Girsu (Tello)
𒄈𒋢𒆠 — Ĝirsu · Ngirsu · Tell Telloh · Ĝirsu
Ubaid to Old Babylonian (c.5000–1700 BCE; peak ED IIIb–Lagash II)·Ubaid → Sumerian (Lagash) → Akkadian → Ur III → Isin-Larsa → Babylonian·🇮🇶 Dhi Qar Governorate, southern alluvium, Iraq
About
About Girsu (Tello)
Lagash kingdom's summer capital where Ernest de Sarzec in 1877 struck the first Sumerian art ever seen — Gudea diorite statues (now Louvre) — and British Museum's recent Girsu Project (2016–) CT-scanned a 4,500-year-old brick temple on the mound of Tell A revealing underlying Dumuzid canal network. The Enannatum VI–VIII palaces and the Ninĝirsu courtyard yielded 50,000 cuneiform tablets; 3D-mapped 5 m-deep canal proves Lagash was a water-engineering state, not merely pastoral.
Why it mattersBirthplace of Assyriology — first place Europe met Sumerians; now water-history frontier.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01How extensive was canal grid beyond CT patch?
- 02Why Lagash summer capital not Lagash proper (Al-Hiba)?
Theories
- 01Lagash duality (Girsu sacred vs Al-Hiba political) is Mesopotamian 'Thebes vs Luxor' model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Ubaid c.5000 BCE settlement; Early Dynastic city c.2900 BCE; Lagash II peak c.2150 BCE (Gudea)
- Period
- Ubaid to Old Babylonian (c.5000–1700 BCE; peak ED IIIb–Lagash II)
- Culture
- Ubaid → Sumerian (Lagash) → Akkadian → Ur III → Isin-Larsa → Babylonian
- Builders
- Lagash ensi, Eannatum, Enmetena, Urukagina, Gudea (temple builder to Ninĝirsu)
- Purpose
- Ninĝirsu cult capital and Lagash administrative archive center (summer residence)
- Abandoned
- c.1700 BCE (Hammurabi era silt and political eclipse by Larsa/Isin)
- Rediscovered
- 1877 Ernest de Sarzec (French consul); 2016– S. Rey (British Museum) Girsu Project
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1877
De Sarzec strikes Gudea diorite — first Sumerian sculpture known to Europe
c.2470 BCE
Stele of the Vultures commemorates Lagash victory over Umma
c.2144 BCE
Gudea Cylinders describe Ninĝirsu temple and dream
2019
Muon/CT reveals palace-bridge over canal beneath mound
On the ground
Structures & features
31.5620° N · 46.1776° E · 8 m · 3 mapped features
Ninĝirsu Temple Eninnu (Tell A)
templeGudea's temple platform with lion-headed drain and inlay
31.5622° N · 46.1779° ETell A–B canal bridge (CT reveal)
hydraulicBaked-brick bridge over 5 m ancient canal (muon mapping)
31.5615° N · 46.1772° ESarzec Gudea archive area (Tablet Hill)
moundPalace archive with 50,000 tablets excavated 1877–1900
31.5625° N · 46.1768° E