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Girsu

Coordinates: 31°33′43.3″N 46°10′39.3″E / 31.562028°N 46.177583°E / 31.562028; 46.177583
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Girsu
Archaeological remains of constructions at Tello/Girsu
Girsu is located in Iraq
Girsu
Shown within Iraq
Alternative nameTell Telloh
LocationDhi Qar Province, Iraq
RegionSumer
Coordinates31°33′43.3″N 46°10′39.3″E / 31.562028°N 46.177583°E / 31.562028; 46.177583
TypeSettlement
History
PeriodsEarly Dynastic, Ur III
Site notes
Excavation dates1877-1909, 1929–1933, 2015-Present
ArchaeologistsErnest de Sarzec, Henri de Genouillac, André Parrot, Sébastien Rey

Girsu (Sumerian Ĝirsu;[1] cuneiform ĝir2-suki 𒄈𒋢𒆠) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Lagash, at the site of what is now Tell Telloh in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. As the religious center of the kingdom of Lagash, it contained significant temples to the god Ningirsu (E-ninnu) and his wife Bau and hosted multi-day festivals in their honor.[2]

History

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Terracotta stamp seal with Master of Animals motif, Tell Telloh, ancient Girsu, End of Ubaid period, c. 4000 BC. Louvre Museum AO15388.[3]

Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BC), but significant levels of activity began in the Early Dynastic period (2900-2335 BC). At the time of Gudea, during the Second Dynasty of Lagash, Girsu became the capital of the Lagash kingdom and continued to be its religious center after political power had shifted to the city of Lagash.[4] During the Ur III period, Girsu was a major administrative center for the empire. After the fall of Ur, Girsu declined in importance, but remained inhabited until c. 200 BC. A 4th century BC bilingual Greek/Aramaic inscription was found there.[5]

Archaeology

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The site consists of two main mounds, one rising 50 feet above the plain and the other 56 feet. A number of small mounds dot the site. Telloh was the first Sumerian site to be extensively excavated, at first under the French vice-consul at Basra, Ernest de Sarzec, in eleven campaigns between 1877 and 1900, followed by his successor Gaston Cros from 1903–1909.[6][7][8][9] Finds included an alabaster statue of a woman, with copper bracelets coated in gold and a fragment of a stone lion carved dish with a partial Sumerian inscription.[10][11] In 1879 the site was visited by Hormuzd Rassam.[12]

Excavations continued under Abbé Henri de Genouillac in 1929–1931 and under André Parrot in 1931–1933.[13][14][15] 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.[16][17][18]

Excavations at Telloh resumed in 2016 as part of a training program for Iraqi archaeologists organized by the British Museum.[19][20] A foundation tablet and a number of inscribed building cones have been found. In the 5th season, in autumn 2019, work concentrated on the Mound of the Palace where E-ninnu, a temple to Ningirsu, had been found in earlier seasons.[21][22] In March 2020, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old cultic area filled with more than 300 broken ceremonial ceramic cups, bowls, jars, animal sacrifices, and ritual processions dedicated to Ningirsu.[23][24] One of the remains was a duck-shaped bronze figurine with eyes made from bark which is thought to be dedicated to Nanshe.[25] An Indus Valley weight was also found. In February 2023, archaeologists from British Museum and Getty Museum revealed the remains of the 4,500 year-old Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings alongside more than 200 cuneiform tablets containing administrative records of Girsu. The E-ninnu temple (Temple of the White Thunderbird), the primary sanctuary of the Sumerian warrior god Ningirsu was also identified during the excavations.[26][27]

In 2023, British Museum experts have suggested the possibility that a Hellenistic shrine at Girsu was founded by Alexander the Great, built atop the ruins of E-ninnu. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander."[28]

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Ubaid IV artifacts (4700–4200 BC)

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  • Ubaid IV pottery gobelet, 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu. Louvre Museum.[29]
    Ubaid IV pottery gobelet, 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu. Louvre Museum.[29]
  • Ubaid IV pottery jars 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum.[30]
    Ubaid IV pottery jars 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum.[30]
  • Ubaid IV pottery 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum AO 15338.[31]
    Ubaid IV pottery 4700–4200 BC Tello, ancient Girsu, Louvre Museum AO 15338.[31]
  • Female figurines Ubaid IV, Tello, ancient Girsu, 4700–4200 BC. Louvre Museum AO15327.[32]
    Female figurines Ubaid IV, Tello, ancient Girsu, 4700–4200 BC. Louvre Museum AO15327.[32]

Uruk Period artifacts (4000–3100 BC)

