Kesh (Sumer)

Kesh (Keš or Keši) was an ancient Sumerian city and religious site, whose patron goddess was Ninhursag. It was included on the "city seals" found at Jemdat Nasr. These seals sparked the theory at an Early Dynastic Kengir League control Sumer at that time.[1][2] Its location is uncertain; some of the possible sites put forth include Al-Ubaid, near Ur, or Tell al-Wilayah near Adab or Abu Salabikh or even Tell Jidr though the consensus is now with Tell al-Wilayah or Tulul al-Baqarat.[3][4] The city is known to be located near to the ancient city of Irisaĝrig and was under the control of that city. According to a riddle from Early Dynastic times, there was a Kesh Canal, which Adab was on.[5]

It has been suggested that Mesilim, traditionally considered "King of Kish" was actually a ruler of Kesh, based on epigraphic reasons and by the fact that he called himself "beloved son of Ninharsag".[6]

  1. ^ Steinkeller, Piotr, "Archaic City Seals and the Question of Early Babylonian Unity", Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, edited by Tzvi Abusch, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 249-258, 2002
  2. ^ Matthews, Roger J., "Jemdet Nasr: The Site and the Period", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 196–203, 1982
  3. ^ [1] R. McC. Adams and H. Nissen, "The Uruk Countryside: The Natural Setting of Urban Societies", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972 ISBN 0-226-00500-3
  4. ^ Saadoon, Abather, "New Cuneiform Texts from Tell Al-Wilaya (ancient Kesh?) Kept in the Iraqi Museum", Sumer 59, pp. 42-61, 2014
  5. ^ Biggs, R. D., "Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, pp. 26–33, 1973
  6. ^ Luckenbill, D. D., "Two Inscriptions of Mesilim, King of Kish", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 219–23, 1914