Kish (Sumer)

This article is about the ancient Sumerian city. For the hypothesis about the culture of the city, see Kish civilization.
Not to be confused with Kesh (Sumer).
Kish
Kish is located in Iraq
Kish
Kish
Shown within Iraq
LocationTell al-Uhaymir, Babil Governorate, Iraq
RegionMesopotamia
Coordinates32°32′25″N 44°36′17″E / 32.54028°N 44.60472°E / 32.54028; 44.60472
TypeSettlement
History
FoundedUbaid period
PeriodsUbaid to Hellenistic
Site notes
Excavation dates1852, 1912, 1923–1933, 1989, 2000–2001
ArchaeologistsAusten Henry Layard, Julius Oppert, Henri de Genouillac, Stephen Langdon, Hideo Fuji, Ken Matsumoto

Kish (Sumerian: Kiš; Kiški; cuneiform: 𒆧𒆠;[1] Akkadian: Kiššatu,[2] near modern Tell al-Uhaymir) is an important archaeological site in Babil Governorate (Iraq), located 80 km (50 mi) south of Baghdad and 12 km (7.5 mi) east of the ancient city of Babylon. The Ubaid period site of Ras al-Amiyah is 8 km (5.0 mi) away. It was occupied from the Ubaid period to the Hellenistic period.[3] In Early Dynastic times the city's patron deity was Ishtar with her consort Ea. Her temple, at Tell Ingharra, was (E)-hursag-kalama.[4][5] By Old Babylonian times the patron deities had become Zababa, along with his consort, the goddess Bau and Istar. His temple Emeteursag (later Ekišiba) was at Uhaimir.[6]

  1. ^ The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
  2. ^ Electronic Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (EPSD)
  3. ^ wparkinson (2011-01-11). "The Kish Collection". Field Museum. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference RIME1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Inanna's Descent to the Underworld translation at ETCSL
  6. ^ McEwan, G. J. P., "Late Babylonian Kish", Iraq, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 117–23, 1983