For the gods of Girsu : : city-state formation in ancient Sumer / / Sébastien Rey.

• Superior document: Archaeopress archaeology
• VerfasserIn: Rey, Sébastien, 1981-
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd,, [2016]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Archaeopress archaeology.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (viii, 76 pages) :; illustrations.

This book demonstrates Girsu is a primary locale for re-analyzing, through an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeological and textual evidence, the origins of the Sumerian city-state.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Foreword -- Introduction: Concept of the Sumerian City-State -- Chapter One -- Once Upon a Time in Ancient Girsu. Or Tello and the Rediscovery of the Sumerians -- Tello/Girsu and the Sumerian Miracle -- The Myth of the Archaic Temple-City -- Primitive Democracy or Polyarchy? -- Standing on the Shoulders of Giants -- Chapter Two -- Fig. 1: The Tower of Babel by Bruegel the Elder -- Fig. 2: Ernest de Sarzec and his escort at Tello -- Fig. 3: Apotropaic pillar composed of inscribed bricks from Gudea -- Fig. 4: Stele of the Vultures. Mythological side depicting the heroic war-god Ningirsu and the tempest-bird Imdugud -- Fig. 5: Spatial organization of the sacred precinct of Girsu -- The City of the Heroic God. The General Layout of a Sumerian Metropolis -- A Landscape of Spoils as a Legacy of the Pioneers -- Moving Landscapes and the Power of Space Imagery -- Multivallation for the Purpose of Coercion and Defense -- The Ceremonial Landscape of the City-State's Pantheon -- The Logistical Infrastructure of the Ancient Waterways -- Fig. 6: The central complex of mounds of Tello (Tell K, Tell I-I') -- Fig. 7: Superimposed 1968 Corona space photography of Tello -- Fig. 8: Principal topographical features and quarters of ancient Girsu revealed by the 1968 Corona satellite imagery, including the sacred-city Iri-ku3 (A), the central and southern areas (B), the eastern extramural district (C), the peripheral tells and -- Fig. 9: Schematic plan of the Early Dynastic defended gate of the mound of the Porte du Diable (Tell P-P'), either A-bul5-la-dBa-U2 or A-bul5-la-dNin-g̃ir2-su, featuring -- Fig. 10: Schematic plan of the Early Dynastic religious complex of Ningirsu -- Fig. 11: Mace of Me-salim of Kiš recording the earliest known ruler of Lagaš Lugal-ša-engur.

Fig. 12: Artistic view of the Early Dynastic temple of Ningirsu, -- Fig. 13: The so-called Enigmatic construction of the Eastern tells, in fact a bridge over a paleo-channel (April 2015). -- Fig. 14: Modern high resolution space photography of Tello -- Fig. 15: General layout and topographical features of the Early Dynastic religious megapolis of Girsu reconstructed by combining archaeological and textual evidence and satellite imagery, and confirmed in April and November 2015 by ground reconnaissance: -- Chapter Three: The Girsu Countryside. The Spatial Organization of a Sumerian City-State -- The Model of the Sumerian Archaic Agrotown -- The Regional Setting of an Early Dynastic City-State -- The Ritual Processions in Honor of the Gods -- The Sacred Precinct and Central Cult of the City-State -- Fig. 16: The immediate hinterlands of Girsu. Archaeological mounds of Tello are detectable in the background (November 2015). -- Fig. 17: Superimposed 1968 Corona space photography of Southern Babylonia with the T. Jacobsen 1969 map of Early Dynastic sites, canals, and ancient rivers in the Girsu region -- Fig. 18: Map of the Early Dynastic settlement pattern of the Girsu-Lagaš city-state highlighting (A) the region around Girsu, (B) the Lagaš neighborhood, (C) the Nig̃en district, (D) the Gu'abba area, and (E) the Gu'edena border. -- Fig. 19: Map of the Early Dynastic network of watercourses and marshlands of the -- Fig. 20: Reconstruction of the Early Dynastic ritual procession-ways of the Girsu-Lagaš city-state from offering lists recording libations and sacrifices for the gods Ningirsu, Nanše, and Ba'u. -- Fig. 21: General view of the sacred precinct of Girsu (November 2015) -- Fig. 22: The Early Dynastic ceremonial plaza of the sacred precinct of Girsu -- Fig. 23: Early Dynastic III ceremonial terracotta vessels from Area A.

Chapter Four: Demarcated by the Gods. Sumerian Rites and the Lagaš-Umma Border Conflict -- The Sumerian Concept of Sacred Territoriality -- Contextualizing the Lagaš-Umma Border Conflict -- Characterizing the Presargonic Gu'edena frontier -- The Rise of the Mesopotamian Imperial State -- Fig. 24: The Early Dynastic Sumerian alluvium featuring the Gu'edena frontier between -- Fig. 25: Stele of the Vultures. -- Fig. 26: Reconstruction of the Lugal-zagesi campaign against Lagaš -- Conclusion: Morphogenesis of an Archaic City-State -- Fig. 27: Archaic bas-relief of the Figure aux plumes recording the earliest known occurrence of the sanctuary of Ningirsu (E2-dNin-g̃ir2-su). -- Bibliography.