Near East Kingdoms

Larsa (City State) (Sumer)

Mesopotamian States & Groups Canaanite States & Groups Islamic Empire Israelites & Israel Ancient Mesopotamia (Intro) Rome Syrian States & Groups

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 start 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. Today the archaeological site of Tell as-Senkereh, its ancient name 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 below 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), and 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.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 modern archaeological site of Tell es-Senkereh is the site of ancient Larsa, one-time capital of Sumer during a brief period of domination and one of the largest archaeological sites in Iraq

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.2856? BC

The Sumerian Antediluvian king list (various versions are available - see feature link) states: 'When kingship was first handed down from Heaven, the city of Eridu was chosen as the seat of kingship... and then kingship was removed to Bad-tibira'.

fl c.2850? BC

Ruled in Larsa (and perhaps Bad-tibira).

A later version of the list, written in Larsa in the Gutian or 'Third Dynasty' of Ur period, inserts Kichu-Ana as the second king in the sequence. Possibly he has been omitted from other lists for political reasons.

This terracotta foundation peg from Bad-tibira was for Entemena of Lagash, dated between 2404-2375 BC, and mentioning a treaty with the king of Uruk

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'.

Some of the earliest cities, such as Sippar, Borsippa, and Kish in the north, and Ur, Uruk, and Eridu in the south, formed the endpoints of what became the complex Sumerian network of cities and canals (click or tap on map to view full sized)

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 archaeological tell which makes up today's Sippar site is ed-Der, or 'Little Sippar'. This 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.

Gypsum lion head finial, possibly from the throne of a votive statue of 'Early Dynastic III' at Sippar, about 2500 BC, and with the Sumerian word for 'king' ('lugal') being inscribed on one side

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 seems 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)

Mesopotamian States & Groups Canaanite States & Groups Islamic Empire Israelites & Israel Ancient Mesopotamia (Intro) Rome Syrian States & Groups

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.

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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.

This general map of Mesopotamia and its neighbouring territories roughly covers the period between 2000-1600 BC. It reveals the concentration of city states in the former Sumer, in the south (click or tap on map to view full sized)

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

Son. Governor of Larsa under Isin's rule?

c.1930s BC

This obscure Larsa king is little-mentioned in the historical record, but he does appear to establish (or confirm) Larsa's relations with and potential early dominance of Mashkan-Shapir, a city which soon becomes key to Larsa's battle of dominance with Isin. A broken clay cone which carries his inscription is later found by archaeologists.

Smaller finds from the site of ancient Mashkan-Shapir have included eleven cylinder seals, several stone pendants, typical burial goods, weaponry artefacts, model chariots with a connection to Nergal, and a clay cone of the little-known Larsa ruler, Zabaya

c.1932 - 1905 BC

Brother. Governor of Larsa under Isin's rule. First king of Larsa.

c.1929 - 1927 BC

For reasons unknown and pursuing a more aggressive foreign policy than that of his predecessors, Gungunum attacks and destroys Pashime in his third year (circa 1929 BC) and Anshan in his fifth year (circa 1927 BC). He may also be in control of Susa in his sixteenth year (circa 1916 BC), depending upon how a Susa text is interpreted.

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.1914 BC

Gungunum celebrates the defeat of Malgium in his nineteenth year name, naming it the 'year on the orders of An, Enlil, and Nanna (that the army of) Malgium was defeated by weapons...'.

Late Ur III period pottery tablets (about 2112–2004 BC), often referred to as 'biscuits', typically feature Sumerian cuneiform script which focuses on administrative, bureaucratic, or economic, agricultural transactions, with this one having been recovered from Malgium

c.1905 - 1894 BC

Son? Relationship not confirmed.

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. Nippur is lost around this time, Kazallu seemingly follows suit at some point around 1900 BC, Uruk breaks away around 1865 BC, and Apiak declines and disappears relatively quickly.

c.1894 - 1866 BC

Son? Relationship not confirmed.

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.

An aerial photo which reveals the mass of holes and pits which have been dug by robbers in the heavily-looted archaeological site of Umma, Tell Jokha in Iraq in 2003

c.1865 - 1850 BC

Son? Relationship not confirmed.

c.1850 - 1843 BC

Son. A son of his ruled at Kish.

