__NOTOC__ An-am (AN-am3) (also Dingiram or Anam; died 1816 BC) was a ruler of the Old Babylonian period city of Uruk. He took the titles of "Shepard of Uruk" and "Army Chief of Uruk". An-am is known to be the father of the succeeding ruler Irdanene from the latter's year name "... brought a statue in gold representing Dingiram his father into the temple of Nanaia".Year Names of Irdanene - CDLI Unlike the rest of the dynasty, An-am and Irdanene had Sumerian names. A royal hymn to An-am was found at Uruk.Hallo, William W., "Royal Hymns and Mesopotamian Unity", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 112–118, 1963 He restored the temples of An and Inanna "the ancient work of divine Ur-Nammu and Sulgi".
From one inscription found at Uruk we know that he was the son of Ilān-šemeā and that he rebuilt the city wall of Uruk.
In another inscription he records building a temple for the goddess Kanisurra, called the "mistress of the Iturungal", with the Iturungal being a major canal in Sumer.Steinkeller, Piotr, "New light on the hydrology and topography of southern Babylonia in the third millennium", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 91, iss. 1, pp. 22-84, 2001
Several of An-am's year names are known:Köcher, Franz, "Keilschrifttexte Aus Assur 2", Vol. 2, Die Babylonisch-Assyrische Medizin in Texten Und Untersuchungen, De Gruyter, 1963 Year AN-am became king Year in which (Dingiram) made opposite the gate of the gipar / "nunnery" a pure (bed) and placed there (in the gate) a statue adorned with gold for An and Inanna Year (Dingiram made) 2 thrones (and) a statue of the king Year he restored the interior of the decaying temple of An and Inanna
In a letter to ruler of Babylon Sin-Muballit, An-am reminds him that they are both of "one house" ie. from the Yaminite tribe of Amnanum. Sîn-kāšid, the founder of the 6th Dynasty of Uruk, took as a title "King of the Amnanum (Tribe)" (lugal am-na-nu-um) as did the third ruler, Sîn-gāmil.Michalowski, Piotr, "History as charter some observations on the sumerian king list", Journal of the American Oriental Society 103.1, pp. 237-248, 1983
A few of the inscriptions of An-am are thought to have antedated his reign.William W. Hallo, "Early Mesopotamian Royal Titles: A Philological and Historical Analysis", AOS 43, 1957 In two inscriptions of An-am from the rule of Sîn-gāmil on the construction of a temple for the god Nergal in the city of Uṣarpara close with "Anam, archivist, son of Ilān-šemeā, built this temple". The location of Uṣarpara is unknown.Frayne, Douglas, "Uruk", Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 B.C.): Early Periods, Volume 4, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 439-483, 1990
A millennium later an inscribed barrel cylinder of Babylonian ruler Marduk-apla-iddina II records rebuilding a "house of the god Ningishzida" in Uruk built by An-am.Gadd, C. J., "Inscribed Barrel Cylinder of Marduk-Apla-Iddina II", Iraq, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 123–34, 1953Lenzen, H., "The Ningišzida Temple Built by Marduk-Apala-Iddina II at Uruk (Warka)", Iraq 19.2, pp. 146-150, 1957Steven W. Holloway, "Sargon II and His Redactors Repair Eanna of Uruk", Biblical Research 43, pp. 22-49, 1998
See also List of Mesopotamian dynasties Chronology of the ancient Near East
References
Further reading Johns, C. H. W., "A New Inscription of An-Am", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 30, pp. 290-291, 1914-07-01 Kärki, Ilmari, "Uruk", Studia Orientalia Electronica 49, pp. 176-193, 1980 Tournay, Raymond-Jaques, "Inscription d'Anam, roi d'Uruk et successeur de Gilgamesh", Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William Foxwell Albright, pp. 453-457, 1971
External links CDLI entry of AN-am temple building dedication All AN-am objects at CDLI