William Loftus, John Punnett Peters, Nawala Ahmed Al-Mutawalli, Drahoslav Hulínek
Location of the city of Umma in Sumer
Umma (Sumerian: 𒄑𒆵𒆠ummaKI;[1] in modern Dhi Qar ProvinceinIraq, was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site.[2] Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been suggested that it was located at Umm al-Aqarib, less than 7 km (4.3 mi) to its northwest or was even the name of both cities.[3][4] One or both were the leading city of the Early Dynastic kingdom of Gišša, with the most recent excavators putting forth that Umm al-Aqarib was prominent in EDIII but Jokha rose to preeminence later. The town of KI.AN was also nearby.[5] KI.AN, which was destroyed by Rimush, a ruler of the Akkadian Empire. There are known to have been six gods of KI.AN including Gula KI.AN and Sara KI.AN.[6]
The tutelary gods of Umma were Sara and Ninura. It is known that the ED ruler Ur-Lumma built a temple to the god Enki-gal and one to the god Nagar-pa'e at Umma.[7]
In the early Sumerian literary composition Inanna's descent to the netherworld, Inanna dissuades demons from the netherworld from taking Shara, patron of Umma, who was living in squalor.[8]
The site was occupied at least as far back as the Uruk period. A number of proto-cuneiform came from there. While most early textual sources are from Early Dynastic III, a few tablets and a plaque from ED I/II came from there.[9]
Imprisoned man of Umma on the Stele of the Vultures
Because the two sites were not excavated until modern times, based on the many looted texts available to them, earlier archaeologists grouped together the ancient cities during the Early Dynastic period of Gišša and Umma into the single geographic name of Umma. Modern excavation at these sites has clarified that.[2] Gišša ceased occupation after the ED and only one ruler is known, based on a lapis lazuli bead reading "To the goddess Inanna, Aka, king of Gišša (dedicated this bead)".[7]
Best known for its long frontier conflict with Lagash, as reported c. 2400 BCbyEntemena,[10][11] the city reached its zenith c. 2350 BC, under the rule of Lugal-Zage-Si who also controlled Ur and Uruk.
An Early Dynastic inscription of Lugalannatum from Umma (Collection of the Louvre Museum)
Under the Akkadian Empire Umma was a major power and economic center rivaled only by Adab and Uruk. Eleven governors under Akkad are known as well as two who may have been under Gutium. One, Lu-Utu, reports building a temple for Ninhursag and another for Ereshkigal. Namahni, a governor from the time of Iarlagan of Gutium, records building the E-ula temple of Ninura.[12][13] The Sargonic period ruler of Umma Lugalanatum built the temple E-gidru there.
"Lugalannatum prince of Umma... built the E.GIDRU [Sceptre] Temple at Umma, buried his foundation deposit [and] regulated the orders. At that time, Si'um was king of Gutium."[13]
Clay tablet. Delivery certificate. Reign of Shu-Sin of Ur, 21st century BCE. From Umma, Iraq. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
Under the Ur III dynasty, Umma became an important provincial center. Several governors of Umma under Ur are known, Aa-kala, Dadaga, and Ur-Lisi, all sons of one Ur-Nigar, and Ninbilia, wife of Aa-kala.[14][15][16] Most of the over 30,000 tablets recovered from the site are administrative and economic texts from that time.[17] They permit an excellent insight into affairs in Umma.[18] A year name of Ur III ruler Shu-Sin was "Year Shu-Sin the king of Ur built the temple of Shara in Umma". The next ruler Ibbi-Sin also had a year name of "Year Ibbi-Sin the king of Ur built the temple of Shara in Umma". The Umma calendarofShulgi (c. 21st century BC) is the immediate predecessor of the later Babylonian calendar, and indirectly of the post-exilic Hebrew calendar.
In the following Isin-Larsa period, a ruler of Larsa, Sumuel (c. 1894-1866 BC), lists as one of his later year names "Year Umma was destroyed".
