Near East Kingdoms

Larsa (City State) (Sumer)

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The city states of Sumer formed one of the first great civilisations in human history (see feature link). This Near Eastern civilisation emerged a little way ahead of that of Africa's ancient Egypt, and up to a millennium before that of the Indus Valley culture. It developed out of the end of the Pottery Neolithic across the Fertile Crescent, a period which had seen Neolithic Farmer practices spread far and wide across the Near East and beyond.

As irrigation improved so the more southerly reaches of the Euphrates could at last be occupied by humans and their animals. Southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and the western edge of Iran) was subjected to permanent settlement, initially in the form of pastoralists but soon as farmers too. Cultures around the edges of this progression included the Hassuna and Samarra which began this settlement process, and perhaps elements of the Hissar culture in the Iranian highlands were also involved.

By the late fourth millennium BC, Sumer was divided into approximately a dozen city states which were independent of one another and which used local canals and boundary stones to mark their borders. Many early historical events in the region are found only in the Sumerian king list, which notates the rulers of the city states (and see feature link), but archaeology has also uncovered a wealth of detail.

Apart from one possible contender during the Antediluvian period in which Bad-tibira held the kingship, the city of Larsa seems not to have had any other independent kings of its own until the very end of Sumerian civilisation and the astart of the second millennium BC.

Control of it was gained by the Amorite inheritors of southern Mesopotamia, becoming the centre of a moderately successful city state which also controlled Ur and Uruk. Its name (modern Tell as-Senkereh), was corrupted to Ellasar in the Old Testament, although the Biblical King Arioch of Ellasar is now thought to be the early Hurrian king, Ariukki.

Dates shown here are according to the 'Middle Chronology', which (until recently at least) was the most popular. The 'Long Chronology' sets the dates one hundred and twenty years earlier, while the 'Low Chronology' sets them sixty-four years later.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, Gwendolyn Leick (Penguin Books, 2001), from Encyclopaedia Britannica (Eleventh Edition, Cambridge (England), 1910), from The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character, Samuel Noah Kramer ('List 1' of Sumerian rulers, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963), from First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies, Peter Bellwood (Second Ed, Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), from Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, 4,000,000 to 500 BC, John Heywood (Barnes & Noble, 2000), from The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC, Amélie Kuhrt (Routledge, 2000, Vol I & II), from Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East, Michael Road (Facts on File, 2000), from Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Enrico Ascalone (Dictionaries of Civilizations 1, University of California Press, 2007), from The Archaeology of Mesopotamia, S Lloyd (Revised Ed, London, 1984), from Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History, J N Postgate (Routledge, 1994), from The First Empires, J N Postgate (Oxford 1977), from History of the Ancient Near East c.3000-323 BC, Marc van der Mieroop (Blackwell Publishing, 2004, 2007), from Ancient History: A Theory About Ancient Times, L C Gerts (List 4 of Sumerian rulers, Chapter 12: The Sumerian king list, 2002), from Mesopotamia, Chris Scarre (Ed, Past Worlds - The Times Atlas of Archaeology, Guild Publishing, London 1989), from The Age of the God-Kings, Kit van Tulleken (Ed, Time Life Books, Amsterdam 1987), from History & Philology, Walther Sallaberger & Ingo Schrakamp (Eds, Arcane III, Brepols, 2015), and from External Links: Ancient Worlds, and The Sumerian Kings List, J A Black, G Cunningham, E Fluckiger-Hawker, E Robson, & G Zólyomi ('List 2' of Sumerian rulers, available via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Oxford, 1998), and Ancient History, Anthony Michael Love ('List 3' of Sumerian rulers at Sarissa.org), and Images from History (University of Alabama).)

c.3100 - 2900 BC

The Uruk IV influence suddenly fades around 3100 BC (or 3200 BC in some modern sources) for reasons unknown. Local traditions re-emerge in places which had previously taken on board Uruk influences. Elam's advanced city of Susa experiences an influx of immigrants who introduce great changes there.

The Uruk III or Jemdet Nasr period in Sumer is one of comparative isolation (with the city of Jemdet Nasr supplying the type site). A new social structure is built which will become a fundamental part of the successive 'Early Dynastic' period. A host of early cities are mentioned at this time, on seals which are discovered at Jemdet Nasr itself. These cities include Kesh, Larsa, Nippur, Ur, Uruk, and Zabalam.

c.2440s BC

Eannatum of Lagash annexes virtually all of 'Post-Diluvian' Sumer, including Kish, Nippur, Uruk (briefly), Ur, and Larsa, and reduces his arch-rivals at Umma, twenty-nine kilometres away, to a tributary state with the defeat of Enakalle.

In addition, he extends his realm to parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf, apparently using terror as a matter of policy. The stele of the vultures describes the violent treatment which is meted out to his enemies.

Urur of Akshak leads a northern coalition against him but that is destroyed, with Akshak recognising Lagash's supremacy along with Mari. Lagash is later eclipsed by Umma under Lugalzaggesi.

c.2405 - 2375 BC

As the last great ensi of Lagash, Entemena is dominant across many cities in Sumer during his reign. Numerous clay nails from Bad-tibira record that he builds a temple for Inanna and Lugal-emuš, and 'at that time Entemena, ensi of Lagaš, and Lugal-kinice-dudu, ensi of Uruk, established brotherhood'.

