Larsa Explained

Larsa (sux|{{cuneiform|4|,^[1] read Larsam^ki[2]), also referred to as Larancha/Laranchon (Gk. Λαραγχων) by Berossos and connected with the biblical Ellasar, was an important city-state of ancient Sumer, the center of the cult of the sun god Utu with his temple E-babbar. It lies some 25km (16miles) southeast of Uruk in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate, near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal at the site of the modern settlement Tell as-Senkereh or Sankarah.

Larsa is thought to be the source of a number of tablets involving Babylonian mathematics, including the Plimpton 322 tablet that contains patterns of Pythagorean triples.^[3]

History

Larsa is found (as UD.UNUG) on Proto-cuneiform lexical lists from the Uruk 4 period (late 4th millennium BC). A few Proto-cuneiform tablets were also found there.^[4] Three Neolithic clay tokens, from a slightly early period, were also found at Larsa.^{[5] [6]} For most of its history Larsa was primarily a cult site for the god Utu. In the early part of the 2nd millennium BC the First Dynasty of Lagash made it a major power for perhaps two centuries. The last known occupation was in the Hellenistic period.

Early Bronze Age

Early Dynastic IIIB

The historical "Larsa" was already in existence as early as the reign of Early Dynastic ruler Eannatum of Lagash (circa 2500–2400 BC), who annexed it to his empire. In a large victory stele found at Girsu he wrote:

A later ruler, Entemena, nephew of Eannatum, is recorded on a foundation cone found at nearby Bad-Tibira as cancelling the debts of the citizens of Larsa "He cancelled [oblig]ations for the citizens of Uruk, Larsa, and Pa-tibira ... He restored (the second) to the god Utu’s control in Larsa ...".

Akkadian period

Larsa is attested in the Akkadian Empire in the Temple Hymns of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad.

Ur III period

In the Ur III empire period that ended the millennium, its first ruler Ur-Nammu recorded, in a brick inscription found at Larse, rebuilding the E-babbar temple of Utu there.^[7]

Middle Bronze Age

See main article: Isin-Larsa period. The city became a political force during the Isin-Larsa period. After the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed c. 2004 BC, Ishbi-Erra, an official of the last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, Ibbi-Sin, relocated to Isin and set up a government which purported to be the successor to the Third Dynasty of Ur. From there, Ishbi-Erra recaptured Ur as well as the cities of Uruk and Lagash, which Larsa was subject to. Subsequent rulers of Isin appointed governors to rule over Larsa; one such governor was an Amorite named Gungunum. He eventually broke with Isin and established an independent dynasty in Larsa. To legitimize his rule and deliver a blow to Isin, Gungunum captured the city of Ur. In his year names he recorded the defeat of the distant Anshan in Elam as well as city-states closer to Larsa such as Malgium. As the region of Larsa was the main center of trade via the Persian Gulf, Isin lost an enormously profitable trade route, as well as a city with much cultic significance.

Gungunum's two successors, Abisare (c. 1905–1894 BC) and Sumuel (c. 1894–1865 BC), both took steps to cut Isin completely off from access to canals. Isin quickly lost political and economic influence.

Larsa grew powerful, but never accumulated a large territory. At its peak under king Rim-Sin I (c. 1822–1763 BC), Larsa controlled about 10–15 other city-states. In the latter half of this period the city of Mashkan-shapir acted as a second capital of the city-state.^{[8] [9]} Nevertheless, huge building projects and agricultural undertakings can be detected archaeologically. After the defeat of Rim-Sin I by Hammurabi of Babylon, Larsa became a minor site, though it has been suggested that it was the home of the First Sealand Dynasty of Babylon.^[10]

Iron Age

Larsa was known to be active during the Neo-Babylonian, Achaemenid, and Hellenistic periods based on building brick inscriptions as well as a number of cuneiform texts from the Larsa temple of Samash which were found in Uruk.^{[11] [12] [13] [14]} The E-babbar of Utu/Shamash was destroyed by fire in the 2nd century BC and the area re-used for poorly built private homes.^[15] The entire site was abandoned by the 1st century BC.^[16]