The site of Tell Jokha was visited by William Loftus in 1854 and John Punnett Peters of the University of Pennsylvania in 1885. Peters found it to be half covered with sand dunes and found fragments of worked stone and copper fragments.[19][20] In the early 1900s, many illegally excavated Umma tablets from the Third Dynasty of Ur began to appear on the antiquities market.[21] From 1999 to 2002 Jokha was worked by an Iraqi team led by Nawala Ahmed Al-Mutawalli, recovering a number of tablets and bullae from the Early Dynastic, Sargonic, Ur III, and Old Babylonian periods as well as an Ur III period temple and Old Babylonian residences. The cuneiform tablets are in the process of being published.[22][23][4][24][25] In 2016, a team from the Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute led by Drahoslav Hulínek began excavations at Tell Jokha focusing on the Temple of Shara. A trench (Trench 1) excavated in 2016 showed the temple had two construction phases (Level 3 and 4). Level 4 is thought to date from the Old Akkadian period. In 2017 a square at the top (Trench 2) of the tell was opened, amidst numerous looter holes, and at Level 5 found Early Dynastic construction. In 2019 and 2020 eighteen cuneiform tablets from the Old Babylonian, Ur III, Old Akkadian and Early Dynastic periods were found in Trench 2, three in situ. A topographic survey showed that in the Early Dynastic period Umma reached an area of 400 hectares, with a 40 hectare city center.[26][27]
Map of a property belonging to the city of Ur III Umma, indicating the acreage of each parcel
The site of Umm al-Aqarib (located at 45.80°E longitude and 31.60°N latitude) lies about 6 kilometers southeast of Tell Jokha, covers about 5 square kilometers and is made up of 21 mounds the largest of which is 20 meters above the level of the plain. It is thought to be the ancient city of Gišša and was abandoned after the Early Dynastic period. The location was first visited by John Punnett Peters in the late 1800s, finding it relatively free from sand and featuring two prominent elevations of baked bricks set with bitumen.[20]It was excavated for a total of 7 seasons in 1999–2002 (led by Donny George Youkhanna and Haider A. Urebi) and 2008–2010 (led by Taha Kerim Abod) under difficult conditions.[28][29] At Umm al-Aqarib, archaeologists uncovered levels from the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900–2300 BC), including residences, palaces, and several monumental buildings, including two Early Dynastic temples (the White Temple and Temple H). About 70 "cuneiform sources" were also excavated.[30][31][32][33] The tutelary god is thought to be Ama-usum-ga/Usumgal-ana.[34]
Stone tablet re Il, king of Umma, c. 2400 BC "For ..., Il, king of Umma, son of Eandamu, grandson of Enakale king of Umma, built his/her temple"
The site of Tell Shmet (also Tell Schmidt and Tell Shmid) also lies nearby, around 10 kilometers to the northwest of Umma and within visual distance of Zabala. It is on the banks of the eastern branch of the Euphrates river just above the canal leading to Zabala. It was part of the Umma province in the Ur III period. The site measures 990 by 720 meters (712,800 square meters). The main Sargonic and Ur III remains of the site were destroyed by a Ministry of Agriculture program to plant trees so as to prevent sand dunes. In response to looting which began in 1994 the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage conducted salvage excavations in 2001 and 2002 under Mohammad Sabri Abdulraheem.[35][36][37][38] All of the paper records of the excavation were lost in looting of residential areas after the 2003 war. Plano-convex bricks and a residential area of the Early Dynastic III and Akkadian periods were uncovered. Finds included 67 clay cuneiform tablets, dozens of cylinder seals, and a number of stone and metal objects. The tablets mostly date ED III with the latest being Ur III. The tablets support the proposal that the ancient name of the site was Ki.anki. They mention the names of the gods Ninazu and Dumuzi-Maru. Only some of the tablets have been published.[39]
Previous textual analysis had indicated that KI.AN was very near to Zabala. During the reign of Rimush, second ruler of the Akkadian Empire, KI.AN, under its governor Lugal-KA, joined a regional revolt and was defeated.[40] In the Ur III period KI.AN had an ensi (governor). In that period it is known to have had a temple to the deified ruler Shulgi (called "e-dSulgi-ra") as well as temples to the gods Šara, Ninurra, Amarsuena, Geštinanna, Dumuzi, Gula, Ninlagaša, and Nine'e.[41][42][43]
