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101-491: The tutelary deity of Isin, dating back to at least the Early Dynastic period , was the healing goddess Gula with a major temple (, E-gal-ma) sited there as well as smaller installations for the related gods of Ninisina and Sud . Isin is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of the ancient city of Nippur . The site covers an area of about 150 hectares with a maximum height of about 10 meters. By 1922

202-562: A belle letter used in scribal education during the subsequent Old Babylonian period. Ur-du-kuga ( fl. c. 1755—1751 BCE by the short chronology) was the 13th king of the Dynasty of Isin and reigned for 4 years according to the SKL , 3 years according to the Ur-Isin kinglist . He was the third in a sequence of short reigning monarchs whose filiation was unknown and whose power extended over

303-467: A legal code written in his name (preceding the famed Code of Hammurabi by about 100 years)—which were used for school instruction for hundreds of years after Lipit-Ištar's death. The annals of Lipit-Ištar's reign recorded that he also repulsed the Amorites . Ur-Ninurta ( fl. c. 1848—1820 BCE by the short chronology) was the 6th king of the Dynasty of Isin. A usurper, Ur-Ninurta seized the throne on

404-463: A bakery, possibly connected to the temple of Enlil in Nippur) includes an accounting record of expenditures of bread for the provision of the king and includes entries dated to his 2nd through 9th years which was used by Steele to determine the sequence of most of this king's year-names. Iddin-Dagan ( fl. c. 1900—1879 BCE by the short chronology) was the 3rd king of the Dynasty of Isin. Iddin-Dagān

505-471: A chronicle. Another chronicle which might have shed further light on his origins is too broken to translate. Hegemony over Nippur was fleeting, with control of the city passing back and forth between Isin and Larsa several times. Uruk , too, seceded during his reign and, as his power crumbled, he may have had the Chronicle of Early Kings redacted to provide a more legendary tale of his accession than

606-405: A craft workshop (or giš-kin-ti) from the city-state Isin has been uncovered with 920 texts dating from Išbi-Erra year 4 through to Šu-ilišu year 3 — a period of 33 years. The tablets are records of receipts and disbursements of the: leather goods, furniture, baskets, mats, and felt goods that were manufactured along with their raw materials. A 2nd archive (of receipt of cereal and issue of bread from

707-643: A destruction dated to around the 27th year of the reign of Samsu-iluna , son of Hammurabi , based on tablets found there. Later, the Kassites who took over in Babylon after its sack in 1531 BC, resumed building at Isin. Activity was primarily at the Gula temple and it appears that in that period Isin was only a cult center. The final significant stage of activity occurred during the Second Dynasty of Isin at

808-502: A dog figurine to the goddess Ninisina for the life of the king. There are around five extant seals and seal impressions of his servants and scribes, three of which were excavated in Ur suggesting a fleeting late reoccupancy of this city at the end of his reign and the beginning of his successor's as coincidentally no texts from Ur bear Sumu-El's years 19 to 22 which correspond with this period. Lipit-Enlil, written li-pí-it en.líl , where

909-483: A prayer to Gula. An inscribed brick of Adad-apla-iddina , 8th ruler of the 2nd dynasty of Isin, dedicated to the healing goddess Nin-ezena was also found. On another section of the main mound 3rd millennium BC buildings provided "gold jewellery, bronze weapons, cylinder seals, and a few cuneiform tablets of which two date back to the Early Dynastic period", a clay nail of Isme-Dagan referring to construction of

1010-504: A seal inscription, although elsewhere unattested. Kindattu had been driven away from the city-state of Ur by Išbi-Erra (the founder of the First Dynasty of Isin), however; relations had apparently thawed sufficiently for Tan-Ruhurarter (the 8th king to wed the daughter of Bilalama , the énsí of Eshnunna .) There is only 1 contemporary monumental text extant for this king and another 2 known from later copies. A fragment of

1111-463: A small region encompassing little more than the city of Isin and its neighbor Nippur . He was probably a contemporary of Warad-Sîn of Larsa and Apil-Sîn of Babylon . He credited Dāgan , a god from the middle Euphrates region who had possibly been introduced by the dynasty's founder, Išbi-Erra , with his creation, in cones commemorating the construction of the deity's temple, the Etuškigara, or

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1212-409: A small site southeast of Tell Drehem, which gives his standard inscription describing him as an “ Išippum priest with clean hands for Eridu , favorite en priest of Uruk” and there is a copy of an inscription relating to the erection of a statue of the king with a votive goat. He was contemporary with Gungunum , c. 1868 – 1841 BCE (short), and his successor Abī-sarē , c. 1841 – 1830 BCE (short),

1313-542: A sort when Gungunum the royally appointed governor of Larsa and Lagash province, seized the city of Ur. Ur had been the main center of the Gulf trade; thus this move economically devastated Isin. Additionally, Gungunum's two successors Abisare and Sumuel ( c.  1905 BC and 1894 BC) both sought to cut Isin off from its canals by rerouting them into Larsa. At some point, Nippur was also lost. Isin would never recover. Around 1860 BC, an outsider named Enlil-bani seized

1414-525: A stone statue has a votive inscription which invokes Ninisina and Damu to curse those who foster evil intent against it. 2 later clay tablet copies of an inscription recording an unspecified object fashioned for the god Nanna were found by the British archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Woolley in a scribal school house in the city-state of Ur. A tablet from the Enunmaḫ at the city-state of Ur dated to

