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51-422: (Redirected from Pre-dynastic ) Pre-dynastic period may refer to: Pre-dynastic period of Sumer Pre-dynastic period of Egypt Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Pre-dynastic period . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to

102-661: A cultural break with the preceding Jemdet Nasr period that has been radio-carbon dated to about 2900 BC at the beginning of the Early Dynastic I Period. No inscriptions have yet been found verifying any names of kings that can be associated with the Early Dynastic I period. The ED I period is distinguished from the ED II period by the narrow cylinder seals of the ED I period and the broader wider ED II seals engraved with banquet scenes or animal-contest scenes. The Early Dynastic II period

153-1740: A matter of debate), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the first century AD. ( Shamshi-Adad dynasty 1808–1736 BCE) (Amorites) Shamshi-Adad I Ishme-Dagan I Mut-Ashkur Rimush Asinum Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi (Non-dynastic usurpers 1735–1701 BCE) Puzur-Sin Ashur-dugul Ashur-apla-idi Nasir-Sin Sin-namir Ipqi-Ishtar Adad-salulu Adasi ( Adaside dynasty 1700–722 BCE) Bel-bani Libaya Sharma-Adad I Iptar-Sin Bazaya Lullaya Shu-Ninua Sharma-Adad II Erishum III Shamshi-Adad II Ishme-Dagan II Shamshi-Adad III Ashur-nirari I Puzur-Ashur III Enlil-nasir I Nur-ili Ashur-shaduni Ashur-rabi I Ashur-nadin-ahhe I Enlil-Nasir II Ashur-nirari II Ashur-bel-nisheshu Ashur-rim-nisheshu Ashur-nadin-ahhe II Second Intermediate Period Sixteenth Dynasty Abydos Dynasty Seventeenth Dynasty (1500–1100 BCE) Kidinuid dynasty Igehalkid dynasty Untash-Napirisha Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon

204-610: A period Uruk seems to have had some kind of hegemony in Sumer. This illustrates a weakness of the Sumerian king list, as contemporaries are often placed in successive dynasties, making reconstruction difficult. Mesh-ki-ang-gasher is listed as the first King of Uruk. He was followed by Enmerkar . The epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta tells of his voyage by river to Aratta , a mountainous, mineral-rich country up-river from Sumer. He

255-436: A section. The samples are analyzed to determine their detrital remanent magnetism (DRM), that is, the polarity of Earth's magnetic field at the time a stratum was deposited. For sedimentary rocks this is possible because, as they fall through the water column, very fine-grained magnetic minerals (< 17  μm ) behave like tiny compasses , orienting themselves with Earth's magnetic field . Upon burial, that orientation

306-485: A sizable proportion of the population of this northern city. The earliest monarch on the list whose historical existence has been independently attested through archaeological inscription is En-me-barage-si of Kish (c. 2600 BC), said to have defeated Elam and built the temple of Enlil in Nippur. Enmebaragesi's successor, Aga , is said to have fought with Gilgamesh of Uruk, the fifth king of that city. From this time, for

357-431: Is also commonly used to delineate the nature and extent of hydrocarbon -bearing reservoir rocks, seals, and traps of petroleum geology . Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that places an absolute age, rather than a relative age on rock strata . The branch is concerned with deriving geochronological data for rock units, both directly and inferentially, so that a sequence of time-relative events that created

408-475: Is dated to the 26th century BC. Meskalamdug is the first archaeologically recorded king ( Lugal from lu =man, gal =big) of the city of Ur. He was succeeded by his son Akalamdug , and Akalamdug by his son Mesh-Ane-pada. Mesh-Ane-pada is the first king of Ur listed on the king list, and it says he defeated Lugalkildu of Uruk. He also seems to have subjected Kish, thereafter assuming the title "King of Kish" for himself. This title would be used by many kings of

459-534: Is due to physical contrasts in rock type ( lithology ). This variation can occur vertically as layering (bedding), or laterally, and reflects changes in environments of deposition (known as facies change). These variations provide a lithostratigraphy or lithologic stratigraphy of the rock unit. Key concepts in stratigraphy involve understanding how certain geometric relationships between rock layers arise and what these geometries imply about their original depositional environment. The basic concept in stratigraphy, called

