UR. — An extremely ancient Mesopotamian city (Sumerian URMK, later URK, Akkadian URK), mentioned in the Bible at Gen. 11:28–31; 15:7; Neh. 9:7 (Hebrew ‘Ôr Kaśdîm, “Ur of the Chaldees”). Today it is the site of Tell al-Muqayyar (“of bitumen,” from the technique of Ur-Nammu, who used bitumen as mortar for short bricks in his constructions), a moving ruin in a vast desert 16 km west of the Euphrates. UR holds singular interest for the cultural and religious history of humanity.
When prehistory sheds light upon it, in the period of ‘Obēd (see SUMERI), UR is already a wealthy hamlet bounded on one side by the Euphrates and on the other by a canal, in a most fertile district entirely crisscrossed by canals; the river also posed a danger, for in an extraordinary flood it appears that UR was buried under 2.5 m of river deposits, and some have mistakenly seen in this a proof of the Flood. With the first dynasty of UR begins the historical period of Sumer. The names of Mesanepadda, king of UR, his consort Niuturnin, and their son and successor Aannepadda are handed down to us. The cultural splendor of this age is revealed by the “royal tombs” of UR, which also attest belief in life after death: thus the tomb of Prince Meskalamdug and the even more splendid tomb of the “Lady” Šub-ad. These personages (whether kings or priests is debated) entered the tomb in festive array, and so too did their entire court, who, dressed in festive garments and bearing musical instruments, died alongside them, each in serene composure and at his appointed place, as did the beasts of the chariots, to accompany their master to a happier existence in the next life. Such wealth of gold and lapis lazuli, pearls and precious stones cannot be explained without extensive commercial relations. UR was already a considerable city, with metallurgical and textile industries (a privilege it retained until the time of Abraham and perhaps beyond). Later, however, it fell under the hegemony of Lagaš under Eanatum and Enentemen, then under Uruk, under Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 BC), and later under the Gutians.
UR reached its apogee when its most brilliant political figure, Ur-Nammu (see 1960), founded the Third Dynasty of UR (c. 2050–1950 BC), subduing all of Sumer and Akkad. Magnificent temples were then rebuilt, especially Ekišnugal, with its “tower” (ziqqurat) 30 m high, on three terraces with splendid stairways. Ur-Nammu, author of social reforms, promulgated a law code. The great works of Sumerian literature date from the Third Dynasty. In the end, UR was destroyed by the Elamites and their Amorite allies; yet even then the attraction of the renowned sanctuary of Nanna or Sin (“the Moon”) induced its rebuilding, and throughout the periods of Isin and Larsa it remained a notable provincial city, favored especially by the latter. Finally, in the wars of Rim-Sîn of Larsa and Hammurabi (see), it was destroyed once more. C. L. Woolley has vividly described the aspect of the city at that time: a city chiefly of merchants and textile workers (employing slaves), fallen from its former splendor but still a center of attraction for the hordes of Arameans, Sutû, and perhaps already the Chaldeans (?), often compelled to emigrate, as was the family of Abraham (see), who from there, obeying the word of God, went first to Haran (see) and then to Palestine. After this time there seem to have been only rather fleeting revivals, fostered by kings zealous for the sanctuary of Sin: thus under Kurigalzu, Kassite king of Babylon (c. 1340 BC), under the great Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (see), under Nebuchadnezzar (see), who was extremely devoted to the great gods, under Nabonidus (see), who sought to reform the religion of the Neo-Babylonian Empire through the cult of Sin and gave his daughter in marriage to the god Sin in the sanctuary he had rebuilt in UR with greater magnificence than ever. The last cuneiform inscriptions, recording modest restorations, date from the time of Cyrus; thereafter complete silence ensues.
It may be supposed that in a new flood the Euphrates shifted to its present course, blocking the entire canal system, and that the once-fertile region was thereby lost. It appears that priests in the humblest dwellings still tried to preserve the cult of the great Moon-god, but even they had to desist. Yet the Hellenistic name of the region, Camerina, seems to preserve the memory of the Moon-god, who as true king of UR had guided his people (Arabic qamar = “moon”). — See pl. LXXXV.