List of rulers

The following list should not be considered complete:

	Portrait or inscription	Ruler	date and length of reign	Comments, notes, and references for mentions
Ur III period
1st	120px	Naplanum	(MC) (SC)	temp. of Ibbi-Suen temp. of Ishbi-Erra May have been an Amorite of the Yamutbal tribe
Isin-Larsa period
2nd		Emisum	(MC) (SC)	Son of Naplanum (?) temp. of Shu-Ilishu
3rd		Samium	(MC) (SC)	Son of Emisum (?) temp. of Iddin-Dagan
4th		Zabaia	(MC) (SC)	Son of Samium temp. of Ishme-Dagan "Zabaya, Chief of the Amorites, son of Samium, rebuilt the Ebabbar"[17]
5th		Gungunum	(MC) (SC) (29 years)	Son of Zabaia (?) temp. of Lipit-Eshtar Gained independence from Isin Held the title of, "King"
6th		Abisare	(MC) (SC) (11 years)	Son of Gungunum (?) temp. of Ur-Ninurta Held the title of, "King"
7th		Sumuel	(MC) (SC) (27 years)	Son of Abisare (?) temp. of Bur-Suen Held the title of, "King"
8th		Nur-Adad	(MC) (SC) (15 years)	temp. of Sumu-la-El Held the title of, "King"
9th		Sin-Iddinam	(MC) (SC) (7 years)	Son of Nur-Adad temp. of Enlil-bani Held the title of, "King"
10th		Sin-Eribam	(MC) (SC) (2 years)	Son of Ga’eš-rabi temp. of Zambiya Held the title of, "King of Sumer and Akkad"
11th		Sin-Iqisham	(MC) (SC) (5 years)	Son of Sin-Eribam temp. of Iter-pisha Held the title of, "King"
12th		Silli-Adad	(MC) (SC) (less than 1 year)	Son of Sin-Iqisham (?) temp. of Sabium Held the title of, "King"
13th		Kudur-Mabuk	(MC) (SC)	Son of Temti-Shilhak (?) May have come from an Elamite family temp. of Naram-Sin
14th		Warad-Sin	(MC) (SC) (12 years)	temp. of Ur-du-kuga May have come from an Elamite family Possible co-regency with his father (Kudur-Mabuk)[18] Held the title of, "King"
15th		Rim-Sin I	(MC) (SC) (60 years)	Brother of Warad-Sin (?) Defeated by Hammurabi of Babylon Held the title of, "King of Sumer and Akkad"
	Portrait or inscription	Ruler	date and length of reign	Comments, notes, and references for mentions
Old Babylonian period
First dynasty of Babylon
	120px	Hammurabi	(MC) (SC)	Son of Sin-Muballit temp. of Zimri-Lim Held the title of, "King of the Four Corners"
	120px	Samsu-iluna	(MC) (SC)	Son of Hammurabi temp. of Siwe-Palar-Khuppak
16th		Rim-Sîn II	(MC) (SC)	temp. of Samsu-iluna Nephew of Rim-Sin I (?) Killed in revolt against Babylon Held the title of, "King"

Archaeology

The remains of Larsa cover an area of about 200 hectares. The highest point is around 70feet in height.

The site of Tell es-Senkereh was first excavated, under the rudimentary archaeological standards of his day, by William Loftus in 1850 for less than a month.^[19] Loftus recovered building bricks of Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire which enabled the site's identification as the ancient city of Larsa. Much of the effort by Loftus was on the temple of Shamash, rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II. Inscriptions of Burna-Buriash II of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon and Hammurabi of the First Babylonian dynasty were also found. Larsa was also briefly worked by Walter Andrae in 1903. The site was inspected by Edgar James Banks in 1905. He found that widespread looting by the local population was occurring there.^[20]