510-407: Is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund . Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere around the turn of the third and the second millennium BC (the exact dating being

561-411: Is preserved. For volcanic rocks, magnetic minerals, which form in the melt, orient themselves with the ambient magnetic field, and are fixed in place upon crystallization of the lava. Oriented paleomagnetic core samples are collected in the field; mudstones , siltstones , and very fine-grained sandstones are the preferred lithologies because the magnetic grains are finer and more likely to orient with

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612-489: Is scholarly disagreement as to when the Sumerian presence began in the region, although it is generally assumed that the Sumerian language was used in southern Mesopotamia by the late Uruk period. Some scholars believe that the Sumerians migrated to the area as late as c. 3600 BC, whereas others believe that the Sumerian presence goes back to the early Ubaid period or even prior to that. The Early Dynastic Period began after

663-528: Is taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumer was the region's earliest known civilization and ended with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BCE. It was followed by a transitional period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BCE. The oldest known settlement in southern Mesopotamia is Tell el-'Oueili . The Sumerians claimed that their civilization had been brought, fully formed, to

714-548: Is unique in the fact that she was the only woman named on the king-list to reign as "king". It adds that she had been a tavern keeper before overthrowing the hegemony of Mari and becoming monarch. In later centuries she was worshipped as a minor goddess, particularly at Carchemish , achieving some status in the Hurrian and Hittites periods. In the post-Hittite Phrygian period she was called Kubele (Latin Cybele ), Great Mother of

765-523: Is when Gilgamesh , the famous king of Uruk, is believed to have reigned. Texts from the ED II period are not yet understood. Later inscriptions have been found bearing some Early Dynastic II names from the Sumerian King List . The Early Dynastic IIIa period, also known as the Fara period, is when syllabic writing began. Accounting records and an undeciphered logographic script existed before

816-487: The Akkadians , under Sargon of Akkad , overtook the area. The earliest Dynastic name on the list known from other legendary sources is Etana , whom it calls "the shepherd, who ascended to heaven and consolidated all the foreign countries". He was estimated by Roux to have lived approximately 3000 BC. Among the 11 kings who followed, a number of Semitic Akkadian names are recorded, suggesting that these people made up

867-688: The Tigris and Euphrates , to the Upper Sea" or Mediterranean. His empire was overthrown by Sargon of Akkad . The Akkadian period lasted c. 2334–2147 BC ( middle chronology ). The following is a list of known kings of this period: Following the fall of Sargon's Empire to the Gutians , a brief "Dark Ages" ensued. This period lasted c. 2141–2050 BC (short chronology). This period lasted c. 2260–2110 BC. This dynasty lasted between c. 2055–2048 BC short chronology . The Gutians were ultimately driven out by

918-431: The law of superposition , states: in an undeformed stratigraphic sequence, the oldest strata occur at the base of the sequence. Chemostratigraphy studies the changes in the relative proportions of trace elements and isotopes within and between lithologic units. Carbon and oxygen isotope ratios vary with time, and researchers can use those to map subtle changes that occurred in the paleoenvironment. This has led to

969-564: The natural remanent magnetization (NRM) to reveal the DRM. Following statistical analysis, the results are used to generate a local magnetostratigraphic column that can then be compared against the Global Magnetic Polarity Time Scale. This technique is used to date sequences that generally lack fossils or interbedded igneous rocks. The continuous nature of the sampling means that it is also a powerful technique for

1020-754: The Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population. After the Ur III dynasty was destroyed by the Elamites in 2004 BC, a fierce rivalry developed between the city-states of Larsa, more under Elamite than Sumerian influence, and Isin , that was more Amorite (as the Western Semitic nomads were called). Archaeologically, the fall of the Ur III dynasty corresponds to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age . The Semites ended up prevailing in Mesopotamia by