1515-649: A storehouse and palm grove, give a year-name elsewhere unattested, “year Suen-magir the king dug the Ninkarrak canal.” Another year-name marks "(Suen-magir) built on the bank of the Iturungal canal (the old wadi) a great fortification (called) Suen-magir-madana-dagal-dagal (Suen-magir broadens his country)." A province in the south and a town in eastern Babylonia near Tuplias are both called Bīt-Suen-magir and some historians have speculated one or other were named in his honor. Damiq-ilishu ( fl. c. 1740—1717 BCE by

1616-479: A temporary counter-offensive, recapturing Nippur and several other cities on the Kishkattum canal. His year-name “year (Ur-Ninurta) set for Enlil free (of forced labor) for ever the citizens of Nippur and released (the arrears of) the taxes which they were bearing on their necks” may mark this point. His offensive was stopped at Adab , modern Bismaya, where Abī-sarē “defeated the army of Isin with his weapon,” in

1717-513: A year. The city lay on the Isinnitum Canal, part of a set of waterways that connected the cities of Mesopotamia. The patron deity of Isin was Nintinuga (Gula) goddess of healing, and a temple to her was built there. The Isin king Enlil-bani reported building a temple to Gula named E-ni-dub-bi, a temple for Sud named E-dim-gal-an-na, a temple E-ur-gi-ra to Ninisina , as well as a temple for the god Ninbgal. Ishbi-Erra continued many of

1818-453: Is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety and thus of guardianship. In late Greek and Roman religion , one type of tutelary deity, the genius , functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit

1919-429: Is a kettledrum used in temple rituals. He is perhaps best known for the literary work generally known as the letter from Nabi-Enlil to Iter-pisha formerly designated letter from Iter-pisha to a deity , when its contents were less well understood. It is extant in seven fragmentary manuscripts and seems to be a petition to the king from a subject who has fallen on hard times. It is a 24-line composition that had become

2020-419: Is extant. Shu-Ilishu ( fl. c. 1920—1900 BCE by the short chronology) was the 2nd ruler of the Dynasty of Isin. He reigned for 10 years (according to his extant year-names and a single copy of the SKL , which differs from the 20 years recorded by others.) Šu-ilišu was preceded by Išbi-erra . Iddin-Dagān then succeeded Šu-ilišu. Šu-ilišu is best known for his retrieval of the cultic idol of Nanna from

2121-500: Is patron of yogis and renunciants. City gods and goddesses include: Influenced by the religion of Islam , Indonesian people believe in jinn , particularly on the island of Java. Those jinn who adhere to the religion of Islam are generally benevolent, however, non-Muslim jinn are considered to be mischievous. Some of them guard graves. If a pilgrim approaching the grave has evil intentions, they would cause severe illness or even death. Spirits called shedim are mentioned twice in

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2222-407: Is the familiar spirit of European folklore. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or daimonion : You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me … . This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this

2323-565: Is the patron of military personnel and police, while Mazu is the patron of fishermen and sailors. A similar concept in Christianity would be the patron saint example of archangels "Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc." or to a lesser extent, the guardian angel . In Hinduism , personal tutelary deities are known as ishta-devata , while family tutelary deities are known as Kuladevata . Gramadevata are guardian deities of villages or regions. Devas can also be seen as tutelary. Shiva

2424-447: Is uncertain and was a contemporary and rival of Sūmû-El and Nūr-Adad of the parallel dynasty of Larsa . He is best known for the legendary tale of his demise, Shaffer's “gastronomic mishap”. He seems to have recovered control of Nippur from Larsa early in his reign but perhaps lost it again, as its recovery is celebrated again by his successor. The later regnal year-names offer some glimmer of events, for example “the year following

2525-601: Is unknown, as the SKL omits this information from this point on. Both he and his successor were conspicuous in the absence of royal hymns or dedicatory prayers and Hallo speculates this may have been due to the distractions afforded by the commencement of conflict with Larsa . The archives of the temple of Ninurta , the é- šu -me-ša 4 , in Nippur , extended over more than seventy-five years, from year 1 of Lipit-Enlil of Isin (1810) to year 28 of Rim-Sin I (1730) and were inadvertently preserved when they were used as infill for

2626-508: Is what stands in the way of my being a politician. The Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places: for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens . Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion . The tutelary deity of a man was his Genius , that of a woman her Juno . In the Imperial era , the Genius of

2727-612: The civitas of the Remi in Gaul adopted Apollo as its tutelary, and at the capital of the Remi (present-day Rheims ), the tutelary was Mars Camulus . Tutelary deities were also attached to sites of a much smaller scale, such as storerooms, crossroads, and granaries. Each Roman home had a set of protective deities: the Lar or Lares of the household or familia , whose shrine was a lararium ;

2828-1006: The genius loci or guardian spirit of the site, Hercules , Silvanus , Fortuna Conservatrix ("Fortuna the Preserver") and in the Greek East Aphrodite and Agathe Tyche . The Lares Compitales were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood ( vicus ) , each of which had a compitum (shrine) devoted to these. Their annual public festival was the Compitalia . During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest. Chinese folk religion , both past and present, includes myriad tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals, highly cultivated sages, and prominent ancestors can be deified and honored after death. Lord Guan

