Ur-nigin, also Ur-nigina (, ur-niŋin) or Ur-nigar (, ur-ni-gar) was a Governor (ensi) of Uruk who lived in 22nd century BC.
According to the Sumerian King List, Ur-Nigin destroyed the Akkadian Empire, which had probably already be weakened by the Gutians, and established a short-lived Fourth Dynasty of Uruk.
The Sumerian King List, describing the confusion of the decline of the Akkadian Empire after the death of Shar-kali-shari, mentions the rule of several kings, among them Ur-Nigin:
Ur-Nigin is also mentioned in several votive inscriptions by his son Ur-gigir. One of them reads:
The Fourth Dynasty of Uruk was finally destroyed by the Gutian Dynasty."This threat was apparently met for a time by the establishment of a new kingdom in southern Babylonia, the fourth dynasty of Uruk; and around this standard flocked those who would oppose the Semitic throne of Akkad as well as those who desired to resist the growing power of Gutium. But the five kings who made up the fourth dynasty of Uruk (Ur-nigin, Ur-giger, Kudda, Puzur-ili, and Ur-Utu), proved unable to stay the invaders; and the land passed under the control of the Guti.” in
See also History of Mesopotamia List of Mesopotamian dynasties
References