Ngirsu

Ngirsu (cuneiform:?; Sumerian:Ĝirsu; Akkadian:"?") is modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and it was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some 25 km northwest of Lagash. Because of the initial nasal velar unicode|, the transcription of Ĝirsu is usually spelled as Ngirsu (also: G̃irsu, Girsu, Jirsu) to avoid confusion.

History

Ngirsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5th millennium BC), but significant levels of activity began in the Early Dynastic period (25th-24th centuries BC). At the time of Gudea, during the Second Dynasty of Lagash, Ngirsu became the capital of the Lagash kingdom and continued to be its religious center after political power had shifted to city of Lagash.

During the Third Dynasty of Ur, Ngirsu was a major administrative centerfor the empire. After the fall of Ur, Ngirsu declined in importance,but remained inhabited until the 2nd century BC.

Archaeology

Telloh was the first Sumerian site to be extensively excavated, at first under the French vice-consul at Basra, Ernest de Sarzec, from 1877 to 1900, [Découvertes en Chaldée, E. de Sarzec, Paris, Leroux, 1884-1893] followed by hissuccessor Gaston Cros from 1903-1909. [ [http://www.archive.org/download/nouvellesfouille00crosuoft/nouvellesfouille00crosuoft.pdf Nouvelles fouilles de Tello, Gaston Cros, Paris, 1910] ] Excavations continued under Abbé Henri de Genouillac in 1929-1931 [Fouilles de Telloh I: Epoques presargoniques, Abbé Henri de Genouillac, Paris, 1934] [Fouilles de Telloh II: Epoques d'Ur III Dynastie et de Larsa, Abbé Henri de Genouillac, Paris, 1936] and under André Parrot in 1931-1933. [A. Parrot, "Tello: vingt campagnes de fouilles 1877-1933", Paris, A. Michel ,1948] It was at Girsu that the fragments of the
Stele of the Vultures 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. [ [http://www.etana.org/coretexts/20020.pdf Telloh Tablets at HAVERFORD LIBRARY] ]

ee also

*Ningirsu
*Statues of Gudea
*Cities of the ancient Near East

Notes

External links

* [http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/t/tello_ancient_girsu,_iraq.aspx Tello (Girsu)] (thebritishmuseum.ac.uk)
* [http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/SANDERS/PHOTOS/MESO/GIRSU/girsu1_1.html Images of Girsu] - Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
* [http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225324&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225324&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500800&bmLocale=en Stele of the Vultures at the Louvre]