| Būr-Sîn | |
|---|---|
| King ofIsin | |
 Cylinder seal of Bur-Sin | |
| Reign | 21/22 regnal years c. 1895-1875 BC (MC) |
| Predecessor | Ur-Ninurta |
| Successor | Lipit-Enlil |
| House | 1st Dynasty ofIsin |
Būr-Sîn (inscribed𒀭𒁓𒀭𒂗𒍪dbur-dEN.ZU), c. 1895 – 1874 BC (MC) was the 7th king of the 1st Dynasty ofIsin and ruled for 21 years according to theSumerian King List,[i 1] 22 years according to theUr-Isin king list.[i 2][1] His reign was characterized by an ebb and flow in hegemony over the religious centers ofNippur andUr.
The titles “shepherd who makes Nippur content,” "mighty farmer of Ur," “who restores the designs forEridu” and “en priest for themes, for Uruk” were used by Būr-Sîn in his standard brick inscriptions in Nippur and Isin,[i 3] although it seems unlikely that his rule stretched to Ur or Eridu at this time as the only inscriptions with an archaeological provenance come from the two northerly cities.[2] A solitary tablet from Ur is dated to his first year, but this is thought to correspond to Abē-sarē’s year 11, for which several tablets attest to his reign over Ur.
He was contemporary with the tail end of the reign ofAbī-sarē, c. 1905-1894 BC and that ofSūmú-El, c. 1895-1866 BC, the kings ofLarsa. This latter king’s year-names record victories over Akusum,Kazallu,Uruk (which had seceded from Isin), Lugal-Sîn, Ka-ida, Sabum,Kiš, and village of Nanna-isa, relentlessly edging north and feverish activity digging canals or filling them in, possibly to counter the measures taken by Būr-Sîn to contain him.[3] Only nine of Būr-Sîn's own year-names are known and the sequence is uncertain. He seized control ofKisurra for a time as two year-names are found among tablets from this city, possibly following the departure ofSumu-abum the king ofBabylon who “returned to his city.” The occupation was brief, however, as Sumu-El was to conquer it during his fourth year.[4] Other year-names record Būr-Sîn's construction of fortifications, walls on the bank of the Eurphrates and a canal. A year-name of Sumu-El records “Year after the year Sumu-El has opened the palace (?) of Nippur,” whose place in this king’s sequence is unknown.[4]
A red-brownagate statuette was dedicated to goddessInanna[i 4] and an agate plate[i 5] was dedicated by thelukur priestess and his “traveling companion,” i.e. concubine, Nanāia Ibsa. A certain individual by the name of Enlil-ennam dedicated a dog figurine to the goddessNinisina for the life of the king. There are around five extant seals and seal impressions of his servants and scribes,[5] three of which were excavated in Ur suggesting a fleeting late reoccupancy of this city at the end of his reign and the beginning of his successor's as coincidentally no texts from Ur bear Sumu-El's years 19 to 22 which correspond with this period.[3]