Entemena undertakes temple construction at Girsu, cancelling Lagash's debts as the mother city to Girsu. In relation to the construction of the Emuš temple at Bad-tibira, he cancels debts for the citizens of Bad-tibira, Larsa, and Uruk in the earliest attested case of a ruler cancelling the debts of his subjects. This becomes the norm in the Old Babylonian period.

c.2330s BC

Sargon claims to be the first king to unite Mesopotamia (Sumer and Agade, plus a wide swathe of northern Mesopotamia), although Enshakushanna of Uruk has already achieved that in the mid-twenty-fifth century BC.

The second tell of Sippar, that of ed-Der or 'Little Sippar', is certainly settled and active during the 'Ur III' period, and may date back to the Akkadian period. It remains settled and active for as long as 'Great Sippar' remains settled and active. However, the southern sun sanctuary at Larsa generally eclipses the Sippar temples from 'Ur III' onwards.

c.2025 BC

With the power of the 'Third Dynasty' at Ur crumbling, the city of Eshnunna breaks away from Ur's control in the second year of Ibbi-Sin's reign. It seem that Larsa also becomes independent, at least to a degree. It founds its own line of kings under an Amorite-dominated state which is known as Emutbalum.

Larsa (Amorite City State of Emutbalum) (Southern Mesopotamia)

The fall of the Sumerian city of Ur and its 'Third Dynasty' around 2004 BC ended the final stages of Sumerian civilisation. Long migrating into the region and part of the problem which caused Ur's decline, Amorites began to fill the void left by the collapse by assuming control of former Sumerian cities such as Mari, and by establishing powerful centralised kingdoms such as Babylonia. The Assyrians also achieved temporary independence in Ashur at the same time.

Larsa became a formidable force in southern Mesopotamia during the Old Babylonian period. After third dynasty Ur had collapsed, many of the larger city states hurried to fill the resultant power vacuum. Isin managed to regain many of the most important Sumerian sites, and appointed their own governors at Larsa.

One of them, an Amorite of the Yamutbal tribe named Gungunum, broke with Isin, set up his own independent dynasty at Larsa, and seized the now diminished city of Ur. Whether his predecessors were also Amorites is not known. The state he ruled came to be known as the land of Emut-balum (Emutbalum or Yamutbalum), thanks to his Yamutbal tribal origins.

(Additional information from External Links: International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia Online, and The Ancient Near East, A Life, Piotr Michalowski & Gary Beckman (Orientalia lovaniensia Analecta 220, 2012, and available to download as a PDF), and Seal Impressions on Tablets from Umma, Rudolf H Mayr (2005, and available via Academia.edu).)

c.2025 - 2004 BC

Presumably an Amorite of the Yamutbal.

c.2017 BC

As with much of southern Mesopotamia, Ur is rapidly fading in power and influence as harvests fail and the population declines. Grain prices in Ur seem to increase fifteen times over, but the city's massive bureaucracy hinders it from making rapid decisions to ameliorate the situation.

The over-production of cereal has led to an increased strain being placed on the soil and a fall in productivity. The tax system has placed an increasing burden on an increasingly larger share of the population. On top of all of this, new waves of immigration into the region by Amorites add an extra layer of confusion and conflict.

c.2004 BC

The waning Sumerian civilisation which has at its centre the city of Ur now collapses entirely when the Simashki ruler of Elam, Kindattu, together with the people of Susa, sacks the city and captures Ibbi-Sin.

The great brick mausoleums and temples of the third dynasty kings are destroyed and the king is carried off into captivity. Documentation from Umma now ceases. Isin now enjoys a period of dominance in Sumer while a now-Amorite-dominated Ur re-emerges in a reduced state.

c.2004 - 1977 BC

Possible son?

c.1998 BC

Larsa falls under the control of Isin in the century of disorder which follows the collapse of Sumerian civilisation. It seems from the Larsa king list that Emisum continues to govern the city, but probably only as a subject of Isin.

c.1976 - 1941 BC

Possible son? Established Larsa as a rival to Isin.

c.1941 - 1933 BC

Governor of Larsa under Isin's rule?

c.1932 - 1905 BC

Son? Governor of Larsa under Isin's rule. First king of Larsa.

c.1920? BC

Gungunum, Isin's governor of the province of Lagash, breaks with his masters and sets up his own dynasty in Larsa, although the reasons for this are largely unknown. To further frustrate Isin's rulers, he seizes Ur, cutting Isin's vital trade route and economically crippling the city.

The city of Zabalam has been under the dominance of Isin - as reported by the year names of several rulers including Itar-pisa and Ur-Ninurta. At a point around this time Zabalam falls into the sphere of dominance of the governors of Larsa (notably Abisare, for whom a year name reports the building of the 'Favourite of Inanna of Zabalam' canal).

c.1905 - 1894 BC

Son?

c.1905 - 1866 BC

Gungunum's two successors in the rule of Larsa and Ur seek to cut off Isin's access to water by rerouting canals to Larsa. There is evidence that acquiring access to water in this increasingly arid region poses quite a problem for most of southern Mesopotamia in this period, so making it an increasingly vital resource. After this period, Isin quickly loses political and economical force.

c.1894 - 1866 BC

Son?

