Lagash (redirected from Tell al-Hiba)

Lagash (lā`găsh) or Shirpurla (shĭrpr`lə), ancient city of Sumer, S Mesopotamia, now located at Telloh, SE Iraq. Lagash was flourishing by c.2400 B.C., but traces of habitation go back at least to the 4th millennium B.C. After the fall of Akkad (2180 B.C.), when the rest of Mesopotamia was in a state of chaos, Lagash was able to maintain peace and prosperity under its ruler Gudea. Excavations begun on the site in 1877 revealed the beautiful sculptures of Gudea, which had been dedicated to the city's patron goddess, Ningirsu. Thousands of inscribed tablets were also found at the site.

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Lagash

 modern Telloh

Engraved silver vase of King Entemena, from Lagash, Early Dynastic Period; in the Louvre, Paris

(credit: Archives Photographiques)

Ancient capital in Sumer. It was located midway between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Babylonia, now in southeastern Iraq. Excavations have uncovered palace and temple ruins as well as cuneiform texts that provide information about Sumer in the 3rd millennium BC. Founded in the Ubaid period (c. 5200–c. 3500 BC), it came under the control of Sargon of Akkad. It later prospered under Gudea, a governor nominally subject to the Guti. It was occupied as late as the Parthian era (247 BC–AD 224).