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] The city is known to near to and was under the control of the ancient city of Irisaĝrig. According to a riddle from Early Dynastic times suggests there was a Kesh Canal, which Adab was on.[4]

It has been suggested that Mesilim, traditionally considered "King of Kisg" was acutually a ruler of Kesh, based on epigraphic reasons and by the fact that he called himself "beloved son of Ninharsag".[5]

Historical sources

A number of personal names from the Early Dynastic period include the city of Kesh. An example was Me-Kèški ie "The divine forces of Kesh".[6]

In the prologue of the Code of Hammurabi it states "the one whom the sage, Mama brought to perfection; who laid out the plans for Kesh" where Mama referred to the goddess Ninhursag.[7]

The third year name of Rim-Sin II (c. 1700 BC), ruler of Larsa, reads "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." where Ninmah is another name for Ninhursag.[8] In a letter to Amurrum-tillati, Rim-Sin II declares "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" suggesting that his throne, and capital, were in Kesh.[9] According to a statue inscription Samsu-iluna, ruler of Babylon, destroyed Kesh and "Ninhursag’s Gate", and possibly executed Rim-Sin II there after suppressing his revolt.[10]

Kesh is mentioned on the Bassetki Statue of Naram-Sin.[11]

"Naram-Sin, the mighty, king of Agade, when the four quarters together revolted against him, through the love which the goddess Astar showed him, he was victorious in nine battles in one in 1 year, and the kings whom they (the rebels[?]) had raised (against him), he captured. In view of the fact that he protected the foundations of his city from danger, (the citizens of his city requested from Astar in Eanna, Enlil in Nippur, Dagan in Tuttul, Ninhursag in Kes, Ea in Eridu, Sin in Ur, Samas in Sippar, (and) Nergal in Kutha, that (Naram-Sin) be (made) the god of their city, and they built within Agade a temple (dedicated) to him. As for the one who removes this inscription, may the gods Samas, Astar, Nergal, the bailiff of the king, namely all those gods (mentioned above) tear out his foundations and destroy his progeny."[12]

Temple Hymn

There is a famous Kesh temple hymn[13] about Ninhursag's temple in Kesh (hur-saĝ gal), where she is called Nintud. The goddess Nisaba appears as the temple's caretaker and decision maker. A cuneiform tablet fragment of the Kesh Temple Hymn (the longer version, a shorter version having been written by Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad) was found at Abu Salabikh.[14]

Good house, built in a good place,

House Kesh, built in a good place, like a princely barge floating in the sky, like a holy barge set with seat and horns, like the boat of heaven,the lordly crown of the mountains, like a well-braced boat-cabin having moved off from the bank.

House, roaring like an ox,bellowing like a breed bull[15]

The Enheduanna verson is:

"Towering Kesh. You are the image of heaven and earth. Like the mighty viper of the desert, you spread fear. House of Ninhursanga, you stand on a land of wrath. Glorious Kesh: your heart is deep, your form is huge. Great lion . . . the upland, roaming through the wild. Great mountain, brought here by holy incantations. Your heart is dusk, moon light cannot enter you. The Lady of Birth has given you beauty. House of Kesh: your brickwork is your birthing. Your terrace is a crown of lapis lazuli: your frame is your creation. Your lady is the lady who imposes silence. The great good queen of heaven.When she speaks, heaven shakes. When she opens her mouth, storms roar. Ninhursanga, Enlil’s sister, has built a home in your holy court, House of Kesh, and has taken her seat upon your throne. Thirteen lines. House of Ninhursanga in Kesh."[16]

Location

Robert D. Biggs suggested Kesh could have just been a variation in the spelling of Kish.[17] From inscriptions it is known that Adab was on the Kesh Canal.[18] More recently it has been suggested that Kesh is located at Tulul al-Baqarat.[19][20]

References
  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. 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. Biggs, R. D., "Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, pp. 26–33, 1973
  5. 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
  6. Tavernier, Jan, "Ur and Other Cities in Some Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names: The Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Periods", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelphia, July 11–15, 2016 edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 485-502, 2021
  7. James B. Pritchard, "Collections of Laws from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor", Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 159-198, 1955
  8. Marcel Sigrist, Larsa Year Names, Andrews University Press, 1990 ISBN 0-943872-54-5
  9. Seri, Andrea, "Conclusion. The House of Prisoners: State and slavery in Uruk during the revolt against Samsu-iluna", The House of Prisoners: Slavery and State in Uruk during the Revolt against Samsu-iluna, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 237-263, 2013
  10. Lambert, Wilfred G., and Mark Weeden, "A statue inscription of Samsuiluna from the papers of WG Lambert", Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 114.1, pp. 15-62, 2020
  11. Tinney, Steve, "A New Look at Naram-Sin and the ‘Great Rebellion.’", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 47, pp. 1–14, 1995
  12. Douglas R. Frayne, The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334-2113), University of Toronto Press, 1993, ISBN 0-8020-0593-4
  13. "The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature".
  14. Biggs, Robert D., "An Archaic Sumerian Version of the Kesh Temple Hymn from Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 193-207, 1971
  15. Ansky, S.. "Hymn to Kesh". The Harps that Once..., edited by David G. Roskies, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992, pp. 377-385
  16. Helle, Sophus, "The Temple Hymns". Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 53-94, 2023
  17. Biggs, Robert D., Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische, Archäologie , Volume 61 (2), de Gruyter – Jan 1, 1971 - Springerprotocols
  18. Biggs, R. D. “Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, 1973, pp. 26–33
  19. Steinkeller, Piotr. "Two Sargonic Seals from Urusagrig and the Question of Urusagrig’s Location" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. , no. , 2021. https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2021-2001
  20. Viano, M. (2020): On the Location of Irisaĝrig Once Again, JCS 71, 35–52

See also

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