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See also: Uruk period
  • Uruk period vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.
    Uruk period vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.
  • Vase. Terracotta with red slip, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.
    Vase. Terracotta with red slip, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.
  • Vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.
    Vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.
  • Indus seal impression discovered in Telloh, a result of Indus-Mesopotamia relations.[33][34]
    Indus seal impression discovered in Telloh, a result of Indus-Mesopotamia relations.[33][34]

Early dynastic artifacts (3rd millennium BC)

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  • Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient Girsu, mid-3rd millennium BC. Louvre Museum.
    Ring of Gold, Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Tello, ancient Girsu, mid-3rd millennium BC. Louvre Museum.
  • An account of barley rations issued monthly to adults and children written in Cuneiform on clay tablet, written in year 4 of King Urukagina (c. 2350 BC). From Girsu, Iraq. British Museum, London.
    An account of barley rations issued monthly to adults and children written in Cuneiform on clay tablet, written in year 4 of King Urukagina (c. 2350 BC). From Girsu, Iraq. British Museum, London.
  • Telloh doorway erected by Gudea (c. 2100 BC)
    Telloh doorway erected by Gudea (c. 2100 BC)

Hellenistic period artifacts

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See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Girsu.

Notes

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  1. ^ Because of the initial nasal velar ŋ, the transcription of Ĝirsu is sometimes spelled as Ngirsu (also: G̃irsu, Girsu, Jirsu).
  2. ^ Jongsma-Greenfield, Tina; Di Michele, Angelo; Husain, Fatima; Rey, Sébastien (2024). "Sacred Space and Ritual Behaviour in Ancient Mesopotamia: A View from Tello/Girsu". Humans. 4 (3): 239–263. doi:10.3390/humans4030015.
  3. ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
  4. ^ Edzard, Dietz Otto (1997). Gudea and his dynasty. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-7555-1. OCLC 809041550.
  5. ^ Naveh J. 1970. The Development of the Aramaic Script (Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities 5/1). Jerusalem
  6. ^ de Sarzec, Ernest (1884–1912). Découvertes en Chaldée (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
  7. ^ de Sarzec, E. (1892). "Deux tablettes archaïques de Tello". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale (in French). 2 (4): 146–149. JSTOR 23284262.
  8. ^ Cros, Gaston (1910). Nouvelles Fouilles de Tello (in French). Paris: Ernest Laroux.
  9. ^ Hilprecht, H.V. (1904). The Excavations in Assyria and Babylonia. Philadelphia, USA: A.J. Holman.
  10. ^ Thomas, Ariane (2016). "The faded splendour of Lagashite princesses: a restored statuette from Tello and the depiction of court women in the Neo-Sumerian kingdom of Lagash". Iraq. 78: 215–239. doi:10.1017/irq.2016.4.
  11. ^ Desset, F.; Marchesi, G.; Vidale, M.; Pignatti, J. (2016). "A sculpted dish from Tello made of a rare stone (Louvre–AO 153)" (PDF). Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 75 (1): 71–84. doi:10.1086/684811. hdl:11573/925127.
  12. ^ Verderame, Lorenzo. "Rassam’s Activity in Tello (1879) and the Earliest Acquisition of Neo-Sumerian Tablets in the British Museum" on the Third Dynasty of Ur. Studies in Honor of Marcel Sigrist. ed. by Piotr Michalowski. - Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research 2008 (Journal of Cuneiform Studies supplemental series 1), 2008
  13. ^ Fouilles de Telloh I: Epoques presargoniques, Abbé Henri de Genouillac, Paris, 1934
  14. ^ Fouilles de Telloh II: Epoques d'Ur III Dynastie et de Larsa, Abbé Henri de Genouillac, Paris, 1936
  15. ^ Parrot, André (1948). Tello: Vingt Campagnes de Fouilles (1877–1933) (in French). Paris: Albin Michel.
  16. ^ [1]Barton, George A, "Haverford Library Collection, Cuneiform Tablets, Documents From The Temple Archives Of Telloh, Part I", The John C Winston Company, Philadelphia PA, 1901
  17. ^ [2]Barton, George A, "Haverford Library Collection, Cuneiform Tablets, Documents From The Temple Archives Of Telloh, Part II", The John C Winston Company, Philadelphia PA, 1905
  18. ^ [3]Barton, George A, "Haverford Library Collection, Cuneiform Tablets, Documents From The Temple Archives Of Telloh, Part III", The John C Winston Company, Philadelphia PA, 1914
  19. ^ "The Iraq Emergency Heritage Management Training Scheme". American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  20. ^ "Tello". The British Museum. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  21. ^ Rey, Sebastien, "Tello/Girsu: first results of the autumn 2019 archaeological season", Sumer Journal of Archaeology of Iraq, 66, 2020
  22. ^ Rey, Sébastien, "The Temple of Ningirsu: The Culture of the Sacred in Mesopotamia", Eisenbrauns, 2024 ISBN 978-1-64602-264-9
  23. ^ Weiss, Daniel (2020). "Temple of the White Thunderbird". Archaeology. January/February: 38–45.
  24. ^ "Ancient cultic area for warrior-god uncovered in Iraq". Live Science. 31 March 2020.
  25. ^ Gavin (2020-04-11). "Ancient cultic area for warrior-god uncovered in Iraq". Most Interesting Things. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  26. ^ Thomas, Tobi (2023-02-17). "Discovery of 4,500-year-old palace in Iraq may hold key to ancient civilisation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  27. ^ Ho, Karen K. (2023-02-21). "Archaeologists Discover Remains of 4,500-Year-Old Lost Ancient Palace in Iraq". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  28. ^ Simpson, Craig (18 November 2023). "Ancient Iraqis may have worshipped Alexander the Great, says British Museum". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  29. ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
  30. ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
  31. ^ "Site officiel du musée du Louvre". cartelfr.louvre.fr.
  32. ^ "Figurine féminine d'Obeid". 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
  33. ^ Marshall, John (1996). Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization: Being an Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro Carried Out by the Government of India Between the Years 1922 and 1927. Asian Educational Services. pp. 425–426. ISBN 9788120611795.
  34. ^ THUREAU-DANGIN, F. (1925). "Sceaux de Tello et Sceaux de Harappa". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale. 22 (3): 99–101. JSTOR 23283916.