The first modern, scientific, excavation of Senkereh occurred in 1933, with the work of André Parrot.^{[21] [22]} Parrot worked at the location again in 1967.^{[23] [24]} In 1969 and 1970, Larsa was excavated by Jean-Claude Margueron.^{[25] [26]} Between 1976 and 1991, an expedition of the Delegation Archaeologic Francaise en Irak led by J-L. Huot excavated at Tell es-Senereh for 13 seasons.^{[27] [28] [29] [30]} The primary focus of the excavation was the Neo-Babylonian E-Babbar temple of Utu/Shamash. Floors and wall repairs showed its continued use in the Hellenistic period. A tablet, found on the earliest Hellenistic floor, was dated to the reign of Philip Arrhidaeus (320 BC). Soundings showed that the Neo-Babylonian temple followed that plan of the prior Kassite and earlier temples.^[31] Numerous inscriptions and cuneiform tablets were found representing the reigns of numerous rulers, from Ur-Nammu to Hammurabi all the way up to Nebuchadnezzar II.^{[32] [33]}

In 2019 excavations were resumed. The first season began with a topographic survey, by drone and surface survey, to refine and correct the mapping from early excavations. Excavation was focused on a large construction of the Hellenistic period built north of the E-Babbar temple.^{[34] [35]} The first season included a magnetometer survey.^[36] Excavations continued with one month seasons in 2021 and 2022. They have been able to trace a very large system of internal canals and a port area, all linked to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Old Babylonian times. In a destroyed level of the Grand Viziers residence 59 cuneiform tablets, fragments and envelopes dated to the time of Gungunum and Abisare were found. Geophysical work continued including on the 10-20 meter wide rampart wall that enclosed Larsa, with six main gates.^[37] Magnetic surveys using a caesium gradiometerhave discovered a massive baked brick water gate in the 15 meter wide mud brick wall on the western side. Thegate permitted the passage of one of the large canals that passed through Larsa. A pedestrian gatewas adjacent. Other portions of the 5376 meter long city wall (20 meters wide in places) were also surveyed and work this continues at the site.^[38]

See also

• Cities of the ancient Near East
• Short chronology timeline
• Letter from Iddin-Sin to Zinu
• Tell Sifr

