Girsu ( Sumerian ;

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

) was a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of 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. ...

, situated some northwest of

Lagash Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Lagaš'') was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash ( ...

, at the site of what is now Tell Telloh in

Dhi Qar Governorate Dhi Qar Governorate (, ) is a governorate in southern Iraq, in the Arabian Peninsula. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the governorate was known as Muntafiq Governorate. Thi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civilizatio ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. As the religious center of the kingdom of Lagash, it contained significant temples to the god

Ningirsu Ninĝirsu was a Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian god regarded as the tutelary deity of the city of Girsu, Ĝirsu, and as the chief god of the local pantheon of the state of Lagash. He shares many aspects with the god Ninurta. Ninĝirsu was identified as ...

( E-ninnu) and his wife Bau and hosted multi-day festivals in their honor.

History

Girsu was possibly inhabited in the

Ubaid period The Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall, Leonard Woolley in 19 ...

(5300-4800 BC), but significant levels of activity began in the Early Dynastic period (2900-2335 BC). At the time of

Gudea Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a''; died 2124 BC) was a Sumerian ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled –2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144–2124 BC ( middle chronology). He probably did not come from the ...

, during the Second Dynasty of Lagash, Girsu became the capital of the

kingdom and continued to be its religious center after political power had shifted to the city of Lagash. During the

Ur III period The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Sumerian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 22nd and 21st centuries BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by ...

, Girsu was a major administrative center for the empire. After the fall of Ur, Girsu declined in importance, but remained inhabited until . A 4th century BC bilingual Greek/

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

inscription was found there.

Archaeology

The site consists of two main mounds, one rising 50 feet above the plain and the other 56 feet. A number of small mounds dot the site. Telloh was the first Sumerian site to be extensively excavated, at first under the French vice-consul at Basra, Ernest de Sarzec, in eleven campaigns between 1877 and 1900, followed by his successor Gaston Cros from 1903–1909. Finds included an alabaster statue of a woman, with copper bracelets coated in gold and a fragment of a stone lion carved dish with a partial Sumerian inscription. In 1879 the site was visited by

Hormuzd Rassam Hormuzd Rassam (; ; 182616 September 1910) was an Assyriologist and author. He is known for making a number of important archaeological discoveries from 1877 to 1882, including the clay tablets that contained the ''Epic of Gilgamesh,'' the world ...

. Excavations continued under Abbé Henri de Genouillac in 1929–1931 and under André Parrot in 1931–1933. It was at Girsu that the fragments of the

Stele of the Vultures The Stele of the Vultures is a monument from the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia), Early Dynastic IIIb period (2600–2350 BC) in Mesopotamia celebrating a victory of the city-state of Lagash over its neighbour Umma. It shows various battle and ...

were found. The site has suffered from poor excavation standards and also from illegal excavations. About 50,000 cuneiform tablets have been recovered from the site. Excavations at Telloh resumed in 2016 as part of a training program for Iraqi archaeologists organized by the British Museum. A foundation tablet and a number of inscribed building cones have been found. In the 5th season, in autumn 2019, work concentrated on the Mound of the Palace where E-ninnu, a temple to Ningirsu, had been found in earlier seasons. In March 2020, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old cultic area filled with more than 300 broken ceremonial ceramic cups, bowls, jars, animal sacrifices, and ritual processions dedicated to

. One of the remains was a duck-shaped bronze figurine with eyes made from bark which is thought to be dedicated to Nanshe. An

Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disp ...

weight was also found. In February 2023, archaeologists from

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

revealed the remains of the 4,500 year-old Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings alongside more than 200

tablets containing administrative records of Girsu. The E-ninnu temple (Temple of the White Thunderbird), the primary sanctuary of the Sumerian warrior god

was also identified during the excavations. In the 2024 season 200

tablets (including school texts) and 60 clay sealings from the

Akkadian empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (city), Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and Sumerian languag ...

period were found. Sealings include one which said "Naram-Sin, the mighty, god of Akkad, king of the four quarters (of the world): Lugal-ushumgal, the scribe, governor, your servant". In 2023,

experts have suggested the possibility that a Hellenistic shrine at Girsu was founded by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

, built atop the ruins of E-ninnu. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander."

Gallery

Ubaid IV artifacts (4700–4200 BC)

File:Ubaid IV pottery gobelet 4700-4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu. Louvre Museum.jpg, Ubaid IV pottery gobelet, 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu. Louvre Museum. File:Ubaid IV pottery jars 4700-4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum.jpg, Ubaid IV pottery jars 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum. File:Ubaid IV pottery 4700-4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum.jpg, Ubaid IV pottery 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum AO 15338. File:Female figurines Ubaid IV Tello ancient Girsu 4700-4200 BC Louvre Museum.jpg, Female figurines Ubaid IV, Tello, ancient Girsu, 4700–4200 BC. Louvre Museum AO15327.

Uruk Period artifacts (4000–3100 BC)

File:Vase Telloh Louvre AO14313.jpg, Uruk period vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. File:Vase Telloh Louvre AO14302.jpg, Vase. Terracotta with red slip, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.

. File:Vase Telloh Louvre AO14342.jpg, Vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. File:Indus seal found in Telloh.jpg, Indus seal impression discovered in Telloh, a result of Indus-Mesopotamia relations.

Early dynastic artifacts (3rd millennium BC)

File:Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient Girsu, mid-3rd millenium BC.jpg, Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient Girsu, mid-3rd millennium BC. Louvre Museum. File:Issue of barley rations.JPG, An account of

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

rations issued monthly to adults and children written in

Cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

on clay tablet, written in year 4 of King

Urukagina Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( ; died 2370 BC) was King of the city-states of Lagash and Girsu in Mesopotamia, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointe ...

(). From Girsu, Iraq.

, London. File:Telloh doorway erected by Gudea.jpg, Telloh doorway erected by

()

Hellenistic period artifacts

File:Brique de fondation - 200-100 av. J.-C. - Girsu - Louvre - AO 29762.jpg, Adadnadinakhe bricks

Notes

External links

Getty Girsu Project
*[https://www.dailysabah.com/gallery/5000-year-old-artifacts-unearthed-in-sumerian-city-of-girsu-in-iraq/images?gallery_image=70871 5,000-year-old artifacts unearthed in Sumerian city of Girsu in Iraq - Daily Sabah - Nov 17, 2021]
Fragment of a stone plaque depicting Enannatum
found in Tello (Girsu), from the collection of the British Museum, on the site of Google Cultural Institute
Images of Girsu
- Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
Stele of the Vultures at the LouvreThe world's oldest bridge is being preserved in IraqThe Iraq Emergency Heritage Management Training Scheme: an updateExcavations at Girsu Video - British Museum
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 2nd century BC Sumerian cities Archaeological sites in Iraq History of Dhi Qar Governorate Former populated places in Iraq Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) Lagash fr:Lagash#Girsu/Tello