2929-598: The Early Dynastic period in early to middle 3rd millennium BC. Isin is known to have been occupied during the Akkadian Empire . An intensive building program began at Isin during the Ur III empire in the late 3rd millennium BC. WIth the fall of Ur, an Amorite dynasty took power in the city, during the Isin-Larsa period . The city then fell to Babylon and suffered a period of abandonment. Activity resumed under

3030-519: The Elamites and its return to the city-state Ur . Šu-ilišu's inscriptions gave him the titles: “Mighty Man” — “King of Ur” — “God of His Nation” — “Beloved of the gods: Anu , Enlil , and Nanna” — “King of the Land of Sumer and Akkad ” — “Beloved of the god Enlil and the goddess Ninisina ” — “Lord of his Land”, but not “King of Isin” (a title which was not claimed by a ruler of this city-state until

3131-635: The Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult . An emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo . Precedents for claiming the personal protection of a deity were established in the Republican era , when for instance the Roman dictator Sulla advertised the goddess Victory as his tutelary by holding public games ( ludi ) in her honor. Each town or city had one or more tutelary deities, whose protection

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3232-455: The Etruscan city of Veii , and was often housed in an especially grand temple on the arx (citadel) or other prominent or central location. The tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna , whose oracle was renowned. The Roman ritual of evocatio was premised on the belief that a town could be made vulnerable to military defeat if the power of its tutelary deity were diverted outside

3333-655: The First Dynasty of Isin . The Elamites had attacked Isin and Ur, capturing Ur. One of Ishbi-Erra's acts was to expel the Elamites from Ur and the region, his year name being "Year (Iszbi-Irra the king) brought out of Ur, with his strong weapon, the Elamite who was dwelling in its midst". Although the Sumerian King List gives a 33-year reign for Ishbi-Erra only one royal inscription has been found. "For

3434-516: The Hebrew Bible . In both of these instances ( Psalm 106 :37 and Deuteronomy 32:17) the shedim are associated with child sacrifice or animal sacrifice . The term " shedim " is believed by some to be a loan-word from the Akkadian shedu , which referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent. In Korean shamanism , jangseung and sotdae were placed at

3535-634: The Iraq War (2003 to 2011). Since the end of excavations, extensive looting is reported to have resumed at the site. Even when the German team began their work, the site had already been heavily looted. A significant find, in the Ninurta shrine of the Gula temple, was an alabaster mace head of the Akkadian Empire ruler Manishtushu inscribed "Man-istusu, king of the world, dedicated (this mace) to

3636-534: The Kassites , followed by a period of local control. Isin was occupied to various degrees until the Neo-Babylonian period. With the final decline of the Ur III empire at the end of the third millennium BC, a power vacuum was left that other city-states scrambled to fill. Ishbi-Erra , said to be an Amorite, from Mari , and an Ur III official under its final ruler Ibbi-Sin , gained rulership of Isin and began

3737-470: The Penates who guarded the storeroom (penus) of the innermost part of the house; Vesta , whose sacred site in each house was the hearth; and the Genius of the paterfamilias , the head of household. The poet Martial lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm. The architecture of a granary ( horreum ) featured niches for images of the tutelary deities, who might include

3838-407: The SKL and the Ur-Isin king list match on his name and reign, was the 8th king of the 1st dynasty of Isin and ruled for five years, ca. 1810 BCE – 1806 BCE (short chronology) or 1873–1869 BCE (middle chronology). He was the son of Būr-Sîn. There are no inscriptions known for this king. His brief reign ended a period of relative stability and he was succeeded by Erra-Imittī whose filiation

3939-543: The short chronology ) was the founder of the Dynasty of Isin. Ishbi-Erra of the First Dynasty of Isin was preceded by Ibbi-Sin of the Third Dynasty of Ur in ancient Lower Mesopotamia , and then succeeded by Šu-ilišu . According to the Weld-Blundell Prism , Ishbi-Erra reigned for 33 years and this is corroborated by the number of his extant year-names. While in many ways this dynasty emulated that of

4040-579: The short chronology timeline of the ancient Near East . It was preceded on the Sumerian King List by the Third Dynasty of Ur . The Dynasty of Isin is often associated with the nearby and contemporary dynasty of Larsa (1961–1674 BCE), and they are often regrouped for periodization purposes under the name " Isin-Larsa period ". Both dynasties were succeeded by the First Babylonian Empire . Ishbi-Erra ( fl. c. 1953—1920 BCE by

4141-431: The 14th year of Gungunum ( fl. c. 1868 BCE — c. 1841 BCE) of Larsa , after his conquest of the city, bears the seal impression of a servant of his. A tablet described Iddin-Dagān's fashioning of two copper festival statues for Ninlil , which were not delivered to Nippur until 170 years later by Enlil-bāni . Belles-lettres preserve the correspondence from Iddin-Dagān to his general Sîn-illat about Kakkulātum and

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4242-547: The 9th year-name of his reign. It may be that this battle was where he was killed, as a year A of Halium of the kingdom of Mananâ, reads “the year Ur-Ninurta was slain” and Manabalte’el of Kisurra ’s year G, “the year Ur-Ninurta was killed.” There is a year name “year following the year that king Ur-Ninurta made emerge large a.gàrs from the water.” Marten Stol suggests that it indicates he succeeded in converting swamp or similar into cultivatable land. A curious legal case arose came to his attention which he ordered by heard by

