He is best known as the king who composed the first complete law code in the world, The Code of Ur-Nammu. Please help us create teaching materials on Mesopotamia (including several complete lessons with worksheets, activities, answers, essay questions, and more), which will be free to download for teachers all over the world. Receipt of goats, c. 2040 BC, year 7 of Amar-Sin. Possibly leading from the front of his forces, the king was killed in battle and, according to the Sumerian poem The Death of Ur-Nammu and His Descent to the Underworld, his army scattered and “his body lay tossed aside like a broken urn.”. For other misdemeanors the penalty was a fine in silver… [Ur-Nammu’s code stands] in contrast to the more famous laws of Hammurabi, drafted some three centuries later, with its savage provisions of `an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’. They managed to drive the Elamites out of Ur, rebuilt the city, and returned the statue of Nanna that the Elamites had plundered. (138), Foundation Tablet of Ur-Nammuby Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (CC BY-NC-SA). Generally, scholars use either the conventional (middle, generally preferred) or the low (short) chronologies. Ur-Nammu (and, following him, Shulgi) returned Sumer to its former glory by providing the economic and social stability which allowed the culture to flourish. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. RTC 270 (Girsu) rev. Politically it is hard to say how significant Nippur was because the city had no status as a dynastic or military power. This bronze figure represents Ur-Nammu, the ruler of Ur (about 2112-2095 BC).It was made for burial in the foundations of a temple of Uruk. Mark, Joshua J. 9: mu ur-{d}namma lugal-e [sig-ta igi-nim]-sze3 giri3 si bi2-[sa2-a], BM 28770 (Girsu): mu lugal-e gìr si bi-sá-a, BM 28688 (Girsu): mu lugal-e gìr [si] bí-sá-[], RTC 264 (Girsu) rev. As the Semitic Akkadian language became the common spoken language, Sumerian continued to dominate literature and also administrative documents. His son Shulgi avenged his death by decimating the Gutians and driving the survivors completely from the region of Sumer. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 16 Jun 2014. Sollberger, E. 1954-1956. The dynasty corresponded to a Sumerian renaissance following the fall of the First Dynasty of Ur. Following Utu-Hengal's reign, Ur-Nammu (originally a general) founded the Third Dynasty of Ur, but the precise events surrounding his rise are unclear. It is numbered in reference to previous dynasties, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26-25th century BCE), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur never existed.[1]. Only the first year name can be securely assigned to a particular year in Ur-Namma's reign, namely his first year. Mesopotamia then fell under Amorite influence. The Code of Ur-Nammu assumed a universal understanding on the part of the people that law descended from the gods and the king was simply the administrator of those laws. The fact that this item was mostly found in upper class contexts could show that only the wealthy at the time had access to the item. Last modified June 16, 2014. 2: mu nin-dingir {d}iszkur masz-e ba-pa3-da, MVN 7, 170 (Girsu) rev. The Ur III Dynasty attempted to establish ties to the early kings of Uruk by claiming to be their familial relations. After this battle, Ur-Nammu seems to have earned the title 'king of Sumer and Agade.'. Kriwaczek writes: Although it is neither a true law code, being far from comprehensive; nor, some say, even introduced by Ur-Nammu but by his son Shulgi, code or no, although we only have fragments, they are enough to show that the laws covered both civil and criminal matters. Gangs of labourers can be divided into various groups. In the northern area of Mari, Semitic military rulers called the Shakkanakkus apparently continued to rule contemporaneously with the Third Dynasty of Ur, or possibly in the period just preceded it,[6] with rulers such as military governors such as Puzur-Ishtar, who was probably contemporary with Amar-Sin.[7][8]. In certain tumultuous regions, military commanders assumed more power in governing. Mark, Joshua J. Related Content An earlier law code (known as the Code of Urukagina from the 24th century BCE) is only known through partial references to it and so, since the actual text itself has not been found, Ur-Nammu’s code is considered the oldest extant. The list explains: " 18 years Ur-Namma (was) king, 48 years Shulgi (was) king, 9 years Amar-Suen, 9 years Su-Suen, 24 years Ibbi-Suen. https://www.ancient.eu/Ur-Nammu/. Year: "The temple of Nanna was built", h. mu en dnanna maš-e ba-pa3-da He took steps to centralize and standardize the procedures of the empire. 11: mu bad3 uri5#[{ki}] ba-du3, Note the similarity between this year name and the abbreviation frequently used for Š 43: mu en {d}nanna masz-e i3-pa3. He captured the city of Susa and the surrounding region, toppling Elamite king Kutik-Inshushinak, while the rest of Elam fell under control of Shimashki dynasty. What happened to Utu-Hegel following his victory is unclear, and it is equally unclear what part Ur-Nammu played in defeating the Gutians. Another year-name that has been discovered was the year that Ur-Nammu's daughter became en of the god Nanna and was renamed with the priestess-name of En-Nirgal-ana. An illiterate and nomadic people, their rule was not conducive to agriculture, nor record-keeping, and by the time they were expelled, the region was crippled by severe famine and skyrocketing grain prices. Although he is frequently credited with overthrowing the rule of the Gutians (who had conquered Akkad and assumed control of Sumer and the rest of Mesopotamia), he actually followed the lead of the king of Uruk, one Utu-Hegel (his father-in-law), and only took a commanding role once Utu-Hegel was killed. There are hundreds of texts that explain how treasures were seized by the Ur III armies and brought back to the kingdom after many victories. Besides his military campaigns, he undertook building projects throughout Sumer and planted orchards and gardens in and around the cities, invigorated the economy of Sumer, and encouraged the pursuit of art and culture. : Year: "The land of Guti was destroyed", l. mu e2 dnin-sun2 uri2ki-a ba-du3-a Written by Joshua J. One specific kind of item traded with the two regions were conch shells. : Year: "The king received kingship from Nippur", g. mu e2 dnanna ba-du3-a He is best known as the king who composed the first complete law code in the world, The Code of Ur-Nammu. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Mark, published on 16 June 2014 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. ], ANM 3707 (Girsu) rev. He is credited with standardizing administrative processes, archival documentation, the tax system, and the national calendar. The Third Dynasty of Ur arose some time after the fall of the Akkad Dynasty. At this point, according to the same chronicle, “Uruk was defeated and the kingship was taken to Ur.” Kriwaczek comments on this, writing: It seems that the governor of Ur, Ur-Nammu, who had been appointed by Uruk’s king, took the opportunity of the unexpected power vacuum to fight, defeat, and annex Uruk. 4: mu ur-{d}namma lugal-e sig-ta igi-nim-sze3 giri3 si bi2-sa2-a, MVN 7, 380 (Girsu) rev. See NFT p. 183 and UNT p. 274 for brief discussion. Sigrist & Damerow attribute very similar year names to Ur-Ningirsu year (ca) and to Ur-Namma year (j) and these tablets could belong to either. Each province contained a redistribution center where provincial taxes, called bala, would all go to be shipped to the capital.