The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Mesopotamian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 21st century BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by historians as the Neo-Sumerian Empire.
The Third Dynasty of Ur is commonly abbreviated as "Ur III" by historians studying the period. It is numbered in reference to previous "dynasties" of Ur according to the historical reconstruction of the Mesopotamian past written in the Sumerian King List, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26–25th century BC), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur was never recorded."The so-called Second Dynasty of Ur is a phantom and is not recorded in the SKL" in
This kingdom was founded by Ur-Namma (c. 2112–2094 BC), who succeeded in reuniting southern Mesopotamia a few decades after the fall of the Empire of Akkad. His son and successor Shulgi (c. 2094–2047 BC) then firmly held the heart of the kingdom, a very prosperous agricultural and urban region, where a very advanced economic administration was established, based on the temple domains controlled by the royal power. Under his reign, military campaigns expanded further the influence of Ur, creating an "Empire." Shulgi's successors managed to maintain the empire for a quarter of a century. Then it gradually disintegrated, under the combined action of incursions of Amorite populations from the North and internal forces which restored their autonomy to several important cities and regions. The kingdom of Ur was destroyed around 2004 BC by an Elamite army.
In Mesopotamian history, this imperial experiment can be seen as a continuation of the Akkadian Empire, which preceded it by about two centuries and served as a model. The Third Dynasty of Ur, however, is of Sumerian, not Akkadian, identity. Because its kings, administrators, and scholars primarily used the Sumerian language and promoted literature in Sumerian, this period is sometimes called the "Neo-Sumerian period" or even a "Sumerian Renaissance" (which also includes the dynasty of Gudea of Lagash, which ended with the beginning of the reign of Ur III).
The Ur III period is also remarkable for the quantity of written documents that have come down to us, the vast majority of which are administrative in nature. They give us an impressive amount of information relating to the functioning of the kingdom, and of certain aspects of its society and its economy. This abundance of documents and the analysis of the administrative practices of the time may have given the impression of a "bureaucratic" state. It is at least certain that this empire saw official institutions (temples and palaces) take on an unprecedented importance, rarely equaled subsequently in Mesopotamian history, and gave rise to original administrative experiments.
Sources
The main type of source documenting the Third Dynasty of Ur are administrative tablets, which number in the tens of thousands: an estimate of the number of unearthed tablets from this period is around 120,000, not including an undetermined number in the National Museum of Iraq. According to a 2016 inventory, "only" 64,500 of these have been the subject of a scientific publication with a copy/photograph and transliteration and/or translation. They come primarily from a handful of sites. The oldest known group of tablets was unearthed in 1894 at the site of Tello, ancient Girsu. The site's excavators came across a deposit of around thirty thousand tablets, clearly a governor's archive. But they did not clearly identify the place of origin, and some of the tablets were plundered by clandestine diggers. During these same years, regular and clandestine excavations of Nippur uncovered other tablets from the period, in smaller quantities (around 3,600). Then in 1909 and 1911, clandestine diggers discovered other deposits of tablets from the period, first at the site of Tell Jokha, ancient Umma (about 30,000 tablets) from the archive of the local governor, then at Drehem, ancient Puzrish-Dagan (about 15,000 tablets). Then the regular excavations of Ur brought to light more than 4,000 tablets from the period. In the 1990s–2000s, two other important archives were plundered during illegal excavations, on sites whose exact location is uncertain, but whose ancient name is known: Garshana near Umma (more than 1,500 tablets), and Irisaĝrig near Nippur (about a thousand texts)..
The vast majority of these are administrative documents from the archives of governors or temples, and date from the reigns of Shulgi (the last decade), Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and the very beginning of Ibbi-Sin, a period of approximately forty years. They generally take the form of small tablets recording the movement of goods, for example, 'bills' or receipts in the form of square cushions. But there are also more elaborate and larger management documents, often rectangular in shape, such as inventories, summary balance sheets, personnel management or planning documents, including cadastral registers and lists of workers. Non-administrative types of documents, found in lesser quantities, include: trial records, contracts (of lease, sale, loan), letters.
The political history of the Third Dynasty of Ur is reconstructed primarily through the year names of the kings, which are known in full from the reign of Shulgi onward. Indeed, during this period, years were named according to events deemed significant by royal power (often military or religious). For example, the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign is titled "Year Shu-Sin the king of Ur erected a magnificent stele for Enlil and Ninlil," and the seventh "Year Shu-Sin, the king of Ur, king of the four quarters, destroyed the land of Zabshali." The chosen event had already taken place, during the previous year: thus, the capture of Zabshali took place in the sixth year of Shu-Sin's reign and, because of its importance, it was elected to name the following year. Since they are chosen by the royal authorities, year names give an "official" version of the history of the dynasty. They are used in the dating formula of administrative documents, and are also known from summary lists dated from later periods.