4343-459: The Amorites out of their land, and they will strike the Elamites and capture Ishbi-Erra.” Curiously, Puzur-Šulgi seems to have originally been one of Ishbi-Erra's own messengers and indicates the extent to which loyalties were in flux during the waning years of the Ur III regime. While there was no outright conflict, Ishbi-Erra continued to extend his influence as Ibbi-Sin's steadily declined over

4444-483: The Assembly of Nippur. Lu-Inanna, a nišakku priest was murdered by Nanna-sig, Ku-Enlilla (a barber) and Enlil-ennam (an orchard-keeper) who then confessed to his estranged wife, Nin-dada, who remained suspiciously silent on the matter. Nine persons, with occupations ranging from bird-catcher to potter, presented the prosecution's case. Two others sprang to the defense of the widow, as she had not actually participated in

4545-658: The Isin Dynasty itself, which would give it much legitimacy in the minds of the people because the dynasty would then be linked to earlier (albeit sometimes legendary) kings. The Sumerian King List (SKL) gives a list of the rulers of only one dynasty of Isin. The first Sealand , Kassite , and second Isin dynasties are known from the Babylonian King List (BKL) . The following list should not be considered complete: r.  c. 1953 – c. 1921 BC ( SC ) (32 or 33 years) "Then Ur

4646-465: The Land of Sumer and Akkad ". The 1st year name recorded on a receipt for flour and dates reads: “Year Iddin-Dagān (was) king and (his) daughter Matum-Niatum (“the land which belongs to us”) was taken in marriage by the king of Anshan .” Vallat suggests it was to Imazu (son of Kindattu , who was the groom and possibly the king of the region of Shimashki ) as he was described as the King of Anshan in

4747-458: The army of Gutium . A total of 16 kings ruled for 226 years, once in Isin. There are 11 cities, cities in which the kingship was exercised. A total of 139 kings, who altogether ruled for 3,443 years." r.  c. 1700 BC (SC) (60 years) r.  c. 1460 BC (SC) (9 years) Tutelary deity A tutelary ( / ˈ tj uː t ə l ɛ r i / ; also tutelar )

4848-407: The army of (the land of) Elam (and Zambiya, (the king of Isin,)) was/were defeated by arms,” suggesting a confederation between Isin and Elam against Larsa. The city of Nippur was hotly contested between the city-states. If Zambiya survived this battle, he may have possibly gone on to be contemporary with Sin-iqišam's successors, Ṣilli-Adad and Warad-Sin . Iter-pisha ( fl. c. 1759—1755 BCE by

4949-528: The bad-gal "Great Wall" city wall of Isin and an inscribed brick of Ur-du-kuga . In the Kassite layer an Early Dynastic III statue, 16.5 cm in height, of a kneeling man wearing only a triple belt. Just to the south of the temple complex two Early Dynastic I period buildings were found. The site of Isin was occupied at least as early as the Ubaid period based on pottery shards. Significant occupation began in

5050-487: The bank of the Eurphrates and a canal. A year-name of Sumu-El records “Year after the year Sumu-El has opened the palace (?) of Nippur,” whose place in this king's sequence is unknown. A red-brown agate statuette was dedicated to goddess Inanna and an agate plate was dedicated by the lukur priestess and his “traveling companion,” i.e. concubine, Nanāia Ibsa. A certain individual by the name of Enlil-ennam dedicated

5151-515: The city, perhaps by the offer of superior cult at Rome. The depiction of some goddesses such as the Magna Mater (Great Mother, or Cybele ) as " tower-crowned " represents their capacity to preserve the city. A town in the provinces might adopt a deity from within the Roman religious sphere to serve as its guardian, or syncretize its own tutelary with such; for instance, a community within

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5252-464: The city-state, but; whether he obtained it either through diplomacy or conflict is unknown. An inscription tells of the city-state's resettlement: “He established for him when he established in Ur the people scattered as far as Anšan in their abode.” The " Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur " was composed around this time to explain the catastrophe, to call for its reconstruction and to protect

5353-451: The construction of a storehouse for the goddess Aktuppītum of Kiritab in his honor commissioned by Nupṭuptum, the lukur priestess or concubine, “his beloved traveling escort, mother of his first-born.” An inscription marks the construction of a defensive wall, called Dūr-Suen-magir , “Suen-magir makes the foundation of his land firm,” at Dunnum, a city northeast of Nippur . Control of Nippur itself however may have shifted to Larsa, under

5454-438: The cultic practices that had flourished in the preceding Ur III period. He continued acting out the sacred marriage ritual each year. During this ritual, the king played the part of the mortal Dumuzi , and he had sex with a priestess who represented the goddess of love and war, Inanna (also known as Ishtar ). This was thought to strengthen the king's relationship to the gods, which would then bring stability and prosperity on

5555-543: The designs for Eridu ” and “ en priest for the mes , for Uruk” were used by Bur-Suen in his standard brick inscriptions in Nippur and Isin, although it seems unlikely that his rule stretched to Ur or Eridu at this time as the only inscriptions with an archaeological provenance come from the two northerly cities. A solitary tablet from Ur is dated to his first year, but this is thought to correspond to Abē-sarē's year 11, for which several tablets attest to his reign over Ur. He

