Larsa

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Coordinates: 31°14′N 45°51′E Larsa (modern Tell as-Senkereh, possibly the Biblical Ellasar), was an important city of ancient Sumer. It lies some 25 km southeast of the ruin mounds of Uruk (biblical Erech), near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal (modern day southern Iraq). Larsa is mentioned in Sumerian inscriptions as early as the time of Ur-Gur, 2700 or 2800 BC, who built or restored the ziggurat of E-Babbar, the temple of Shamash.

[edit] History

"The Worshipper or Larsa", a votive statuette dedicated to god Amurru for Hammurabi's life, early 2nd millennium BC, Louvre

Larsa first became a formidable force in Mesopotamia during the Old Babylonian period (c. 2000-1600 BCE). After the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed, a power vacuum arose that many of the larger city-states hurried to fill. In southern Mesopotamia, an official of Ibbi-Sin, the last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, relocated from Ur to Isin and set up a government there that purported to follow in the Third Dynasty's footsteps. This king, Ishbi-Erra (c. 2017-1985), helped recapture some of the Dynasty's previous land, including the culturally symbolic and commercially crucial towns of Ur and Uruk.

Ishbi-Erra also regained power over the province of Lagash, of which Larsa was a part. The subsequent Isin rulers appointed governors to rule over Lagash; one such governor was an Amorite named Gungunum. He eventually broke with Isin and established an independent dynasty in Larsa. To legitimize his rule and deliver a blow to Isin, Gungunum captured the city of Ur. As the main center of trade with the Arab-Persian gulf, Isin lost an enormously important portal to a profitable trade route, not to mention a city with much cultic significance.

Beyond these few details, the precise reason for Gungunum's break with Isin are largely unknown. One group of scholars theorizes that Isin's internal problems were to blame; it does seem that Isin's rulers allowed the once burgeoning irrigation and agricultural systems to wane. It is possible this was due to sheer neglect, but there is evidence that acquiring access to water in this arid region posed quite a problem for most of southern Mesopotamia in this period.

Gungunum's two successors, Abisare (c. 1905) and Sumu-el (c. 1894), both took steps to cut Isin completely off from access to canals. After this period, Isin quickly lost political and economical force.

Larsa grew powerful, but it never accumulated a huge tract of land. At its peak under king Rim-Sin (c. 1822-1763), Larsa controlled only about 10-15 other city-states, nowhere near the territory controlled by other dynasties in Mesopotamian history. Nevertheless, huge building projects and agricultural undertakings can be validated by archaeological evidence.

[edit] Archaeology

List of the kings of Larsa, 39th year of Hammurabi's reign, Louvre

Loftus conducted excavations at this site in 1854. He describes the ruins as consisting of a low, circular platform, about 4.5 miles in circumference, rising gradually from the level of the plain to a central mound 70 ft. high. This represents the ancient ziggurat of the temple of Shamash, which was in part explored by Loftus. From the inscriptions found there it appears that, besides the kings already mentioned, Hammurabi, Burna-buriash and Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon restored or rebuilt the temple of Shamash. The excavations at Senkereh were peculiarly successful in the discovery of inscribed remains, consisting of clay tablets, chiefly contracts, but including also an important mathematical tablet and a number of tablets of a description almost peculiar to Senkereh, exhibiting in basrelief scenes of everyday life. Loftus found also the remains of an ancient Babylonian cemetery. From the ruins it would appear that Senkereh ceased to be inhabited at or soon after the Persian conquest.

Kings of Larsa (Middle chronology)

Naplanum......................................2025-2004

Emisum........................................2004-1976

Samium........................................1976-1941

Zabaia........................................1941-1932

Gungunum......................................1932-1905

Abisare.......................................1905-1894

Sumuel........................................1894-1865

Nur-Adad......................................1865-1849

Sin-Iddinam...................................1849-1842

Sin-Eribam....................................1842-1840

Sin-Iqisham...................................1840-1835