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, after Coalition bombing began, looters descended upon the site which is now pockmarked with hundreds of ditches and pits. The prospects for future official excavation and research were seriously compromised in the process.[44] In 2011, Global Heritage Network, which monitors threats to cultural heritage sites in developing nations, released aerial images comparing Umma in 2003 and 2010, showing a landscape devastated by looters' trenches during that time—approximately 1.12 square km in total.[45] Confiscated Umma area cuneiform tablets continue to make their way to the Museum of Iraq, including a group of 1500 in 2009.[46]
Vase of King Gishakidu, king of Umma, and son of Ur-Lumma. This cuneiform text gives the city of Umma's account of its long-running border dispute with Lagash. c. 2350 BC. From Umma, Iraq. The British Museum, London
Votive plaque offered by Bara-irnun, queen of Umma, to God Šara in gratitude for sparing her life. Date c. 2370 BC.[51]
An official of Umma, c. 2400 BC
Diorite statue of Lupad, an official of the city of Umma, with inscriptions recording the purchase of land in Lagash. Early Dynastic Period III, c. 2400 BC.[52]
^ abAlmamori, H. O., "Gišša (Umm Al-Aqarib), Umma (Jokha), and Lagaš in the Early Dynastic III Period", Al-Rafidan 35, pp. 1–37, 2014
^Marek Stępień, "The Economic Status of Governors in Ur III Times: An Example of the Governor of Umma", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 64, pp. 17–30, 2012
^Peat, J. A., "An Offering - List from the Third Dynasty of Ur", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 19–22, 1975
^ abFrayne, Douglas, "G͂iša and Umma", Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), University of Toronto Press, pp. 357-368, 2008 ISBN978-0802035868
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^Foster., Benjamin R., "Archives and Record-keeping in Sargonic Mesopotamia", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie , vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 1-27, 1982
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^Frayne, Douglas, "Table III: List of Ur III Period Governors", Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. xli-xliv, 1997
^T. Maeda, "Father of Akala and Dadaga, governors of Umma", ASJ 12, pp. 71 - 78, 1990
^P. A. Parr, "Ninhilia: Wife of Ayakala, Governor of Umma", JCS 26, pp. 90 – 111, 1974
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^Al-Mutawalli, N., "Excavation of Umma (modern Jokha), seasons 1 & 2.", Sumer 54, pp. 53-82, 2009
^Al-Harbi, H. Sh, N. A. Al-Mutawali, and K. M. Khaleel, "Jokha (Umma): The Excavation Results of the Third and Fourth Seasons (2001–2002)", Sumer 56, pp. 49-92, 2011
^Al-Mutawalli, N.. "Administrative Cuneiform Texts from Umma in the Iraq Museum Excavation of Shara Temple (1999–2000)", Sumer 55, pp. 45–86, 2010
^Drahoslav Hulínek and Tibor Lieskovský, "Report Archaeological project SAHI - Tell Jokha, 2016", Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute, 2016
^Hulínek, Drahoslav, et al., eds., "Preliminary Report Archaeological Project SAHI-Tell Jokha, 2019: Season 3", Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute-SAHI, 2020
^Almamori, H. A., "The Excavation Results of the Third and Fourth Seasons at Umm al-Aqarib (2001–2002)", Sumer 52, pp. 242–93, 2003-2004 (Arabic)
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^Abid, Ameer Najim, "The architecture of white temples in the cities of ancient central and southern Mesopotamia (Uruk-Umm Al-Aqarib-Tal Al-Uqair) A comparative study", ISIN Journal 5, pp. 53-79, 2023
^Youkhanna, Donny George, H. O. Al-Mamori, and L. Werr, "Temple ‘H’ at Umm al Aqarib", Of Pots and Plans: Papers on the Archaeology and History of Mesopotamia and Syria presented to David Oates in Honour of his 75th Birthday. London: Nabu, pp. 379-385, 2002
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![Stele of Ushumgal, 2900-2700 BC. Probably from Umma.[50]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stele_of_Ushumgal_MET_DT849.jpg)
![Votive plaque offered by Bara-irnun, queen of Umma, to God Šara in gratitude for sparing her life. Date c. 2370 BC.[51]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Votive_plaque_of_a_beard-IMG_6857.JPG)