1071-753: The Elder Siamun Psusennes II Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt Tefnakht Bakenranef ( Sargonid dynasty ) Tiglath-Pileser Shalmaneser Marduk-apla-iddina II Sargon Sennacherib Marduk-zakir-shumi II Marduk-apla-iddina II Bel-ibni Ashur-nadin-shumi Nergal-ushezib Mushezib-Marduk Esarhaddon Ashurbanipal Ashur-etil-ilani Sinsharishkun Sin-shumu-lishir Ashur-uballit II Stratigraphy Catholic priest Nicholas Steno established

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1122-624: The Fara Period, but the full flow of human speech was first recorded about 2600 BC at the beginning of the Fara Period. The Early Dynastic IIIb period is also known as the Pre-Sargonic period. Hegemony , which came to be conferred by the Nippur priesthood, alternated among a number of competing dynasties, hailing from Sumerian city-states traditionally including Kish, Uruk, Ur, Adab and Akshak , as well as some from outside of southern Mesopotamia, such as Awan , Hamazi , and Mari , until

1173-535: The Gods. Akshak too achieved independence with a line of rulers extending from Puzur-Nirah , Ishu-Il , and Shu-Suen, son of Ishu-Il, before being defeated by the rulers in the Fourth Dynasty of Kish. This dynasty is dated to the 25th century BC. En-hegal is recorded as the first known ruler of Lagash, being tributary to Uruk. His successor Lugal-sha-engur was similarly tributary to Mesilim . Following

1224-548: The Sumerians under Utu-hegal , the only king of this dynasty, who in turn was defeated by Ur-Nammu of Ur. The Third Dynasty of Ur is dated to c. 2047–1940 BC short chronology . Ur-Nammu of Ur defeated Utu-hegal of Uruk and founded the Third Dynasty of Ur. Although the Sumerian language (" Emegir ") was again made official, Sumerian identity was already in decline, as the population became continually absorbed into

1275-615: The ambient field during deposition. If the ancient magnetic field were oriented similar to today's field ( North Magnetic Pole near the North Rotational Pole ), the strata would retain a normal polarity. If the data indicate that the North Magnetic Pole were near the South Rotational Pole , the strata would exhibit reversed polarity. Results of the individual samples are analyzed by removing

1326-760: The city of Eridu by their god Enki or by his advisor (or Abgallu from ab =water, gal =big, lu =man), Adapa U-an (the Oannes of Berossus ). The first people at Eridu brought with them the Samarra culture from northern Mesopotamia and are identified with the Ubaid period , but it is not known whether or not these were Sumerians (associated later with the Uruk period ). Permanent year-round urban settlement may have been prompted by intensive agricultural practices. The work required in maintaining irrigation canals called for, and

1377-421: The eagle crest of Lagash adorns the globular part. The vase is a proof of the high degree of excellence to which the goldsmith's art had already attained. A vase of calcite , also dedicated by Entemena, has been found at Nippur. After Entemena, a series of weak, corrupt priest-kings is attested for Lagash. The last of these, Urukagina , was known for his judicial, social, and economic reforms, and his may well be

1428-485: The first legal code known to have existed. Urukagina (c. 2359–2335 BC short chronology ) was overthrown and his city Lagash captured by Lugal-zage-si , the high priest of Umma. Lugal-zage-si also took Uruk and Ur, and made Uruk his capital. In a long inscription that he made engraved on hundreds of stone vases dedicated to Enlil of Nippur, he boasts that his kingdom extended "from the Lower Sea ( Persian Gulf ), along

1479-499: The foundations of new construction—consequently, it is impossible to establish when the tablets were written and used." Even so, it is proposed that the ideas of writing developed across the area, according to Theo J. H. Krispijn, along the following time-frame: Relative stratigraphy chronology The pre- and protohistory of southern Mesopotamia is divided into the Ubaid (c. 6500–3800 BC), Uruk (c. 4000 to 3100 BC) and Jemdet Nasr (c. 3100 to 2900 BC) periods. There