5656-642: The edge of villages to frighten off demons. They were also worshiped as deities. Seonangshin is the patron deity of the village in Korean tradition and was believed to embody the Seonangdang . In Meitei mythology and religion ( Sanamahism ) of Manipur , there are various types of tutelary deities, among which Lam Lais are the most predominant ones. In Philippine animism , Diwata or Lambana are deities or spirits that inhabit sacred places like mountains and mounds and serve as guardians. In Shinto ,

5757-626: The end of the 2nd millennium, most notably by king Adad-apla-iddina . Isin remained occupied at least as late as the second decade of the reign of the Persian ruler Darius I (c 507 BC), then in the control of the region. Of the at least 256 ruler year names about 75% have been found. Most have the standard format, aside from Bur-Sin who numbered his years. These year names combined with new tablet joins show that there were two additional rulers, Sumu-abum and Ikūn-pī-Išta, slotting in between Erra-imittī and Enlil-bān. The reign of Sumu-abum lasted less than

5858-405: The entire country. The Isin kings continued also the practice of appointing their daughters official priestesses of the moon god of Ur. The literature of the period also continued in the line of the Ur III traditions when the Isin dynasty was first begun. For example, the royal hymn, a genre started in the preceding millennium, was continued. Many royal hymns written for the Isin rulers mirrored

5959-481: The event it marked has not been preserved. A cone shaft memorializes the building of a temple of Lulal of the cultic city of Dul-edena, northeast of Nippur on the Iturungal canal. The digging of the Imgur-Ninisin canal was celebrated in another year-name. Suen-magir ( fl. c. 1751—1740 BCE by the short chronology) was the 14th king of the Dynasty of Isin and he reigned for 11 years. His reign falls over

6060-501: The fall of Lipit-Ištar and held it until his violent death some 28 years later. He called himself “son of Iškur,” the southern storm-god synonymous with Adad , in his adab to Iškur . His name was wholly Sumerian , in marked contrast to the Amorite names of his five predecessors. There are only two extant inscriptions, one of which is stamped on bricks in 13 lines of Sumerian from the cities of Nippur , Isin, Uruk and Išān Ḥāfudh,

6161-637: The final ruling dynasty listed on the Sumerian King List ( SKL ). The list of the Kings of Isin with the length of their reigns, also appears on a cuneiform document listing the kings of Ur and Isin , the List of Reigns of Kings of Ur and Isin (MS 1686). The dynasty was situated within the ancient city of Isin (today known as the archaeological site of Ishan al-Bahriyat ). It is believed to have flourished c.  1953 –1717 BCE according to

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6262-413: The god Enlil, lord of the foreign lands, his lord, Isbi-Err[a], mighty king, lord of <his> land, fashioned a great lyre for him, which ... the heart. He dedicated it [for his own] life. The name of this lyre is 'Isbi-Erra trusts in the god Enlil'." The Isin I dynasty lasted over two centuries. Its most powerful period was early on. With the rise of Larsa and a number of smaller Amorite city-states,

6363-604: The goddess Ninisina". An inscription of Takil-ilissu, ruler of Malgium was also found. Early find included a Jemdet Nasr stamp seal and a small stone lion figurine of the Uruk period. The primary focus of the excavations was the four meter wide wall enclosed Gula temple complex. The complex showed construction through at least the Isin I, Kassite, and Neo-Babylonian periods with 3rd millennium BC finds suggested its earlier existence. Finds included 30 dog burials, copper pendants inscribed with dog images, and clay dog figurines, one with

6464-501: The goddess Ninlil had the god Enlil lengthen the life span of Enlil-Bāni.” There are perhaps two hymns addressed to this monarch. Zambiya ( fl. c. 1762—1759 BCE by the short chronology) was the 11th king of the Dynasty of Isin. He is best known for his defeat at the hands of Sin-iqišam , king of Larsa . According to the SKL , Zambiya reigned for 3 years. He was a contemporary of Sin-iqišam king of Larsa, whose fifth and final year-name celebrates his victory over Zambiya: “year

6565-659: The house “well founded residence,” an event also celebrated in a year-name. The inscription describes him as the “shepherd who brings everything for Nippur, the supreme farmer of the gods An and Enlil , provider of the Ekur…” This heaps profuse declarations of his care for Nippur's sanctuaries, the Ekur for Enlil, the Ešumeša for Ninurta and the Egalmaḫ for Gula , Ninurta's divine wife. A piece of brick from Isin, bears his titulary but

6666-545: The incursions of the Amorites (“Martu”) and requested Ibbi-Sin supply 600 boats to transport it while also requesting governorship of Isin and Nippur . Although Ibbi-Sin baulked at promoting him, Ishbi-Erra had apparently succeeded in wrestling control over Isin by Ibbi-Sin's 8th year, when he began assigning his own regnal year-names, and thereafter an uneasy chill descended on their relationship. Ibbi-Sin bitterly lambasted Ishbi-Erra as “not of Sumerian seed” in his letter to Puzur-Šulgi and opined that: “ Enlil has stirred up

6767-429: The influence of Isin slowly declined. A notable ruler was Ishme-Dagan for whom a number of hymns were written, in a style thought to be imitative of Shulgi , the ruler of Ur III. The exact events surrounding Isin's disintegration as a kingdom are mostly unknown, but some evidence can be pieced together. Documents indicate that access to water sources presented a huge problem for Isin. Isin also endured an internal coup of

