Ur-Nanshe
Template:About Template:Infobox royalty Ur-Nanshe (Template:Langx, Template:Transliteration; Template:Fl.) also Ur-Nina, was the first king of the First Dynasty of Lagash in the Sumerian Early Dynastic Period III. He is known through inscriptions to have commissioned many building projects, including canals and temples, in the state of Lagash,<ref name="Pouysségur">Louvre Template:Webarchive Pouysségur, Patrick , ed. "Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe." Louvre Museum. Louvre Museum. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref> and defending Lagash from its rival state Umma.<ref name="urnanshe">CDLI Wiki University of Oxford, 14 Jan 2010. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref> He was probably not from royal lineage, being the son of Gunidu (Template:Cuneiform) who was recorded without an accompanying royal title.<ref name="urnanshe" /><ref name="HANEA">Template:Cite book</ref> He was the father of Akurgal, who succeeded him, and grandfather of Eannatum.<ref name="HANEA"/> Eannatum expanded the kingdom of Lagash by defeating Umma as illustrated in the Stele of the Vultures and continued the building and renovation of Ur-Nanshe's original buildings.<ref name="hansen">Hansen, Donald "Royal Building Activity at Sumerian Lagash in the Early Dynastic Period." Biblical Archaeologist. 55.4 (1992): 206-11. Print.</ref>
He ascended after Lugalshaengur (lugal-ša-engur), who was the ensi, or high priest of Lagash, and is only known from the macehead inscription of Mesilim.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Temples
According to the Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe, temples attributed to Ur-Nanshe include Ningirsu's temple in Girsu, Nanshe's temple in Nina, and Apsubanda.<ref name="Pouysségur" /> He is known to have originally built the Ibgal of Inanna, because of Eanatum's honorary inscriptions left after temple renovation.<ref name="hansen" /> The Ibgal of Inanna is located in modern-day al-Hiba (ancient city of Lagash). An oval wall surrounds the main mud brick temple and it is located on the southwest edge of the city. This placement within the city is different because temples were usually centrally positioned in ancient Sumer.<ref name="hansen" />
Inscriptions
Ur-Nanshe has left behind many inscriptions and plaques that depict him, his family, and court.<ref name="urnanshe" />
The Perforated Relief
Template:Location map The Perforated Relief of King Ur-Nanshe is on display at the Louvre. The king is portrayed as a builder of temples and canals, thus a preserver of order perceived to be bestowed upon them by the gods.<ref name="Pouysségur" /> It is a perforated limestone slab that was probably part of a wall as a votive decoration and is inscribed in Sumerian:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Ur-Nanshe / lugal / Lagash / dumu Gunidu / dumu Gurmu/ e2 Ningirsu mu-du3 / abzu-banda3da mu-du3 / e2 Dnanshe mu-du3
“Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, son of Gurmu, built the temple of Ningirsu, built Apsubanda, built the temple of Nanshe.”{{#if:|
|}}{{#if:|
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}
The carved illustration is in two registers, top and bottom, both depicting Ur-Nanshe in different roles as king. In the top register he is dressed in a kaunakes (tufted wool skirt), carrying a basket of bricks on his head while surrounded by other Lagash elite, his wife, and seven of his sons<ref name="JF44"/> (though it is possible female figure is instead the king's daughter<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>). Inscriptions on their respective garments identify each person. On the bottom register, Ur-Nanshe is at a banquet, which is to celebrate the building of the temple. He is seated on a throne wearing the same outfit as the top register surrounded by other court members. In both registers Ur-Nanshe is shown using hierarchical proportion in which he is considerably larger than everyone surrounding him.<ref name="Pouysségur" />
A part of the inscriptions, in front of the seated king, reads: “Boats from the (distant) land of Dilmun carried the wood (for him)”.<ref name="Pouysségur" /> This is the oldest known written record of Dilmun and importation of goods into Mesopotamia.<ref name="urnanshe" />
-
The relief at time of discovery
-
Ur-Nanshe on the relief. He is also depicted wearing a basket for the construction of a temple.