Sin-iddinam is well-known for his building activities in the Ebabbar shrine at Larsa. His military activities include building new city walls around Mashkan-Shapir, the defeat in battle of Malgium (about 1844 BC), and the conquest of the town of Ibrat on the Tigris, possibly to be located near today's Kut el-Amara.

If Ibrat had previously been under the control of the Elamite sukkal-mah of Susa (possibly the Eparti ruler, Epart III) and/or his sukkal, its loss may help explain the forging of an alliance a few years later between Elam and Zambija of Isin.

c.1843 - 1841 BC

Son of Ga'eš-rabi.

c.1841 - 1836 BC

Son. Defeated the Elam/Isin coalition.

c.1838? BC

A year name which is issued by Sin-iqisham records the 'year (Sin-iqiszam) made (statues) of / for Numuszda (Kazallu's patron deity), Namrat (his goddess wife), and Lugal-apiak (the ruler) and brought them into the city of Kazallu'. Those seemingly good relations do not last very long at all.

Babylon began life as a modest town which had been seized from Kazallu, but was quickly fortified by the building of a city wall in the nineteenth century BC

c.1836 BC

To commemorate Year 5 of his reign (his last, as it turns out), Sin-iqisham gives it the name '[the] year Uruk, Kazallu, the army of the land of Elam, and Zambija the king of Isin were defeated'. This would be the coalition which seemingly had been forming since the reign of Sin-iddinam of Larsa.

c.1836 - 1835 BC

Son? Killed in battle by Sabium of Babylon.

c.1835 BC

Silli-Adad, also governor of Kutalla, 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 Eparti capital at Susa, manages to install his son, Warad-Sin, on the throne of Larsa.

Kudur-mabuk, his father, and his daughter all have seemingly Elamite names, but he is called 'father' or 'sheikh' of Yamutbal, just to the east of the Tigris. Local cities also appear to be dominated by Warad-Sin, including Zabalam and (therefore possibly) Girsu. Perhaps the Eparti kings are too, under the potential usurper, Atta-hushu.

The main mounds at the modern archaeological site of Tell Sifr have been identified as the location of the ancient Sumerian city of Kutalla, largely a dependency of Larsa during the early second millennium BC

c.1834 - 1823 BC

Son. Also held Kutalla. Died.

c.1833 BC

The second year of the reign of Warad-Sin bears the year name '[the] year in which the city wall of Kazallu was destroyed and the army of Mutibal which occupied Larsa was smitten by weapons'.

The Mutibal are the Yamutbal tribe from which hail Warad-Sin and his own kin, perhaps not an unusual mix with the claim to be rulers of an obscure state in the traditionally rough country to the north of Susa. However, are they occupying Larsa under the command of Warad-Sin (and perhaps being attacked by Kazallu), or are they opposing him? The year name does not make this clear.

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 (possibly he even predeceases his father, Kudur-mabug), and then by another brother, Rim-Sin (I).

While southern Mesopotamia flourished during the third millennium BC, it took longer for the same effect to be felt in northern Mesopotamia, with the first larger cities and city states only really emerging towards the end of the millennium (click or tap on map to view full sized)

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.

The Uruk trough belongs to the late prehistoric period, about 3300-3000 BC, but as it was probably a cult object in Inanna (Ishtar), it may have remained in use for quite some time

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 1809 BC - he defeats a coalition of forces which is led by Uruk, Isin, and Babylon, with a contingent from Rapiqum amongst others. 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), destroying Der around 1802 BC, and then destroying Uruk around 1800 BC (albeit certainly not at the first attempt).

BM 22470 (British Museum, a statue which was dedicated to the goddess Nin-shubur of the city of Der, by Enzi and his son Amar-kiku around 2400 BC (External Link: Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International)

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. After successfully besieging Mashkan-Shapir, Hammurabi now controls Larsa and most of southern and central Mesopotamia, including the important city of Mashkan-Shapir.

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'.

Recent archaeology at the ancient site of Susa has confirmed traces of a village which was inhabited around 7000 BC, and painted pottery dating from about 5000 BC, along with previous finds at later levels which include carved cylinder seals, jewellery, clay balls, and clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions which record business transactions, political history, and mathematical calculations

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..

Cyrus the Great freed the Indo-Iranian Parsua people from Median domination to establish a nation which is recognisable to this day, and an empire which provided the basis for the vast territories which were later ruled by Alexander the Great