on display: Markers of economic and social status in ur III babylonia", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, 11(2), pp. 199–239, 2024
  • Borrelli, Noemi, "Water environments in Ur III Ĝirsu/Lagaš: from natural setting to economic resource", Water History 12.1, pp. 39–55, 2020
  • [8] Grégoire, Jean-Pierre, "La Province méridionale de l'État de Lagash. Recherche historique et économique", Annuaires de l'École pratique des hautes études 96.1, pp. 299–303, 1963
  • Heimpel, W., "The Nanshe Hymn", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 65–139, 1981
  • Hommel, Fritz, "Gis̆galla-Ki-Babylon, Ki-Nu-Nir-Ki Borsippa", 1893
  • Nadali, D., "Cities in the Water: Waterscape and Evolution of Urban Civilisation in Southern Mesopotamia as Seen from Tell Zurghul, Iraq", Jawad, L.A. (ed.), Southern Iraq's Marshes. Their Environment and Conservation. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 15–31, 2021
  • Notizia, Palmiro, "Wealth and Status in 3rd Millennium Babylonia: The Household Inventory RTC 304 and the Career of Lugal-irida, Superintendent of Weavers", Working at Home in the Ancient Near East, pp. 83–105, 2020
  • Pruzsinszky, Regine, "Singers, musicians and their mobility in Ur III period cuneiform texts", Proceedings of the International Conference of Near Eastern Archaeomusicology (ICONEA 2009–2010), Université de la Sorbonne, Paris, and Senate House, School of Musical Research, University of London, 2009
  • [9] Sallaberger, Walther, "Festival Provisions in Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia", Kaskal: rivista di storia, ambiente e culture del vicino oriente antico: 15, 2018, pp. 171–200, 2018
  • Steinkeller, Piotr, "Puzur-Inšušinak at Susa: A pivotal episode of early Elamite history reconsidered", Susa and Elam. Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives. Brill, pp. 293–317, 2013
  • Steinkeller, Piotr, "Babylonian priesthood during the third millennium BCE: between sacred and profane", Journal of ancient near eastern religions 19.1-2, pp. 112–151, 2019
  • Vermaak, Petrus Stefanus, "The foreign triangle in south-eastern Mesopotamia", Journal for semitics 21.1, pp. 91–105, 2012
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