Further reading

• https://www.iasj.net/iasj/download/6a7f94a67ec8422e Abid, Basima Jalil, and Ahmed Naji Sabee, "The fattening barn in Larsa and its role in providing the cities with offerings (Naptanu) from the reign of the King Rim Sin", ISIN Journal 1, 2021
• Arnaud, Daniel, "Catalogue Des Textes Trouvés Au Cours Des Fouilles et Des Explorations Régulières de La Mission Française a Tell Senkereh-Larsa En 1969 et 1970", Syria, vol. 48, no. 3/4, pp. 289–93, 1971
• Arnaud, Daniel, Texte aus Larsa. Die epigraphischen Funde der 1. Kampagne in Senkereh-Larsa 1933. Berlin: Reimer, 1994, .
• Birot, Maurice, "Découvertes Épigraphiques a Larsa (Campagnes 1967)", Syria, vol. 45, no. 3/4, pp. 241–47, 1968
• Judith K. Bjorkman, "The Larsa Goldsmith's Hoards-New Interpretations", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1–23, 1993
• T. Breckwoldt, "Management of grain storage in Old Babylonian Larsa", Archiv für Orientforschung, no. 42–43, pp. 64–88, 1995–1996
• Calvet, Y., et al., "Larsa Rapport Préliminaire Sur La Sixième Campagne de Fouilles", Syria, vol. 53, no. 1/2, pp. 1–45, 1976
• Calvet Y., "Un niveau protodynastique à Larsa", Huot J.-L. (ed.), Larsa. Travaux de 1987 et 1989, BAH 165, Beyrouth, pp. 23–28, 2003
• Charpin, D. 2018, "En marge d’EcritUr, 1 : un temple funéraire pour la famille royale de Larsa?", Notes Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 2018, no 1, 2018
• Charpin, D., "Enanedu et les prêtresses-enum du dieu Nanna à Ur à l’époque paléo-babylonienne", in D. Charpin, M. Béranger, B. Fiette & A. Jacquet, Nouvelles recherches sur les archives d’Ur d’époque paléo-babylonienne. Mémoires de N.A.B.U. 22, Paris: Société pour l’Étude du Proche-Orient ancien, pp. 187–210, 2020
• Feuerherm, Karljürgen G., "Architectural Features of Larsa’s Urban Dwelling B 27", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. 193–204, 2007
• http://cdli.ucla.edu/staff/fitz/dissertation.pdf Madeleine Fitzgerald, "The Rulers of Larsa", Yale University Dissertation, 2002
• Fitzgerald, M. A., "The ethnic and political identity of the Kudur-mabuk dynasty", CRRAI 48, Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, pp. 101–110, 2005
• Földi, Zsombor J., "Prosopography of Old Babylonian Documents from Larsa: On Seal Inscriptions, the King’s Name and the So-Called "Double Filiation"", pp. 517-538, 2023
• Goetze, Albrecht, "Sin-Iddinam of Larsa. New Tablets from His Reign", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 83–118, 1950
• https://archive.org/details/recordsfromurlar05gricuoft/page/2/mode/2up Ettalene M. Grice, "Records from Ur and Larsa dated in the Larsa Dynasty", Yale University Press, 1919
• https://archive.org/details/chronologyoflars00gricuoft/page/n7/mode/2up Ettalene M. Grice, Clarence E. Keiser, Morris Jastrow, "Chronology of the Larsa Dynasty", AMS Press, 1979
• Huot, J.-L., Rougeulle, A., Suire, J., "La structure urbaine de Larsa, une approche provisoire", in J.-L. Huot (ed.), Larsa, Travaux de 1985, ERC, Paris, pp. 19–52, 1989
• Huot, Jean-Louis, et al., "Larsa. Rapport Préliminaire Sur La Huitième Campagne a Larsa et La Deuxième Campagne a Tell El ’Oueili (1978)", Syria, vol. 58, no. 1/2, pp. 7–148, 1981
• Kaerki, Ilmari, Die sumerischen und akkadischen Königsinschriften der altbabylonischen Zeit 1. - Isin, Larsa, Uruk, Studia orientalia 49, Helsinki, 1980, .
• W.F. Leemans, "Legal and economic records from the Kingdom of Larsa", Brill, 1954
• https://archive.org/details/earlybabylonianl00lutzuoft/page/n11/mode/2up Lutz, Henry Frederick, "Early Babylonian Letters from Larsa", Yale University Press, 1917
• Marcel Segrist, "Larsa Year Names", Andrews University Press, 1990
• Tyborowski, Witold, "Šēp-Sîn, a Private Businessman of the Old Babylonian Larsa", Die Welt Des Orients, vol. 33, pp. 68–88, 2003

External links

• - European archaeologists back in Iraq after years of war - Guillaume Decamme - Phys.org - January 12, 2022
• The Exceptional Career of a Mesopotamian Ruler without a Crown: Kudur-Mabuk and the Kingship of Larsa - Baptiste Fiette - ASOR
• Yearnames of Larsa rulers at CDLI
• On-line digital images of Larsa Tablets at CDLI

