Isin
The city whose kings took over after Ur's fall and may have commissioned the Sumerian King List to back their claim to all of Sumer.
- Location
- South of al-Diwaniyah, southern Iraq
- Modern name
- Ishan al-Bahriyat
- First dynasty
- Founded c. 2017 BCE by Ishbi-Erra
- Notable ruler
- Lipit-Ishtar, author of a Sumerian law code
- Patron deity
- Gula (Ninisina), goddess of healing
- Fall
- Lost independence to Larsa c. 1794 BCE
What is Isin known for?
Isin was a city in southern Mesopotamia, now the mound of Ishan al-Bahriyat. Around 2017 BCE Ishbi-Erra, an official of the last Ur III king, set up an independent dynasty there. After Ur fell to the Elamites, the kings of Isin claimed to be its heirs and rulers of Sumer and Akkad. The fifth king, Lipit-Ishtar, issued laws in Sumerian more than a century before Hammurabi.
The city's goddess was Gula, a goddess of healing, and excavations found burials of dogs, her sacred animal. Isin lost its independence to Larsa around 1794 BCE, then revived under a second dynasty in the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.
Many scholars think the Sumerian King List, with its single line of kingship passing from city to city, took its classic form under the Isin kings. Presenting one kingship at a time supported their claim that they, too, held the single right to rule.
The Sumerian King List may have been shaped to support the claims of Isin's kings.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeSumerian King List
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Isin'Reference
- ETCSL, 'The Sumerian king list' (t.2.1.1)Primary text
- Wikipedia, 'Isin'Reference
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