Sumu-el destroys the city of Umma, an event which is of sufficient importance to be recorded in a year name. After this calamity Umma disappears from the historical record, and it is doubtful whether the city is ever occupied again.

c.1865 - 1850 BC

c.1850 - 1843 BC

A son ruled at Kish.

c.1843 - 1841 BC

Son?

c.1841 - 1836 BC

c.1836 - 1835 BC

Son? Killed in battle by Sabium of Babylon.

c.1835 BC

Silli-Adad is defeated and killed in battle by Sabium of Babylon, apparently leaving the kingdom in a political vacuum which is quickly filled by Elamites.

fl c.1835 BC

King of an Elamite state north of Susa? Died c.1822 BC?

c.1834 BC

Kudur-mabug or Kudur-mabuk, apparent king of an otherwise unknown Elamite state to the north of the Elamite capital at Susa, manages to install his son, Warad-Sin, on the throne of Larsa. Local cities also appear to be dominated by Warad-Sin, including Zabalam and (therefore possibly) Girsu.

c.1834 - 1823 BC

Son. Died.

One Eri-Aku of Tyre has been linked to an Eri-Aku, son of Kudur-mabug. When Warad-Sin dies he may briefly be succeeded by his brother, Eri-Aku, and then by another brother, Rim-Sin (I).

In the north, somewhat late but not implausibly so, one Atamrum of a small state called Allahad gains control of the city of Andarig. He is claimed as being the son of a Warad-Sin, with the timeline making it possible that it is this Warad-Sin.

c.1823 - 1822 BC

Brother. Succession uncertain and certainly brief.

When Rim-Sin succeeds, he conquers much of southern Mesopotamia. Isin is taken around 1796 BC (or perhaps earlier), and Sin-muballit of Babylon is defeated. Uruk is also defeated (around 1810 BC), and then finally captured (around 1803/1802 BC).

The city state's possessions reach their peak, such as it is, controlling about ten to fifteen other cities - nowhere near the territory controlled by many previous dynasties in Sumerian history. Even so, the city state manages to progress huge building projects and agricultural undertakings.

c.1822 - 1763 BC

Brother. 'Shepherd of the land of Nippur'.

c.1822 BC

Rim-Sin enjoys the longest reign of any king in ancient Mesopotamian history, totalling sixty years. At the start of his reign his family control a stretch of southern Mesopotamia which reaches from Nippur and Mashkan-shapir in the north to the head of the Persian Gulf in the south, including Larsa and Ur.

c.1810 - 1800 BC

In the king's thirteenth year - about 1810 BC - he defeats a coalition of forces which is led by Uruk, Isin, and Babylon. He captures some villages near Uruk, but a pause occurs until further action is possible.

He seems to have to fight near Larsa itself - and is victorious - before recapturing Nippur (which clearly has been lost, perhaps about 1810 BC), and then destroying Uruk around 1800 BC (albeit certainly not at the first attempt).

c.1793 BC

Isin is finally captured by Rim-Sin. The city has long been one of his fiercest rivals, and one of the main organisers of resistance against him, so he ensures he fully ends the city's independence. His only remaining rival is the small but growing city state of Babylon.

c.1763 BC

Now an old man, Rim-Sin is attacked by Hammurabi's growing Babylonian empire for his failure to provide any real assistance in the allied effort to beat back the growing threat of the powerful Elamites. Given Rim-Sin's ancestry perhaps the lack of support should not have been a surprise. Hammurabi now controls most of southern and central Mesopotamia.

c.1740s BC

The third official year name to be selected by Rim-Sin II is the 'Year in which Ninmah raised greatly in the Kesz temple, the foundation of heaven and earth, [Rim-Sin] to kingship over the land, [king] having no enemy, no hostile [king], opposing him in all foreign lands'.

The name Ninmah is a variant of Ninhursag, patron goddess of the city of Kesh. Rim-Sin declares in another letter that 'In order to bring light to Yamutbalum and to gather its scattered people, the great gods established the foundations of my throne in Keš, the city of my creatress'. This suggests a capital at Kesh rather than Larsa.

c.1741 - 1736 BC

An adventurer who opposed Babylon. In Kesh as well?

1736 BC

Along with many others at the time of Hammurabi's death, Rim-Sin II sees an opportunity to lead a revolt against the rule of Samsu-iluna's Babylonian empire. The two fight for five years, with Rim-Sin allied to Eshnunna, and most battles taking place on the Elam/Sumer border. Eventually Rim-Sin is captured and executed, and Samsu-iluna 'destroyed Kesh and Ninhursag's Gate'.

c.539 BC

Archaeological evidence suggests that Larsa remains occupied until the end of the Neo-Babylonian empire, when it is abandoned, either upon Babylonia becoming part of the Persian Achaemenid empire, or shortly afterwards.