1530-512: The gap may be due to removal by erosion, in which case it may be called a stratigraphic vacuity. It is called a hiatus because deposition was on hold for a period of time. A physical gap may represent both a period of non-deposition and a period of erosion. A geologic fault may cause the appearance of a hiatus. Magnetostratigraphy is a chronostratigraphic technique used to date sedimentary and volcanic sequences. The method works by collecting oriented samples at measured intervals throughout

1581-547: The hegemony of Mesannepada of Ur, Ur-Nanshe succeeded Lugal-sha-engur as the new high priest of Lagash and achieved independence, making himself king. He defeated Ur and captured the king of Umma, Pabilgaltuk. In the ruins of a building attached by him to the temple of Ningirsu , terracotta bas reliefs of the king and his sons have been found, as well as onyx plates and lions' heads in onyx reminiscent of Egyptian work. One inscription states that ships of Dilmun (Bahrain) brought him wood as tribute from foreign lands. He

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1632-461: The help of his ally Lugal-kinishe-dudu or Lugal-ure of Uruk, successor to Enshakushana and also on the king-list. Lugal-kinishe-dudu seems to have been the prominent figure at the time, since he also claimed to rule Kish and Ur. A silver vase dedicated by Entemena to his god is now in the Louvre. A frieze of lions devouring ibexes and deer, incised with great artistic skill, runs round the neck, while

1683-448: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pre-dynastic_period&oldid=1137420748 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Pre-dynastic period of Sumer The history of Sumer spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE in southern Mesopotamia , and

1734-466: The kingship in Sumer for a brief period, based in the city of Awan. Enshakushanna was a king of Uruk in the later 3rd millennium BC who is named on the Sumerian king list, which states his reign to have been 60 years. He was succeeded in Uruk by Lugal-kinishe-dudu, but the hegemony seems to have passed briefly to Eannatum of Lagash. Following this period, the region of Mesopotamia seems to have come under

1785-412: The later Niniveh —was rebuilt, and canals and reservoirs were excavated. Eannatum was succeeded by his brother, En-anna-tum I . During his rule, Umma once more asserted independence under Ur-Lumma , who attacked Lagash unsuccessfully. Ur-Lumma was replaced by a priest-king, Illi , who also attacked Lagash. His son and successor Entemena restored the prestige of Lagash. Illi of Umma was subdued, with

1836-454: The neighbouring town of Umma . Mesilim's placement before, during, or after the reign of Mesannepada in Ur is uncertain, owing to the lack of other synchronous names in the inscriptions, and his absence from the king list. This dynasty is dated to the 26th century BC, about the same time as Elam is also mentioned clearly. According to the Sumerian king list, Elam, Sumer's neighbor to the east, held

1887-419: The preeminent dynasties for some time afterward. King Mesilim of Kish is known from inscriptions from Lagash and Adab stating that he built temples in those cities, where he seems to have held some influence. He is also mentioned in some of the earliest monuments from Lagash as arbitrating a border dispute between Lugal-sha-engur , ensi (high priest or governor) of Lagash, and the ensi of their main rival,

1938-493: The principal temple-cities, their principal temple complex, and the gods they served, were Before 3000 BCE the political life of the city was headed by a priest-king ( ensi ) assisted by a council of elders and based on these temples, but it is unknown how the cities had secular rulers rise in prominence from the earliest times. The development and system of administration led to the development of archaic tablets around 3500 BCE –3200 BCE and ideographic writing (c. 3100 BCE)

1989-433: The resulting surplus food enabled, relatively concentrated populations. The centres of Eridu and Uruk , two of the earliest cities, had successively elaborated large temple complexes built of mud brick. Developing as small shrines with the earliest settlements, by the Early Dynastic I period, they had become the most imposing structures in their respective cities, each dedicated to its own respective god. From south to north,

2040-437: The rock layers. Strata from widespread locations containing the same fossil fauna and flora are said to be correlatable in time. Biologic stratigraphy was based on William Smith's principle of faunal succession , which predated, and was one of the first and most powerful lines of evidence for, biological evolution . It provides strong evidence for the formation ( speciation ) and extinction of species . The geologic time scale