Notes and References

1. ETCSL. The Lament for Nibru. Accessed 19 Dec 2010.
2. ETCSL. The Temple Hymns. Accessed 19 Dec 2010.
3. https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/news/monthly105-120.pdf
4. Charvát, Petr, "From King to God: The NAMEŠDA Title in Archaic Ur", in Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 265-274, 2012
5. Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. Before writing: From counting to cuneiform, Vol. II, University of Texas Press, 1992
6. Overmann, Karenleigh A., The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, Table 9.2, pp. 169-170, 2019
7. Frayne, Douglas, "Ur-Nammu E3/2.1.1". Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 5-90, 1997
8. Steinkeller, P., "A History of Mashkan-shapir and Its Role in the Kingdom of Larsa", In E. C. Stone & P. Zimansky (eds.), The Anatomy of a Mesopotamian City. Survey and Soundings at Mashkan-shapir, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, pp. 26-42, 2004
9. Ali Ahmed Gadalla, Azza, "The City of Mashkan-Shabir and The Kingdom of Larsa", Annals of the Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University 50.13, pp. 294-321, 2022
10. W. G. Lambert, "The Home of the First Sealand Dynasty", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 26, pp. 208–210, 1974
11. Beaulieu, Paul-Alain, "Neo-Babylonian Larsa: A Preliminary Study", Orientalia, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 58–81, 1991
12. Boivin, O., "The ilku and Related Fiscal Obligations in Sixth Century Larsa", in: K. Kleber (ed.), Taxation in the Achaemenid Empire (Classica et Orientalia 26), Wiesbaden, pp. 153–176, 2021
13. Beaulieu, P.-A., "A Finger in Every Pie: The Institutional Connections of a Family of Entrepreneurs in Neo-Babylonian Larsa", in: A.C.V.M. Bongenaar (ed.), Interdependency of Institutions and Private Entrepreneurs: Proceedings of the Second MOS Symposium, Leiden 1998 (PIHANS 87), Leiden, pp. 43–72, 2000
14. Joannès, F., "Les débuts de l’époque hellénistique à Larsa", in: C. Breniquet/C. Kepinski (ed.), Études mésopotamiennes. Recueil de textes offerts à Jean-Louis Huot, Paris, pp. 249–264, 2001
15. Lecomte, O., "Stratigraphical analysis and ceramic assemblages of the 4th–1st centuries B. C. E.Babbar of Larsa", in: U. Finkbeiner (ed.), Materialien zur Archäologie der Seleukiden- und Partherzeit im südlichen Babylonien und im Golfgebiet, Tübingen, pp. 17–39, 1993
16. Westenholz, Aage, "The Graeco-Babyloniaca Once Again", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 97, no. 2, pp. 262-313, 2007
17. Weisberg, David B., "Zabaya, an Early King of the Larsa Dynasty", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 194–98, 1989
18. Fiette, Baptiste, ""King" Kudur-Mabuk. A Study on the Identity of a Mesopotamian Ruler Without a Crown", Die Welt des Orients, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 275-294, 2020
19. https://archive.org/download/travelsresearche00loft/travelsresearche00loft.pdf
20. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/473581
21. Andre Parrot, "Villes enfouies. Trois campagnes de fouilles en Mésopotamie", 1935
22. A. Parrot, "Les fouilles de Tello et de. Senkereh-Larsa, campagne 1932–1933", Revue d'Assyriologie, 30, pp. 169–182, 1933
23. André Parrot, "Les fouilles de Larsa", Syria, 45, pp. 205–239, 1968
24. Parrot, André, "Les Fouilles de Larsa. Deuxième et Troisième Campagnes (1967)", Syria, vol. 45, no. 3/4, pp. 205–39, 1968
25. Jean-Claude Margueron, "Larsa, rapport preliminaire sur la quatrieme campagne", Syria, 47, pp. 261-277, 1970
26. Jean-Claude Margueron, "Larsa, rapport preliminaire sur la cinquieme campagne", Syria, 48, pp. 271–287, 1971
27. J. L. Huot et al., "Larsa, Preliminary Report on the Sixth Campaign", Sumer, 34, pp. 140–164, 1978
28. J-L. Huot, "Larsa, rapport preliminaire sur la septieme campagne Larsa et la premiere campagne Tell el 'Oueili (1976)", Syria, 55, pp. 183–223, 1978
29. J-L. Huot, "Larsa et 'Oueili, travaux de 1978–1981", vol. 26, Memoire, Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1983
30. J-L. Huot, "Larsa, Travaux de 1985", Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1989
31. J.-L. Huot, "Larsa (10e campagne, 1983) et Oueili: Rapport preliminaire", Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1987
32. D. Arnaud, "French Archaeological Mission in Iraq. A Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets and Inscribed Objects Found during the 6th Season in Tell Senkereh/Larsa", Sumer, 34, pp. 165–176, 1978
33. Huot, J.-L., "L’E. babbar de Larsa aux IIe et Ier millénaires (fouilles de 1974 à 1985)", BAH 205, Beyrouth, 2014
34. https://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=ARSC_451_0051&download=1
35. https://hal.science/hal-03088166/document
36. https://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/pdf/8378
37. https://hal.science/hal-03925003
38. https://shs.cairn.info/revue-archeosciences-2025-1-page-283?tab=texte-integral