Larsa
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[[Image:Hammurabi's Babylonia 1.svg|250px|right|thumb|[[Mesopotamia]] in the time of [[Hammurabi]]]]
{{ANE portal}}
[[Image:Worshipper Larsa Louvre AO15704.jpg|thumb|right|"The Worshipper of Larsa", a votive statuette dedicated to the god [[Amurru]] for [[Hammurabi]]'s life, early [[2nd millennium BC]], [[Louvre]]]]
'''Larsa''' (also '''Larag''' or '''Larak''', modern '''Tell as-Senkereh''', [[Iraq]], possibly the Biblical '''[[Ellasar]]'''), was an important city of ancient [[Sumer]]. It lies some 25 km southeast of the ruin mounds of [[Uruk]] (biblical [[Erech]]), near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal (modern day southern [[Iraq]]).
Larsa is mentioned in Sumerian inscriptions as early as the time of [[Ur-Gur]]{{Fact|date=February 2008}}, 2700 or 2800 BC{{Fact|date=February 2008}}, who built or restored the [[ziggurat]] of [[E (temple)|E]]-babbara, the temple of [[Utu]], the sun god.
== History ==
According to the [[Sumerian king list]], Larsa was one of the five cities to "exercise kingship" in pre-dynastic times (before ca. 2900 BC).
The city again became a political force during the so-called [[Isin]]-Larsa period. After the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] collapsed ca. 1940 BC, [[Ishbi-Erra]], an official of [[Ibbi-Sin]], the last king of the Ur III Dynasty, relocated to [[Isin]] and set up a government which purported to be the successor to the Ur III dynasty. From there Ishbi-Erra recaptured [[Ur]] as well as the cities of [[Uruk]] and [[Lagash]], which Larsa was subject to. Subsequent Isin rulers appointed governors to rule over Lagash; one such governor was an [[Amorite]] named [[Gungunum]]. He eventually broke with Isin and established an independent dynasty in Larsa. To legitimize his rule and deliver a blow to Isin, Gungunum captured the city of [[Ur]]. As the main center of trade with the [[Persian gulf]], Isin lost an enormously important portal to a profitable trade route, not to mention a city with much cultic significance. Beyond these few details, the precise reason for Gungunum's break with Isin are largely unknown. One group of scholars theorizes that Isin's internal problems were to blame; it does seem that Isin's rulers
allowed the once burgeoning irrigation and agricultural systems to wane. It is possible this was due to sheer neglect, but there is evidence that acquiring access to water in this arid region posed quite a problem for most of southern Mesopotamia in this period.
Gungunum's two successors, [[Abisare]] (ca. 1841 - 1830 BC) and [[Sumu-el]] (ca. 1830 - 1801 BC), both took steps to cut Isin completely off from access to canals. After this period, Isin quickly lost political and economical force.
Larsa grew powerful, but it never accumulated a huge tract of land. At its peak under king [[Rim-Sin I]] (ca. 1758 - 1699 BC), Larsa controlled only about 10-15 other city-states, nowhere near the territory controlled by other dynasties in Mesopotamian history. Nevertheless, huge building projects and agricultural undertakings can be validated by archaeological evidence.
== Archaeology ==
Loftus conducted excavations at this site in 1854{{Fact|date=February 2008}}. He describes the ruins as consisting of a low, circular platform, about 4.5 miles in circumference, rising gradually from the level of the plain to a central mound 70 ft. high. This represents the ancient ziggurat of the temple of E-babbara, which was in part explored by Loftus. From the inscriptions found there it appears that, besides the kings already mentioned, [[Hammurabi]], [[Burna-buriash]] and [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon]] restored or rebuilt the temple to Shamash. The excavations at Senkereh were peculiarly successful in the discovery of inscribed remains, consisting of clay tablets, chiefly contracts, but including also an important mathematical tablet and a number of tablets of a description almost peculiar to Senkereh, exhibiting in bas-relief scenes of everyday life. Loftus found also the remains of an ancient Babylonian cemetery. From the ruins it would appear that Senkereh ceased to be inhabited at or soon after the Persian conquest.
==Kings of Larsa==
:([[short chronology]])
[[Image:Kings Larsa Louvre AO7025.jpg|thumb|right|List of the kings of Larsa, 39th year of [[Hammurabi]]'s reign, [[Louvre]]]]
{| class="nowraplinks" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" rules="all" style="background:#fbfbfb; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; font-size:90%; empty-cells:show; border-collapse:collapse"
|- bgcolor="#F6E6AE"
! Ruler !! Reigned !! Comments
|-
| [[Naplanum]] ||style="white-space:nowrap;"| ca. 1961—1940 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Contemporary of [[Ibbi-Suen]] of [[Ur III]]
|-
| [[Emisum]] || ca. 1940—1912 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Samium]] || ca. 1912—1877 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Zabaia]] || ca. 1877—1868 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Son of Samium, First royal inscription
|-
| [[Gungunum]] || ca. 1868—1841 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Gained independence from [[Lipit-Eshtar]] of [[Isin]]
|-
| [[Abisare]] || ca. 1841—1830 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Sumuel]] || ca. 1830—1801 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Nur-Adad]] || ca. 1801—1785 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Contemporary of [[Sumu-la-El]] of [[Babylon]]
|-
| [[Sin-Iddinam]] || ca. 1785—1778 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Son of Nur-Adad
|-
| [[Sin-Eribam]] || ca. 1778—1776 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Sin-Iqisham]] || ca. 1776—1771 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Contemporary of [[Zambiya]] of [[Isin]], Son of Sin-Eribam
|-
| [[Silli-Adad]] || ca. 1771—1770 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) ||
|-
| [[Warad-Sin]] || ca. 1770—1758 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Possible co-regency with [[Kudur-Mabuk]] his father
|-
| [[Rim-Sin I]] || ca. 1758—1699 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Contemporary of [[Irdanene]] of [[Uruk]], Defeated by [[Hammurabi]] of [[Babylon]], Brother of Warad-Sin
|-
| [[Hammurabi]] of [[Babylon]] || ca. 1699—1686 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Official Babylonian rule
|-
| [[Samsu-iluna]] of [[Babylon]] || ca. 1686—1678 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Official Babylonian rule
|-
| [[Rim-Sin II]] || ca. 1678—1674 BC ([[short chronology|short]]) || Killed in revolt against [[Babylon]]
|}
==References==
{{Commonscat|Larsa|Larsa}}
*{{1911}}
[[Category:Sumerian cities]]
[[Category:Amorite cities]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Iraq]]
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