William Loftus, John Punnett Peters, Nawala Ahmed Al-Mutawalli, Drahoslav Hulínek
Location of the city of Umma in Sumer
Umma (Sumerian:𒄑𒆵𒆠)[1] in modernDhi Qar Province inIraq, was an ancient city inSumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site.[2] Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell Jokha. More recently it has been suggested that it was located at Umm al-Aqarib, less than 7 km (4.3 mi) to its northwest or was even the name of both cities.[3][4] One or both were the leading city of the Early Dynastic kingdom of Gišša, with the most recent excavators putting forth that Umm al-Aqarib was prominent in EDIII but Jokha rose to preeminence later. The town of KI.AN was also nearby.[5] KI.AN, which was destroyed byRimush, a ruler of theAkkadian Empire. There are known to have been six gods of KI.AN includingGula KI.AN andSara KI.AN.[6]
The tutelary gods of Umma were Sara and Ninura. It is known that the ED rulerUr-Lumma built, a temple to the godEnki-gal and one to the god Nagar-pa'e at Umma.[7]
The site was occupied at least as far back as theUruk period. A number ofproto-cuneiform came from there. While most early textual sources are from Early Dynastic III, a few tablets and a plaque from ED I/II came from there.[9]
Because the two sites were not excavated until modern times, based on the many looted texts available to them, earlier archaeologists grouped together the ancient cities during the Early Dynastic period of Gišša and Umma into the single geographic name of Umma. Modern excavation at these sites has clarified that.[2] Gišša ceased occupation after the ED and only one ruler is known, based on a lapis lazuli bead reading "To the goddess Inanna, Aka, king of Gišša (dedicated this bead)".[7]
An Early Dynastic inscription of Lugalannatum from Umma (Collection of the Louvre Museum)
Under theAkkadian Empire Umma was a major power and economic center rivaled only by Adab and Uruk.[12] Eleven governors under Akkad are known as well as two who may have been under Gutium. One, Lu-Utu, reports building a temple forNinhursag and another forEreshkigal. Namahni, a governor from the time of Iarlagan of Gutium, records building the E-ula temple of Ninura.[13][14] The Sargonic period ruler of UmmaLugalanatum built the temple E-gidru there.
"Lugalannatum prince of Umma... built theE.GIDRU [Sceptre] Temple at Umma, buried his foundation deposit [and] regulated the orders. At that time,Si'um was king ofGutium."[14]
Clay tablet. Delivery certificate. Reign of Shu-Sin of Ur, 21st century BCE. From Umma, Iraq. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin.
Under theUr III dynasty, Umma became an important provincial center. Several governors of Umma under Ur are known, Aa-kala, Dadaga, and Ur-Lisi, all sons of one Ur-Nigar, and Ninbilia, wife of Aa-kala.[15][16][17] Most of the over 30,000 tablets recovered from the site are administrative and economic texts from that time.[18] They permit an excellent insight into affairs in Umma.[19] A year name of Ur III rulerShu-Sin was "Year Shu-Sin the king of Ur built the temple of Shara in Umma". The next rulerIbbi-Sin also had a year name of "Year Ibbi-Sin the king of Ur built the temple of Shara in Umma". TheUmma calendar ofShulgi (c. 21st century BC) is the immediate predecessor of the laterBabylonian calendar, and indirectly of the post-exilicHebrew calendar.
