UR CUP

The city of UR is one of the most important cities of Sumer, situated in thc south of Iraq west of the Euphrates River. Its walls enclose circa 60 hectares.The earliest occupation of the site belonged to the Ubaid Period perhaps circa 5000 BC and the most flourishing period for the city was the Early Dynastic Period (circa 3000 - 2400 BC). To this period belong the celebrated tombs of the Royal Cemetery with their wealth of goods made of gold - lapis lazuli - other precious materials. There is also evidence of the sacrifice of human attendants of the dead kings and queens.

After a period of decline Ur flourished again in the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC which saw the final flowering of Sumerian achievement. The founder of this dynasty Ur-Nammu built a great Ziggurat to the city's patron deity Nanna the Moon God. The city continued to thrive in the Old Babylonian Period and the Bible claims Ur as the home of Abraham before he left for the west. Later the city declined and was finally abandoned in the 4th century BC.

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