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="urnanshe" /><ref name="Pouysségur" />
-
Ur-Nanshe's son Akurgal (Template:Cuneiform) on the relief
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
.jpg){kind=link}
._Cuneiform_text._Early_Dynastic_period,_2550-2500_BCE._From_Girsu,_Iraq._Ancient_Orient_Museum,_Istanbul,_Turkey.jpg){kind=link}
Door socket
An inscribed door socket from Ur-Nanshe is also known, now in the Louvre Museum. The full inscription of the door socket has been translated as:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
"Ur-Nanshe, the king of Lagash, the son of Gunidu, the son of Gurmu, built the house of Ningirsu; built the house of Nanshe; built the house of Gatumdug; built the harem; built the house of Ninmar. The ships of Dilmun brought him wood as a tribute from foreign lands. He built the Ibgal; built the Kinir; built the scepter (?)-house."{{#if:|
|}}{{#if:Inscription on the perforated relief of Ur-Nanshe.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Full transcription: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>|
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}
-
The door socket of Ur-Nanshe at the time of discovery
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Plaque of Ur Nanshe
The Plaque of Ur Nanshe is a limestone plaque currently located at the Louvre Museum that honors Ur Nanshe. The figures displayed are the king and his court standing rigid and wide eyed, paying homage to the god Nanshe. They are dressed in kaunakes with their hands clasped together over their chest. Hierarchical scale of the king and the use of cuneiform on the figures to identify them<ref name="cole">Cole, Karl. "Plaque of Ur Nanshe." SchoolArts. 100.1 (2000): 33. Print.</ref> are employed as in the Perforated Relief.
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Ur-Nanshe / lugal / Lagash / dumu Gunidu / E-Ningirsu / mudu
"Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, son of Gunidu, built the temple of Ningirsu"{{#if:|
|}}{{#if:|
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}
-
Plaque of Ur-Nanshe at time of discovery
-
Ur-Nanshe himself
-
Akurgal (Template:Cuneiform) as a child in the limestone votive relief of Ur-Nanshe
Additional inscriptions
Template:Multiple image There are many other inscriptions found by or mentioning Ur-Nanshe. Some of them include a listing of rulers of Lagash and a hymn to Nanshe.<ref name="urnanshe"/>
Excerpt from Ruler of Lagash:
“Ur-Nanše, the son of ......, who built the E-Sirara, her temple of happiness and Niĝin, her beloved city, acted for 1080 years. Ane-tum, the son of Ur-Nanše”<ref name="ej">E, J. translation : t.2.1.2." rulers of Lagaš (2003): n.pag. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref>
Excerpt from A Hymn to Nanshe:
“There is perfection in the presence of the lady. Lagaš thrives in abundance in the presence of Nanše. She chose the šennu in her holy heart and seated Ur-Nanše, the beloved lord of Lagaš, on the throne. She gave the lofty scepter to the shepherd.”<ref name="cg">C, G. Translation: t.4.14.1." hymn to Nanše (Nanše A) (2003): n.pag. Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Web. 13 Mar 2013.</ref>
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
-
"The ships of Dilmun, from the foreign lands, brought him (Ur-Nanshe) wood as a tribute (?)" (𒈣File:Dilmun (early Sumerian pictograph, horizontal).jpg𒆳𒋫𒄘𒄑𒈬-𒅅, ma2 dilmun kur-ta gu2 giš mu-gal2). Tablet of Ur-Nanshe (Urn 24).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="University of Chicago Press"/><ref name="Deux Tablettes Archaïques de Tello"/><ref name="cdli.ucla.edu"/>
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
-
Goddess Shul-utul, foundation peg, with inscription "Ur-Nanshe, King of Lagash, son of Gunidu, built the shrine Girsu", probably Girsu, Tell Telloh, Iraq, mid 3rd millennium BCE. Harvard Semitic Museum, Cambridge, MA
-
"Akurgal king of Lagash, son of Ur-Nanshe" (Template:Cuneiform) on the Stele of the Vultures<ref name="WS74">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
-
Votive relief of Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, representing the bird-god Anzû (or Im-dugud) as a lion-headed eagle. Alabaster, Early Dynastic III (2550–2500 BC). Found in Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.
-
CitationClass=web }}</ref>
-
Stele of Ur-Nanshe with goddess Nisaba, ruler of Lagash, from Lagash, Iraq, 26th century BCE. Iraq Museum.
.jpg){kind=link}
See also
Template:Portal Template:Commons category
References
Template:Reflist Template:S-start Template:S-reg Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Rulers of Sumer