Kisurra (modern Tell Abu Hatab, Al-Qadisiyyah Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian city situated on the west bank of the Euphrates, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of Shuruppak. The cities name has been described as meaning the "place of spinning" and also as "boundary-ditch".^{[by whom?]} Kisurra's main deity was Ninurta. Later, Ishara's main Mesopotamian cult centre was at Kisurra, although she is also thought to have been worshipped across a wide area amongst Syrians, Canaanites, and Hittites.^[1]

History[edit]

Kisurra was established ca. 2700 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period. The southern end of the Isinnitum Canal was joined back into the Euphrates at Kisurra.^[2] The city lasted as a center for commerce and transport through the Akkadian and part of the Babylonian Empires, until cuneiform texts and excavation show a decline during the time of Hammurabi (c.1800 BCE).^[3]

Kings of Kisurra[edit]

• Itur-Šamaš c.2138 BCE built the 'gate of Hadi-el', the wall of Kisurra.^[4]
• Manabaltiel c.2123 BCE
• In 2113 BCE the city of Kisurra lost its independence under the suzerainty of the Kings of the City Ur
• Šarrasyurrm c.2108 BCE
• Ubaya c2093 BCE
• Zikrum c2078 BCE
• In the year 2048 BCE King Bur-Sin of Ur removed the King of Kisurra
• Ibbi-Šamaš 2030-2013 BCE
• King Ur Nammu of Ur removes King Ibbi-Šamaš from the throne in 2013 BCE ^[5]

Archaeology[edit]

German archaeologists, beginning with Robert Koldewey in 1902, have found many cuneiform tablets from Tell Abu Hatab.^[6][7][8]