Also called Tell Djokha and Tell Yokha.[20][21] The site of Tell Jokha was visited byWilliam Loftus in 1854 andJohn Punnett Peters of theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1885. Peters found it to be half covered with sand dunes and found fragments of worked stone and copper fragments.[22][23] In the early 1900s, many illegally excavated Umma tablets began to appear on the antiquities market.[24] Many of these tablets used an unusual "mul-iti" dating system from the reigns ofAkkadian Empire rulersNaram-Sin andShar-kali-shari.[25] From 1999 to 2002 Jokha, already heavily looted, was worked by an Iraqi team led by Nawala Ahmed Al-Mutawalli, recovering a number of tablets and bullae from the Early Dynastic, Sargonic, Ur III, and Old Babylonian periods as well as an Ur III period temple and Old Babylonian residences. The cuneiform tablets are in the process of being published.[26][27][4][28][29]
On the northern end of the main mound the Ešagepadda temple ofShara (Šara), primary deity of Umma, was found. Preparations for the temple construction began in the last year ofAmar-Sin and the temple was finished in the 8th year ofShu-Sin. It is knownthat a "Ešagepada of Umma (ĜIŠ.KUŠU₂ki)" existed in the earlyAkkadian Empire period though no trace has been found. The large mudbrick temple was 90 meters by 130 meters with a 6 meter thick exterior wall. The exterior wall had buttresses, recesses, and twoentrances. The main temple courtyard measured 42 meters by 30 meters. Artifacts founddated primarily to the Ur III and the Early Old Babylonian periods with a few fromthe Akkadian period. The temple was the findspot for all cuneiform tablets and bullae.A number of door sockets were found, some in situ.[30]
The site was visited around 1900 by archaeologistWalter Andrae who described the site as being 1000 meterslong and 15 meters high with a small plateau to the north holding the remains of a 70 meter by 70 meter building,[31] The site wasvisited during a regional archaeological survey in 1967. The site was estimated to cover an area 150 metersin diameter. A surface survey showed "Late Early Dynastic and Old Babylonian are dominant in surface collections, but intervening Akkadian, Ur III, and Larsa periods also are well represented".[32]
In 2016, a team from the Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute led by Drahoslav Hulínek began excavations at Tell Jokha focusing on the Temple of Shara. A trench (Trench 1) excavated in 2016 showed the temple had two construction phases (Level 3 and 4). Level 4 is thought to date from the Old Akkadian period. In 2017 a square at the top (Trench 2) of the tell was opened, amidst numerous looter holes, and at Level 5 found Early Dynastic construction. In 2019 and 2020 eighteen cuneiform tablets from the Old Babylonian, Ur III, Old Akkadian and Early Dynastic periods were found in Trench 2, three in situ. A topographic survey showed that in the Early Dynastic period Umma reached an area of 400 hectares, with a 40 hectare city center.[33][34][35]
Map of a property belonging to the city of Ur III Umma, indicating the acreage of each parcel
The site of Umm al-Aqarib (located at 45.80°E longitude and 31.60°N latitude) lies about 6 kilometers southeast of Tell Jokha, covers about 5 square kilometers and is made up of 21 mounds the largest of which is 20 meters above the level of the plain. It is thought to be the ancient city of Gišša and was abandoned after the Early Dynastic period. The location was first visited byJohn Punnett Peters in the late 1800s, finding it relatively free from sand and featuring two prominent elevations of baked bricks set with bitumen.[23] It was excavated for a total of 7 seasons in 1999–2002 (led by Donny George Youkhanna and Haider A. Urebi) and 2008–2010 (led by Taha Kerim Abod) under difficult conditions.[36][37] At Umm al-Aqarib, archaeologists uncovered levels from theEarly Dynastic Period (c. 2900–2300 BC), including residences, palaces, and several monumental buildings, including two Early Dynastic temples (the White Temple and Temple H). About 70 "cuneiform sources" were also excavated.[38][39][40][41] The tutelary god is thought to beAma-ušumgal-ana.[42] Uruk period clay cone mosaics have also been found at the site.[32]
Stone tablet re Il, king of Umma, c. 2400 BC "For ..., Il, king of Umma, son of Eandamu, grandson of Enakale king of Umma, built his/her temple"