6868-453: The king and between Ibbi-Sin and the governor of Kazallu (Puzur-Numushda, latterly renamed Puzur-Šulgi.) These are literary letters, copied in antiquity as scribal exercises and whose authenticity is unknown. Charged with acquiring grain in Isin and Kazallu, Ishbi-Erra complained that he could not ship the 72,000 GUR he had bought for 20 talents of silver—apparently an exorbitant price—and now kept secure in Isin to other conurbations due to

6969-504: The king would resume his throne. Enlil-bani ( fl. c. 1786—1762 BCE by the short chronology) was the 10th king of the Dynasty of Isin and reigned 24 years according to the Ur-Isin kinglist . He is best known for the legendary and perhaps apocryphal manner of his ascendancy. A certain Ikūn-pî-Ištar is recorded as having ruled for 6 months or a year, between the reigns of Erra-imittī and Enlil-bani according to two variant copies of

7070-476: The last six years of Warad-Sin and the first five of Rim-Sin I , the sons of Kudur-Mabuk and successive kings of Larsa , and wholly within the reign of the Babylonian monarch Apil-Sin . There are currently six extant royal inscriptions, including brick palace inscriptions, seals for his devoted servants, such as Iddin-damu, his “chief builder,” and Imgur-Sîn, his administrator, and a cone which records

7171-425: The later reign of Išme-Dagān .) Šu-ilišu did, however; rebuild the walls of his capital city: Isin. He was a great benefactor of the city-state Ur (beginning the restoration which was to continue through his successors: Iddin-Dagān and Išme-Dagan.) Šu-ilišu built a monumental gateway and recovered an idol representing Ur's patron deity (Nanna, god of the moon) which had been expropriated by the Elamites when they sacked

7272-490: The measures taken by Bur-Suen to contain him. Only nine of Bur-Suen's own year-names are known and the sequence is uncertain. He seized control of Kisurra for a time as two year-names are found among tablets from this city, possibly following the departure of Sumu-abum the king of Babylon who “returned to his city.” The occupation was brief, however, as Sumu-El was to conquer it during his fourth year. Other year-names record Bur-Suen's construction of fortifications, walls on

7373-420: The murder, but the assembly concluded she must have been “involved” with one of the murders and consequently in cahoots with them. All four were condemned to execution in front of the victim's chair. The Instructions of Ur-Ninurta and Counsels of Wisdom is a Sumerian courtly composition which extols the virtues of the king, the reestablisher of order, justice and cultic practices after the flood in emulation of

7474-399: The next 12 years or so, until Ur was finally conquered by Kindattu of Elam. Ishbi-Erra went on to win decisive victories against: the Amorites in his 8th year and the Elamites in his 16th years. Some years later, Ishbi-Erra ousted the Elamite garrison from Ur , thereby asserting suzerainty over Sumer and Akkad , celebrated in one of his later 27th year-name, although this specific epithet

7575-460: The old sages from before the flood from Šuruppak, which Enlil-muballiṭ, sage (apkallu) of Nippur, left (to posterity) in the second year of Enlil-bāni.” Enlil-bani found it necessary to "build anew the wall of Isin which had become dilapidated," which he recorded on commemorative cones . He named the wall Enlil-bāni-išdam-kīn , “Enlil-bāni is firm as to foundation.” In practice, the walls of major cities were probably under continuous repair. He

7676-521: The older role models Gilgamesh and Ziusudra. The SKL gives his reign for 28 years. He was succeeded by his son, Būr-Sīn . Bur-Suen ( fl. c. 1820—1799 BCE by the short chronology) was the 7th king of the Dynasty of Isin and ruled for 21 years according to the SKL , 22 years according to the Ur-Isin king list . His reign was characterized by an ebb and flow in hegemony over the religious centers of Nippur and Ur . The titles “shepherd who makes Nippur content,” "mighty farmer of Ur," “who restores

7777-470: The preceding one, its language was Akkadian as the Sumerian language had become moribund in the latter stages of the Third Dynasty of Ur. At the outset of his career, Ishbi-Erra was an official working for Ibbi-Sin, the last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Ishbi-Erra was described as a man of Mari , either his origin or the city for which he was assigned. His progress was witnessed in correspondence with

7878-478: The procession of: male prostitutes, wise women, drummers, priestesses and priests bloodletting with swords, to the accompaniment of music, followed by offerings and sacrifices for the goddess Inanna , or Ninegala. Ishme-Dagan ( fl. c. 1879—1859 BCE by the short chronology) was the 4th king of the Dynasty of Isin, according to the SKL . Also according to the SKL : he was both the son and successor of Iddin-Dagān . Lipit-Ištar then succeeded Išme-Dagān. Išme-Dagān

7979-541: The rather mundane act of usurpation that it may well have been. It relates that Erra-Imittī selected his gardener, Enlil-bâni, enthroned him, and placed the royal tiara on his head. Erra-Imittī then died while eating hot porridge, and Enlil-bâni by virtue of his refusal to quit the throne, became king. The colophon of a medical text, “when a man's brain contains fire,” from the Library of Ashurbanipal reads: “Proven and tested salves and poultices, fit for use, according to

8080-425: The restorers from the curses attached to the ruins of the é.dub.lá.maḫ. Šu-ilišu commemorated: the fashioning of a great emblem for Nanna, an exalted throne for An, a dais for Ninisin, a magur-boat for Ninurta , and a dais for Ningal in year names for Šu-ilišu's reign. An adab (or hymn) to Nergal was composed in honor of Šu-ilišu, together with an adab of An and perhaps a 3rd addressed to himself. The archive of

