71 ), are the longest literary compositions written in Sumerian from the third
millennium.
It is possible that Ur-Namma, the founder of the Ur III dynasty, was a brother (or son)
of Utuhegal, a king of Uruk (Sallaberger 1999 : 132 with older literature). Ur-Namma
began as a general under Utuhegal and then seems to have become independent and
founded his new state. Not much is known about the earliest phases of the state due to
a lack of written sources.
The Ur III period has left an unprecedented quantity of administrative texts, written
in Sumerian, indicating a very tight and possibly restrictive administration. The latest
figures estimate a grand total of about 120 , 000 administrative texts from this period
alone, of which about 75 , 000 have been published (Molina 2008 ). By contrast, there
are very few literary and lexical texts and relatively few sale documents.
Ur-Namma is known for having built an extensive canal system throughout
southern Mesopotamia, introducing some administrative reforms (Sallaberger 1999 :
134 – 137 ), and building several temple towers (‘ziqqurats’) in major centres of the south:
Ur, Uruk, Nippur and Eridu (Porada et al. 1992 : 117 ). The first law code, a collection
of legal statements written in the name of the king, can also be attributed to this king
(Roth 1997 : 13 – 22 ). There is a suggestion that Ur-Namma died on the battlefield,
although this is only indicated from the Sumerian literary composition The Death of
Ur-Namma(Flückiger-Hawker 1999 : 93 – 182 ). Michalowski ( 2008 ) has argued that this
must have put the relatively new state of Ur into disarray.
Ur-Namma’s son and successor Sˇulgi built upon his father’s achievements and
introduced more administrative reforms that were designed to streamline and centralise
the Ur III administration (Steinkeller 1991 ; Sallaberger 1999 : 140 – 163 ). Sˇulgi reigned for
a total of forty-eight years, an exceedingly long time to reign for a Mesopotamian
monarch. Sˇulgi was also deified, just like his predecessor Nara ̄m-Sîn. This time we have
much more information on temples that were built for the worship of the living king
as well as statues of deified kings and priests and priestesses that attended to their cult.
Sˇulgi was succeeded by Amar-Suen and Sˇu ̄ -Sîn, both of whom reigned for a
relatively short period of time (nine and seven years). Amar-Suen later on acquired a
reputation as an unlucky ruler, as evidenced in a Sumerian literary text that was written
about him.
During its apex, the state of Ur III reached as far as south-west Iran and into
northern Mesopotamia, although it is likely that some provinces remained under
relatively loose control.
Like all territorial states of the third millennium, the Ur III state was relatively fragile
and centred on charismatic rulers, such as Sargon, Nara ̄m-Sîn, Ur-Namma and Sˇulgi.
–– History and chronology ––Table 6. 5 Kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III)Ur-Namma 2112 – 2094
Sˇulgi 2095 – 2046
Amar-Suen 2045 – 2037
Sˇu ̄ -Sîn 2036 – 2028
Ibbi-Sîn 2027 – 2004Source:after Brinkman 1977.