2091-484: The rocks formation can be derived. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to place dates on the sequence of deposition of all rocks within a geological region, and then to every region, and by extension to provide an entire geologic record of the Earth. A gap or missing strata in the geological record of an area is called a stratigraphic hiatus. This may be the result of a halt in the deposition of sediment. Alternatively,

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2142-405: The significance of strata or rock layering and the importance of fossil markers for correlating strata; he created the first geologic map of England. Other influential applications of stratigraphy in the early 19th century were by Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart , who studied the geology of the region around Paris. Variation in rock units, most obviously displayed as visible layering,

2193-406: The specialized field of isotopic stratigraphy. Cyclostratigraphy documents the often cyclic changes in the relative proportions of minerals (particularly carbonates ), grain size, thickness of sediment layers ( varves ) and fossil diversity with time, related to seasonal or longer term changes in palaeoclimates . Biostratigraphy or paleontologic stratigraphy is based on fossil evidence in

2244-701: The sway of a Sumerian conqueror from Adab, Lugal-Ane-mundu , ruling over Uruk, Ur, and Lagash. According to inscriptions, he ruled from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean , and up to the Zagros Mountains , including Elam. However, his empire fell apart with his death; the king-list indicates that Mari in Upper Mesopotamia was the next city to hold the hegemony. The Third Dynasty of Kish, represented solely by Kug-Bau or Kubaba,

2295-429: The theoretical basis for stratigraphy when he introduced the law of superposition , the principle of original horizontality and the principle of lateral continuity in a 1669 work on the fossilization of organic remains in layers of sediment. The first practical large-scale application of stratigraphy was by William Smith in the 1790s and early 19th century. Known as the "Father of English geology", Smith recognized

2346-630: The time of Hammurabi of Babylon , who founded the Babylonian Empire, and the language and name of Sumer gradually passed into the realm of antiquarian scholars. Nevertheless, Sumerian influence on Babylonia, and all subsequent cultures in the region, was undeniably great. During the third millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism . The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa)

2397-430: The treasury of the goddess Nina and the god Ningirsu . Eannatum's campaigns extended beyond the confines of Sumer, and he overran a part of Elam, took the city of Az on the Persian Gulf , and exacted tribute as far as Mari ; however many of the realms he conquered were often in revolt. During his reign, temples and palaces were repaired or erected at Lagash and elsewhere; the town of Nina —that probably gave its name to

2448-673: Was developed into logographic writing around 2500 BCE (and a mixed form by about 2350 BCE). As Sumerologist Christopher Woods points out in Earliest Mesopotamian Writing : "A precise date for the earliest cuneiform texts has proved elusive, as virtually all the tablets were discovered in secondary archaeological contexts, specifically, in rubbish heaps that defy accurate stratigraphic analysis. The sun-hardened clay tablets, having obviously outlived their usefulness, were used along with other waste, such as potsherds, clay sealings, and broken mud bricks, as fill in leveling

2499-529: Was developed during the 19th century, based on the evidence of biologic stratigraphy and faunal succession. This timescale remained a relative scale until the development of radiometric dating , which was based on an absolute time framework, leading to the development of chronostratigraphy. One important development is the Vail curve , which attempts to define a global historical sea-level curve according to inferences from worldwide stratigraphic patterns. Stratigraphy

2550-700: Was followed by Lugalbanda , also known from fragmentary legends, and then by Dumuzid, the Fisherman . The most famous monarch of this dynasty was Dumuzid's successor Gilgamesh, hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh , where he is called Lugalbanda's son. Ancient, fragmentary copies of this text have been discovered in locations as far apart as Hattusas in Anatolia, Megiddo in Israel, and Tell el Amarna in Egypt. This dynasty

2601-427: Was succeeded by his son Akurgal . Eannatum , grandson of Ur-Nanshe, made himself master of the whole of the district of Sumer, together with the cities of Uruk (ruled by Enshakushana), Ur, Nippur, Akshak, and Larsa. He also annexed the kingdom of Kish; however, it recovered its independence after his death. Umma was made tributary—a certain amount of grain being levied upon each person in it, that had to be paid into

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