8181-600: The resurgent kings of Larsa . His reign marks the beginning of a decline in Isin's fortunes coinciding with a rise in those of Larsa. Gungunum had wrestled Ur from Isin's control by his 10th year and it is possible this was the cause of Lipit-Ištar's overthrow. Indeed, Ur-Ninurta made a dedicatory gift to the temple of Ningal in Ur during the 9th year of Gungunum. However, Ur-Ninurta continued to mention Ur in his titles ("herdsman of Ur") as did his successors in Isin. Gungunum went on to expand his kingdom, perhaps taking Nippur late in his reign. His death allowed Ur-Ninurta to launch

8282-517: The ruins of the temple of Ninurta , the é-ḫur-sag-tí-la , in Babylon, and is thought likely to have been an ancient museum piece. The city of Dunnum, the celebration of whose original foundation may have been the purpose of the Dynasty of Dunnum myth, was taken by Rim-Sin the year before he conquered Isin and so it is conjectured that the cone was taken from Larsa as booty by Ḫammu-rapī . Two legal tablets offered for private sale, recording sales of

8383-400: The rule of Warad-Sîn and his father, Kudur-Mabuk, the power behind the throne, as his sixth year-name celebrates that he “had (14 copper statues brought into Nippur and) 3 thrones adorned with gold brought into the temples of Nanna , Ningal and Utu .” Larsa was to retain Nippur until year nine of Rīm-Sîn when it was lost to Damiq-ilišu . One of the cones bearing this inscription was found in

8484-469: The short chronology) was the 12th king of the Dynasty of Isin. The SKL tells us that "the divine Iter-pisha ruled for 4 years." The Ur-Isin King List which was written in the 4th year of the reign of Damiq-ilišu gives a reign of just 3 years. His relationships with his predecessor and successor are uncertain and his reign falls during a period of general decline in the fortunes of the dynasty. He

8585-561: The site had been suggested as that of Isin. Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited by Stephen Herbert Langdon for a day to conduct a sounding, while he was excavating at Kish in 1924. He found inscribed bricks of Ishme-Dagan and Enlil-bani . Two years later Raymond P. Dougherty, on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research, conducted a two-day survey of the site finding inscribed bricks of Bur-Sin and Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II . Modern archaeological work at Isin

8686-624: The spirits, or kami , which give life to human bodies come from nature and return to it after death. Ancestors are therefore themselves tutelaries to be worshiped. Some tutelary deities are known to exist in Slavic Europe, a more prominent example being that of the Leshy . In Vietnamese folk religion , Thành hoàng are gods who protect and bring good things to the village. First Dynasty of Isin The Dynasty of Isin refers to

8787-493: The state of his troops, and from his general describing an ambush by the Martu ( Amorites ). The continued fecundity of the land was ensured by the annual performance of the sacred marriage ritual in which the king impersonated Dumuzi - Ama -ušumgal-ana and a priestess substituted for the part of Inanna . According to the šir-namursaḡa , the hymn composed describing it in 10 sections ( Kiruḡu ), this ceremony seems to have entailed

8888-507: The temple of Inanna in the Parthian period. The 420 fragments show a thriving temple economy absorbing much of the available wealth. The year-names following his accession year all somewhat monotonously commemorate generous gifts to the temple of Enlil . Erra-imitti ( fl. c. 1794—1786 BCE) was king of Isin , modern Ishan al-Bahriyat, and according to the SKL ruled for eight years. He succeeded Lipit-Enlil , with whom his relationship

8989-464: The themes, structure, and language of the Ur ones. Sometimes the hymns were written in the first person of a king's voice; other times, they were pleas of ordinary citizens meant for the ears of a king (sometimes an already dead one). It was during this period that the Sumerian King List attained its final form, though it used many much earlier sources. The very compilation of the List seems to lead up to

9090-440: The throne of Isin, ending the hereditary dynasty established by Ishbi-Erra over 150 years earlier. Although politically and economically weak, Isin maintained its independence from Larsa for at least another forty years, ultimately succumbing to Larsa's ruler Rim-Sin I . After the First Dynasty of Babylon rose to power in the early 2nd millennium and captured Larsa, much significant construction occurred at Isin. This ended with

9191-553: The year Erra-imitti seized Kisurra " (the modern site of Abū-Ḥaṭab) for the date of a receipt for a bridal gift and “the year Erra-imitti destroyed the city wall of Kazallu,” a city allied with Larsa and antagonistic to Isin and its ally, Babylon . His conquest of Kisurra would have been a significant escalation of hostilities against Isin's rival Larsa. A haematite cylinder seal of his servant and scribe Iliška-uṭul, son of Sîn-ennam, has come to light from this city, suggesting prolonged occupation. The latest attested year-name gives

9292-413: The year he built the city wall of gan-x-Erra-Imittī , perhaps an eponymous new town. When the omens predicted impending doom for a monarch, it was customary to appoint a substitute as a "statue though animate", a scape-goat who stood in the place of the king but did not exercise power for a hundred days to deflect the disaster, at the end of which the proxy and his spouse would be ritually slaughtered and