The site of Tell Shmet (also Tell Schmidt and Tell Shmid) also lies nearby, around 10 kilometers to the northwest of Umma and within visual distance ofZabala. It is on the banks of the eastern branch of the Euphrates river just above the canal leading to Zabala. It was part of the Umma province in the Ur III period. The site measures 990 by 720 meters (712,800 square meters). The main Sargonic and Ur III remains of the site were destroyed by a Ministry of Agriculture program to plant trees so as to prevent sand dunes. In response to looting which began in 1994 the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage conducted salvage excavations in 2001 and 2002 under Mohammad Sabri Abdulraheem.[43][44][45][46] All of the paper records of the excavation were lost in looting of residential areas after the 2003 war. Plano-convex bricks and a residential area of the Early Dynastic III and Akkadian periods were uncovered. Finds included 67 clay cuneiform tablets, dozens of cylinder seals, and a number of stone and metal objects. The tablets mostly date ED III with the latest being Ur III. The tablets support the proposal that the ancient name of the site was Ki.anki. They mention the names of the godsNinazu and Dumuzi-Maru. Only six of the tablets have been published.[47] Uruk period clay cone mosaics have also been found at the site.[32]
Previous textual analysis had indicated that KI.AN was very near toZabala.[48] During the reign ofRimush, second ruler of the Akkadian Empire, KI.AN, under its governor Lugal-KA, joined a regional revolt and was defeated.[49] In the Ur III period KI.AN had an ensi (governor). In that period it is known to have had a temple to the deified rulerShulgi (called "e-dSulgi-ra") as well as temples to the godsŠara,Ninurra, Amarsuena,Geštinanna, Dumuzi, Gula, Ninlagaša, and Nine'e.[32][50][51]
During the2003 invasion of Iraq,looters descended upon the sites of Tell Jokha and Tell Umm al-Aqarib which are now pockmarked with hundreds of ditches and pits. The prospects for future official excavation and research were seriously compromised in the process.[52] In 2011,Global Heritage Network, which monitors threats to cultural heritage sites in developing nations, released aerial images comparing Umma in 2003 and 2010, showing a landscape devastated by looters' trenches during that time—approximately 1.12 square km in total.[53] Confiscated Umma area cuneiform tablets continue to make their way to the Museum of Iraq, including a group of 1500 in 2009.[54]
Although the first dynasty of Umma has become well-known based on mentions in inscriptions contemporaneous with other dynasties from theEarly Dynastic (ED) III period; it was not inscribed onto theSumerian King List (SKL). The first dynasty of Umma preceded thedynasty of Akkad in a time in which Umma exercised considerable influence in the region. Only a single ruler (Lugal-zage-si) from Umma was named on theSKL; however, his name appears as the sole ruler for the third dynasty ofUruk. The following list should not be considered complete:
Diorite statue of Lupad, an official of the city of Umma, with inscriptions recording the purchase of land inLagash. Early Dynastic Period III,c. 2400 BC.[62]
^abAlmamori, H. O., "Gišša (Umm Al-Aqarib), Umma (Jokha), and Lagaš in the Early Dynastic III Period", Al-Rafidan 35, pp. 1–37, 2014
^Marek Stępień, "The Economic Status of Governors in Ur III Times: An Example of the Governor of Umma", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 64, pp. 17–30, 2012
^Peat, J. A., "An Offering - List from the Third Dynasty of Ur", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 19–22, 1975
^abFrayne, Douglas, "G͂iša and Umma", Pre-Sargonic Period: Early Periods Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), University of Toronto Press, pp. 357-368, 2008ISBN978-0802035868
^[1] Carrie Hritz, "The Umma-Lagash Border Conflict: A View from Above", The Umma-Lagash Border Conflict: A View from Above, From Sherds to Landscapes: Studies on the Ancient Near East in Honor of McGuire Gibson, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 71, Chicago: The Oriental Institute, pp. 109-130, 2021ISBN978-1-61491-063-3
^Cooper, Jerrold S. (1983).Reconstructing history from ancient inscriptions : the Lagash-Umma border conflict. Malibu: Undena Publications.ISBN0-89003-059-6.OCLC10304478.
