Geography of Sumer

The Geography and toponymy of Sumer is subject to hypothetical reconstructions based on texts such as the "Description of Ur-Nammu's kingdom" (Kraus, ZA 51 (1955)), "Frontier of Shara" (Sollberger 1959), "Empire of Sargon of Akkad" (Albright 1925, Weidner 1952-3).

The location of most of the major cities such as Kish, Uruk, Lagash etc. is known with certainty, while the location of minor settlements, situated along a network of canals, is more difficult to reconstruct. An important source of Mesopotamian toponymy is the great Babylonian encyclopedia Harra-hubullu and its commentaries. These texts contain lists of toponyms, but circumstantial evidence is required to correlate these with their geographical location. The most useful category of texts for this purpose are itineraries, which list settlements in the sequence they are passed by a traveller.

Important canals of Sumer included
*the "Zubi" canal ("Izubi", Akkadian "Izubitum"), a short-cut of the Tigris between the locations of modern Samarra and Baghdad. Settlements along this canal included Hibaritum and Push.
*the "Irnina" canal, joined the Zubi canal above Push. Settlements along this canal included Hiritum, Hursitum, Sarru-Laba, Namzium
*the "Gibil" canal ran southwest from the Tigris to a point south of the frontier city of Kesh, past a branch which went north to that city. The Gibil continued on to Apisala where it intersected with the Ninagina Canal which flowed southeast from Zabalam. From Apisala, the Gibil went on to Umma, where it joined the Iturungal Canal.
*The "Issinnitum" canal left the right bank of the Euprates above Nippur to run by the city of Isin, and thence to rejoin the Euphrates at Kisurra.
*The "Iturungal" canal left the Euphrates below Nippur running past Adab, Dabrum, Zabalam, Umma, Nagsu, Bad-tibira and Larsa and between Uruk and Enegi before rejoining the Euphrates.
*The "Nanagugal" canal departed from the left bank of the Iturungal canal downstream of Bad-tibira. It marked the eastern boundary of Ur and the western boundary of Lagash.
*The "Ninagina" canal ran from Iturungal at Zabalam southeast passing Girsu, Lagash and Nina. It intersected with the Gibil canal at Apisala
*The "Susuka" canal ran southeast from Ur to Eridu.

ee also

*Cities of the Ancient Near East

References

*Douglas Frayne, The Early Dynastic List of Geographical Names (1992).
*Piotr Steinkeller, On the Reading and Location of the Toponyms ÚR×Ú.KI and A.ḪA.KI, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan., 1980), pp. 23-33.
*William W. Hallo, "The Road to Emar" Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 18, No. 3 (1964), pp. 57-88

External links

* [http://www.jameswbell.com/geog001sumerianwaterways.html Sumerian Waterways]