Eridu

   A very ancient Sumerian city located about 14 miles (22 km) southwest of Ur and a few miles west of the ancient coastline of the Persian Gulf, which has since that time receded more than 100 miles (161 km) to the southeast. The Sumerian scribes, who compiled lists of the kings of Sumeria, claimed Eridu (modern Abu Shahrein) was the oldest city in the world. Supposedly, the gods first granted kingship to a human being in Eridu; the first king, Alulim, ruled 28,800 years, and his successor, Alalgar, held the throne for 36,000 years. These impossibly long reigns aside, modern scholars are unsure whether Eridu was actually the first city in Mesopotamia. Some suggest that nearby Uruk was the first true city, with substantial urban housing, and that Eridu was mainly a ceremonial center. Eridu was sacred to Enki, god of freshwaters and wisdom.

   Modern excavations of Eridu, particularly some brief digs in 1854 and more extensive ones by Iraqi archaeologists between 1946 and 1949, have revealed that Enki's shrine at Eridu was built and rebuilt many times over the centuries. In all, the diggers found at least eighteen levels of occupation, or build levels, the earliest dating back to circa 5500 to 5000 b.c. This primordial temple, the oldest known in the world, measured just 12 by 15 feet (3.6 by 4.5m); it was made of sun-dried clay bricks and featured a simple platformlike altar for performing sacrifices. Later, in about 2100 b.c., the excavators showed, a king of Ur erected a large ziggurat at Eridu. The remains of that structure still reach a height of 30 feet (9m). For reasons unknown, Eridu was largely abandoned sometime in the second millennium b.c.

   See also: Enki; king lists; Ur; ziggurat