📷 nathanm · Openverse

Where in the world

Iraq

Ur

Sumerian · Iraq

Field notes

civilizations: SumerianBabylonian
types: City
built: 3,800 BCE — 2,050 BCE
occupied: 3,800 BCE — 500 BCE
country: Iraq

The site

Ur was a major Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, at modern Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq, with roots reaching back to the Ubaid period around 3800 BCE. Its patron deity was the moon god Nanna, and the site is dominated by the partially restored Ziggurat of Ur, whose shrine was excavated in the 1930s. First recorded as a city-state in the 26th century BCE, this UNESCO World Heritage Site also holds a great necropolis and traces of Babylonian rebuilding.

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