Further reading

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  • Barrelet, Marie-Thérèse, "Une ‘Construction Enigmatique’ a Tello", Iraq, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 100–18, 1965
  • CAUVIN, Marie-Claire, "TELLO ET L’ORIGINE DE LA HOUE AU PROCHE-ORIENT", Paléorient, vol. 5, pp. 193–206, 1979
  • CROS, Gaston, "NOTE RECTIFICATIVE: SUR LE CASQUE CHALDÉEN DE TELLO: LETTRE DE M. LE COMMANDANT GASTON CROS", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 88–89, 1906
  • de Vaumas, Etienne, "L’Ecoulement Des Eaux En Mesopotamie et La Provenance Des Eaux de Tello", Iraq, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 81–99, 1965
  • DANGIN, François THUREAU, "NOTICE SUR LA TROISIÈME COLLECTION DE TABLETTES: DÉCOUVERTE PAR M. DE SARZEC A TELLO", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 67–102, 1902
  • Donbaz, Veysel, and Foster, Benjamin R., "Sargonic Texts from Telloh in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum", Occasional Publications of the Babylonian Fund 5, Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1982 ISBN 9780934718448
  • [4]Chiera, Edward, "Selected temple accounts from Telloh, Yokha and Drehem", University of Pennsylvania, 1921
  • Harriet Crawford, 'The Construction Inférieure at Tello. A Reassessment', Iraq, vol. 49, pp. 71–76, 1987
  • Benjamin R. Foster, 'The Sargonic Victory Stele from Telloh', Iraq, Vol. 47, pp. 15–30, 1985
  • Foster, Benjamin R., "Sargonic Texts from Telloh in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Part 2", ISD LLC, 2018 ISBN 9781948488082
  • de GENOUILLAC, H., "RAPPORT SUR LES TRAVAUX DE LA MISSION DE TELLO: II E CAMPAGNE : 1929—1930", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 169–86, 1930
  • Leon Heuzey, "MISSION FRANÇAISE DE CHALDÉE: REPRISE DES FOUILLES DE TELLO", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–4, 1904
  • Laurito, Romina, "Clay sealings from Telloh: new evidence from a 3rd millennium BC "corpus"", Pathways through Arslantepe. Essays in Honour of Marcella Frangipane, hrsg. v. Balossi Restelli, Francesca, 2020
  • Claudia E. Suter, 'A Shulgi Statuette from Tello', Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 43/45, pp. 63–70, (1991–1993)
  • PARROT, André, "LES FOUILLES DE TELLO ET DE SENKEREH-LARSA: CAMPAGNE 1932-1933 (Rapport Préliminaire)", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 169–82, 1933
  • PARROT, André, "FOUILLES DE TELLO: CAMPAGNE 1931-1932 (Rapport Préliminaire)", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 45–57, 1932
  • [5]Sébastien Rey, 'Divine Cults in the Sacred Precinct of Girsu', Near Eastern Archaeology; Chicago, vol. 84, iss. 2, pp. 130-139, June 2021
  • Sébastien Rey, "For the Gods of Girsu: City-State Formation in Ancient Sumer", Archaeopress Archaeology, 2016 ISBN 978-1784913892
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