Ur-gigir (, ''ur-gigir'') was the son of
Ur-nigin and a Governor (
ensi) of
Uruk
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilo ...
who lived in 22nd century BCE.
According to the
Sumerian King List
The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient Composition (language), literary composition written in Sumerian language, Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims ...
, Ur-gigir's father Ur-nigin destroyed 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 ...
, which had probably already be weakened by the
Gutians
The Guti (), also known by the derived exonyms Gutians or Guteans, were a people of the ancient Near East who both appeared and disappeared during the Bronze Age. Their homeland was known as Gutium (Sumerian language, Sumerian: , ''GutūmKI'' o ...
, and established a short-lived Fifth Dynasty of Uruk.
The ''Sumerian King List'', describing the confusion of the decline of 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 ...
after the death of
Shar-kali-shari, mentions the rule of several kings, among them Ur-gigir:
Ur-gigir appears in several of his own votive inscriptions, where he mentions his father
Ur-nigin. One of them reads:
The Fourth Dynasty of Uruk was finally destroyed by the
Gutian Dynasty.
["This threat was apparently met for a time by the establishment of a new kingdom in southern Babylonia, the fourth dynasty of Uruk; and around this standard flocked those who would oppose the Semitic throne of Akkad as well as those who desired to resist the growing power of Gutium. But the five kings who made up the fourth dynasty of Uruk (Ur-nigin, Ur-giger, Kudda, Puzur-ili, and Ur-Utu), proved unable to stay the invaders; and the land passed under the control of the Guti.” in ]
See also
*
History of Sumer
The history of Sumer spans through the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia, and is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid period, Ubaid and Uruk period, Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with ...
*
Sumerian king list
The ''Sumerian King List'' (abbreviated ''SKL'') or ''Chronicle of the One Monarchy'' is an ancient Composition (language), literary composition written in Sumerian language, Sumerian that was likely created and redacted to legitimize the claims ...
*
List of Mesopotamian dynasties
The history of Mesopotamia extends from the Lower Paleolithic period until the establishment of the Caliphate in the late 7th century AD, after which the region came to be known as History of Iraq, Iraq. This list covers dynasties and monarchs of ...
References
, -
{{Early Rulers of Mesopotamia
22nd-century BC Sumerian kings
Kings of Uruk
Sumerian kings