^Zarins, Juris, "The Sharkallisharri Army of Umma: Linguistic, Historical and Archaeological Considerations", Aux marges de l’archéologie: hommage à Serge Cleuziou, pp. 187-213, 2012
^Foster., Benjamin R., "Archives and Record-keeping in Sargonic Mesopotamia", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 1-27, 1982
^ab[2] Douglas R. Frayne, "Umma", The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113), University of Toronto Press, pp. 261-268, 1993ISBN0-8020-0593-4
^Frayne, Douglas, "Table III: List of Ur III Period Governors", Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. xli-xliv, 1997
^T. Maeda, "Father of Akala and Dadaga, governors of Umma", ASJ 12, pp. 71 - 78, 1990
^P. A. Parr, "Ninhilia: Wife of Ayakala, Governor of Umma", JCS 26, pp. 90 – 111, 1974
^[3] I. J. Gelb, "Sargonic Texts in the Louvre Museum", Materials for the Assyrian Dictionary 4, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1970ISBN978-0-22-662308-5
^Georges Contenau,Contribution a l'Histoire Economique d'Umma, Librairie Champion, 1915
^Foster, Benjamin R., "New Light on the “mu-iti” Texts", Orientalia 48.2, pp. 153-162, 1979
^Al-Mutawalli, N., "Excavation of Umma (modern Jokha), seasons 1 & 2.", Sumer 54, pp. 53-82, 2009
^Al-Harbi, H. Sh, N. A. Al-Mutawali, and K. M. Khaleel, "Jokha (Umma): The Excavation Results of the Third and Fourth Seasons (2001–2002)", Sumer 56, pp. 49-92, 2011
^Al-Mutawalli, N.. "Administrative Cuneiform Texts from Umma in the Iraq Museum Excavation of Shara Temple (1999–2000)", Sumer 55, pp. 45–86, 2010
^Mutawallī, Nawālah Aḥmad Maḥmūd al, et al., "Bullae from the Shara Temple= Wuṣūlāt at-tasallum (bulla) min maʿbad aš-Šārā. Cuneiform texts from the Iraqi excavations at Umma (Jokha)", Harrassowitz Verlag, 2019ISBN978-3-447-11159-1
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^Drahoslav Hulínek and Tibor Lieskovský, "Report Archaeological project SAHI - Tell Jokha, 2016", Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute, 2016
^Hulínek, Drahoslav, et al., eds., "Preliminary Report Archaeological Project SAHI-Tell Jokha, 2019: Season 3", Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute-SAHI, 2020
^Drahoslav Hulínek, Eva Hulínková Ťuchová, "The SAHI Tell Jokha Archaeological Project: Campaign 2016–2017", in The Intellectual Heritage of the Ancient Near East, Proceedings of the 64th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale and the 12th Melammu Symposium, University of Innsbruck, July 16‒20, 2018, pp. 849-868, 2023/04/12
^Almamori, H. A., "The Excavation Results of the Third and Fourth Seasons at Umm al-Aqarib (2001–2002)", Sumer 52, pp. 242–93, 2003-2004 (Arabic)
^Ławecka, Dorota, "Bent or Straight Axis? Temple Plans in Early Dynastic Southern Babylonia", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 206-228, 2014
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^Abid, Ameer Najim, "The architecture of white temples in the cities of ancient central and southern Mesopotamia (Uruk-Umm Al-Aqarib-Tal Al-Uqair) A comparative study", ISIN Journal 5, pp. 53-79, 2023
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^Abdulraheem, M. S., "The site of Shmet in the light of archaeological excavations", Unpublished Ph. D. thesis submitted to the Dept. of Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Baghdad (in Arabic), 2014
^Abdulraheem, M. S. and B. K. Abboodi, "The final report of the excavations in Shmet – 2nd season 2002", SBAH, Ministry of Culture, Rep. of Iraq (in Arabic), 2002
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![Stele of Ushumgal, 2900-2700 BC. Probably from Umma.[60]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aStele_of_Ushumgal_MET_DT849.jpg)
![Votive plaque offered by Bara-irnun, queen of Umma, to God Šara in gratitude for sparing her life. Date c. 2370 BC.[61]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aVotive_plaque_of_a_beard-IMG_6857.JPG)
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