Ur

views updated

Ur (Ur of the Chaldees) Ancient city of Sumeria, s Mesopotamia. Ur flourished in the 3rd millennium bc, but Sargon I conquered it in c.2340 bc. The Akkadian period witnessed the integration of Semitic and Sumerian cultures. In c.2060 bc, the great ziggurat was built by King Ur-Nammu. In c.2000 bc, the invading Elamites destroyed much of the city. In the 6th century bc, Nebuchadnezzar briefly restored Ur as a centre of Mesopotamian civilization, but by the 5th century bc it was in terminal decline.

More From encyclopedia.com