Kesh (Keš or Keši) was an ancient

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ian city and religious site, whose patron goddess was

Ninhursag Ninḫursaĝ ( ''Ninḫarsang''; ), sometimes transcribed Ninursag, Ninḫarsag, or Ninḫursaĝa, also known as Damgalnuna or Ninmah, was the ancient Sumerian mother goddess of the mountains, and one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She ...

. It was included on the "city seals" found at Jemdat Nasr. These seals sparked the theory at an Early Dynastic Kengir League control Sumer at that time. Its location is uncertain; some of the possible sites put forth include Al-Ubaid, near Ur, or Tell al-Wilayah near Adab or

Abu Salabikh The archaeological site of Abu Salabikh (Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh), around northwest of the site of ancient Nippur and about 150 kilometers southeast of the modern city of Baghdad in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq marks the site of a small Sume ...

or even Tell Jidr though the consensus is now with Tell al-Wilayah or

Tulul al-Baqarat Tulul al-Baqarat or Tulūl al-Baqarāt, is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Wasit Governorate of Iraq about 180 kilometers southeast of modern Baghdad. It is located seven kilometers to the northeast of Tell al-Wilayah (with which it ...

. The city is known to be located near to the ancient city of Irisaĝrig and was under the control of that city. According to a riddle from Early Dynastic times, there was a Kesh Canal, which Adab was on. It has been suggested that

Mesilim Mesilim (), also spelled Mesalim (), was '' lugal'' (king) of the Sumerian city-state of Kish. Though his name is missing from the ''Sumerian king list'', Mesilim is among the earliest historical figures recorded in archaeological documents. He re ...

, traditionally considered "King of Kish" was actually a ruler of Kesh, based on epigraphic reasons and by the fact that he called himself "beloved son of Ninharsag".

Historical sources

A number of personal names from the Early Dynastic period include the city of Kesh. An example was Me-Kèš^ki ie "The divine forces of Kesh". In the prologue of the

Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed during 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organized, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian language, Akkadi ...

it states "the one whom the sage, Mama brought to perfection; who laid out the plans for Kesh" where Mama referred to the goddess

. The third year name of Rim-Sin II (c. 1700 BC), ruler of

Larsa Larsa (, read ''Larsamki''), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossus, Berossos and connected with the biblical Arioch, Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the Cult (religious pra ...

, reads "Year in which Ninmah raised greatly in the Kesz temple, the foundation of heaven and earth, (Rim-Sin) to kingship over the land, (king) having no enemy, no hostile (king), opposing him in all foreign lands." where Ninmah is another name for Ninhursag. In a letter to Amurrum-tillati, Rim-Sin II declares "In order to bring light to Yamutbalum and to gather its scattered people, the great gods established the foundations of my throne in Keš, the city of my creatress" suggesting that his throne, and capital, were in Kesh. According to a statue inscription

Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu-iluna'', "The Sun (is) our god") (–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chron ...

, ruler of Babylon, destroyed Kesh and "Ninhursag’s Gate", and possibly executed Rim-Sin II there after suppressing his revolt. Kesh is mentioned on the Bassetki Statue of Naram-Sin.

Temple Hymn

There is a famous Kesh temple hymn about Ninhursag's temple in Kesh (hur-saĝ gal), where she is called Nintud. The goddess

Nisaba Nisaba was the Mesopotamian goddess of writing and grain. She is one of the oldest Sumerian language, Sumerian deities attested in writing, and remained prominent through many periods of History of Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian history. She was commo ...

appears as the temple's caretaker and decision maker. A cuneiform tablet fragment of the Kesh Temple Hymn was found at Abu Salabikh. One of the ''

Temple Hymns A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

'' of

Enheduanna Enheduanna ( , also transliteration, transliterated as , , or variants; ) was the (high) priestess of the moon god Sin (mythology), Nanna (Sīn) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur in the reign of her father, Sargon of Akkad ( BCE). She was likely ...

, the daughter of

Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad (; ; died 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highly unc ...

(c. 2334-2279 BC), is dedicated to Kesh as well, though it is shorter than the Early Dynastic composition:

Location

Robert D. Biggs suggested Kesh could have just been a variation in the spelling of

Kish Kish may refer to: Businesses and organisations * KISH, a radio station in Guam * Kish Air, an Iranian airline * Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam People * Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name * Kish, a former ...

. From inscriptions it is known that Adab was on the Kesh Canal. More recently it has been suggested that Kesh is located at

.Viano, M. (2020): On the Location of Irisaĝrig Once Again, JCS 71, 35–52

References

{{coord missing, Iraq Sumerian cities Former populated places in Iraq

Historical sources

Temple Hymn

Location

See also

References