Royal inscriptions are also known from this period. These are mostly short inscriptions commemorating the founding or rebuilding of temples, but some from Ur-Namma's reign are more detailed about historical events. Hymns dedicated to kings of Ur provide additional information on the political and religious life of the period, and especially on royal ideology. This is a kind of "court literature" sponsored by the kings of Ur and known from copies dated to the first centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. But their reliability for reconstructing the political history is debated.
Historiographical texts were written after the fall of the kingdom, such as letters presenting themselves as correspondence between kings of Ur and their administrators. It is also debated to what extent they provide reliable information.
Non-written sources are generally less well represented. The known material remains from the period are limited, although several large excavated monuments date from the Ur III period, particularly the imposing ziggurats of Ur, Nippur, Uruk, and Eridu, although the excavated levels are later. The repertoire of images is also less studied, the period having yielded few sculptures in comparison with the periods of the Akkadian Empire and the second dynasty of Lagash which preceded it. The cylinder-seals nevertheless provides appreciable information about the ideology of the imperial elite.
History
In the middle of the 22nd century, the Akkadian Empire was destroyed in circumstances that are not well known. The Gutians seem to be the main actors in this event, but we also note that Lower Mesopotamia broke up into several kingdoms that were formed around certain cities, notably Uruk and Lagash (whose most important king of this time was Gudea). A powerful kingdom was also created in Elam (southwestern Iran) by the king Puzur-Inshushinak. Around 2120 or 2055, King Utu-hegal of Uruk defeated Tirigan, the Guti king. He then exercised his sovereignty over southern Mesopotamia, but his reign was short-lived. After about eight years of reign, he was dethroned by notables of the court, headed by Ur-Namma, the governor of Ur (Mesopotamia), who was probably his own brother. Mesopotamian tradition recognized him as the founder of the third dynasty of Ur.
Absolute datation of this period remains uncertain: according to the mainstream Middle Chronology, usually used in the scientific publications, it lasted from 2112/0 to 2004/3 BC; according to the Low Chronology from 2048 to 1940 BC, and according to the Ultra Low Chronology from 2048 to 1911 BC.
Ur-Namma Upon his enthronement, Ur-Namma (formerly Ur-Nammu; c. 2112–2094 according to Middle Chronology) asserted his dominance over the territory previously ruled by Utu-hegal, centered on Uruk and Ur, and then extended his possessions throughout Lower Mesopotamia. He took the title of "King of Sumer and Akkad," symbolizing the unification of the city-states of Lower Mesopotamia, as had the kings of the Akkad before him. His domination in the northeast direction towards Diyala probably involved a victory over the Elamite troops of Puzur-Inshushinak, maybe with the help of Gudea of Lagash. Ur-Namma subsequently reorganized the dominated territories: restoration of the large cities and their sanctuaries, irrigation canals, and probably also an administrative reorganization, while his law "code" symbolizes his desire to show himself as a just king. He died on the battlefield on the eastern highland, after about 18 years of reign.
Shulgi Ur-Namma was succeeded by his son Shulgi, whose long reign (about half the duration of the dynasty) would organize and expand the power of Ur (c. 2094–2047). His father had probably laid the foundations for the organization of the kingdom, but he had to consolidate them and eventually create an 'Empire' following the model of the kings of Akkad. Of the first twenty years of this reign, only cultic activities are known, particularly in Ur and Nippur. The following 18 years place this king among the most brilliant in Mesopotamian history. Shulgi expanded his kingdom following several conquests towards the north and especially towards the northeast: his military campaigns resulted in victories in the region of the Upper Tigris River and the western Zagros (Arbela, Simurrum, Lullubum, Kimash, etc.), and Elam (Anshan). Marriage alliances were arranged with kingdoms of the Iranian plateau, including the powerful Marhashi, to find peaceful solutions to conflicts. The conquered regions were established as buffer provinces against the kingdoms that remained independent. A wall was built in the north of Akkad to face the incursions of the populations of the northwest, the Martu/Amorites. Numerous roads and canals were built. Shulgi also carried out numerous reforms that profoundly reorganized the central provinces. Some of these may have been initiated by his father, as it is sometimes difficult to disentangle the work of one from that of the other. This particularly concerns the taxation system, the organization of temple estates, the training of scribes and writing, the royal calendar, the construction of an important administrative center at Puzrish-Dagan. This resulted in a "bureaucratization" of the administration, explaining the documentary inflation that then took place. Shulgi's reign also saw the king being deified and the writing of a whole literature glorifying him. Several of his sons and daughters were placed at the head of major sanctuaries. Shulgi died after 48 years of a well-accomplished reign. The causes of his death are as unclear as those of his father, and it is possible that his last years were troubled.
Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and Ibbi-Sin