9393-460: Was a contemporary of Warad-Sin (ca. 1770 BCE to 1758 BCE) the king of Larsa , whose brother and successor, Rim-Sin I would eventually come to overthrow the dynasty, ending the cities' bitter rivalry around 40 years later. He is only known from Kings lists and year-name date formulae in several contemporary legal and administrative texts. Two of his year-names refer to his provision of a copper Lilis for Utu and Inanna respectively, where Lilissu

9494-681: Was a prodigious builder, responsible for the construction of the é-ur-gi 7 -ra , “the dog house,” temple of Ninisina, a palace, also the é-ní-dúb-bu , “house of relaxation,” for the goddess Nintinugga , “lady who revives the dead,” the é-dim-gal-an-na , “house - great mast of heaven,” for the tutelary deity of Šuruppak, the goddess Sud , and finally, the é-ki-ág-gá-ni for Ninibgal, the “lady with patient mercy who loves ex-votos, who heeds prayers and entreaties, his shining mother.” Two large copper statues were taken to Nippur for dedication to Ningal, which Iddin-Dagān had fashioned 117 years earlier but had been unable to deliver, “on account of this,

9595-650: Was accomplished in 11 seasons between 1973 and 1989 by a team of German archaeologists led by Barthel Hrouda on behalf of the Munich Institute for Near Eastern Archaeology. Hundreds of cuneiform tablets from the Old Babylonian period, in buildings abandoned after being destroyed by fire, were recovered. However, as was the case at many sites in Iraq, research was interrupted by the Gulf War (1990–1991) and

9696-481: Was considered particularly vital in time of war and siege. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept ritually secret on pain of death (for a supposed case, see Quintus Valerius Soranus ). The Capitoline Triad of Juno , Jupiter , and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome. The Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and

9797-436: Was contemporary with the tail end of the reign of Abī-sarē , ca, 1841 to 1830 BCE (short) and that of Sūmú-El , c. 1830 to 1801 BCE (short), the kings of Larsa . This latter king's year-names record victories over Akusum, Kazallu , Uruk (which had seceded from Isin), Lugal-Sîn, Ka-ida, Sabum, Kiš , and village of Nanna-isa, relentlessly edging north and feverish activity digging canals or filling them in, possibly to counter

9898-2085: Was defeated. The very foundation of Sumer was torn out. The kingship was taken to Isin." r.  c. 1920 – c. 1911 BC (SC) (10, 15, or 20 years) r.  c. 1910 – c. 1890 BC (SC) (18, 21, or 25 years) r.  c. 1889 – c. 1871 BC (SC) (11, 18, 19, or 20 years) r.  c. 1870 – c. 1860 BC (SC) (11 years) r.  c. 1859 – c. 1832 BC (SC) (28 years) r.  c. 1831 – c. 1811 BC (SC) (21 or 22 years) r.  c. 1810 – c. 1806 BC (SC) (5 years) r.  c. 1805 – c. 1799 BC (SC) (7 or 8 years) r.  c. 1799 – c. 1798 BC (SC) (6 months or 1 year) r.  c. 1798 – c. 1775 BC (SC) (24 years) r.  c. 1774 – c. 1772 BC (SC) (3 years) r.  c. 1771 – c. 1768 BC (SC) (3 or 4 years) r.  c. 1767 – c. 1764 BC (SC) (4 years) r.  c. 1763 – c. 1753 BC (SC) (11 years) r.  c. 1752 – c. 1730 BC (SC) (23 years) "16 kings; they ruled for 226 years and 6 months. A total of 39 kings ruled for 14,409 years, 3 months and 3½ days, 4 times in Kish . A total of 22 kings ruled for 2,610 years, 6 months, and 15 days, 5 times in Uruk . A total of 12 kings ruled for 396 years, 3 times in Ur . A total of 3 kings ruled for 356 years, once in Awan . A total of 1 king ruled for 7 years, once in Hamazi . A total of 11 kings ruled for 197 years, once in Akkad . A total of 23 kings ruled for 125 years and 40 days, once in

9999-491: Was not used by this dynasty until the reign of Iddin-Dagan . He readily adopted the regal privileges of the former regime, commissioning royal praise poetry and hymns to deities, of which seven are extant, and proclaiming himself Dingir-kalam-ma-na, “a god in his own country.” He appointed his daughter, En-bara-zi, to succeed that of Ibbi-Sin's as Egisitu-priestess of An, celebrated in his 22nd year-name. He founded fortresses and installed city walls, but only one royal inscription

10100-516: Was one of the kings to restore the Ekur . Lipit-Ishtar ( fl. c. 1859—1848 BCE by the short chronology) was the 5th king of the Dynasty of Isin, according to the SKL . Also according to the SKL : he was the successor of Išme-Dagān . Ur-Ninurta then succeeded Lipit-Ištar. Some documents and royal inscriptions from his time have survived, however; Lipit-Ištar is mostly known due to the Sumerian language hymns that were written in his honor, as well as

10201-491: Was preceded by his father Šu-ilišu . Išme-Dagān (to be confused with neither Išme-Dagān I nor Išme-Dagān II of the Old Assyrian Empire ) then succeeded Iddin-Dagān. Iddin-Dagān reigned for 21 years (according to the SKL .) He is best known for his participation in the sacred marriage rite and the risqué hymn that described it. His titles included: "Mighty King", " King of Isin ", "King of Ur ", "King of

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