Lagash

Lagash (; cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: Lagaš) was an ancient city-state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Al-Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba in Dhi Qar Governorate) was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East, and the Lagash state incorporated the cities of Lagash, Girsu, and Nina. Girsu (modern Telloh), about northwest of Lagash, was the religious center of the Lagash state, with its main temple, the E-ninnu, dedicated to the god Ningirsu. The ancient site of Nina (Tell Zurghul), around away, marks the southern limit of the state.

==History== Though some Uruk period pottery shards were found in a surface survey, significant occupation at the site of Lagash began early in the 3rd Millennium BC, in the Early Dynastic I period (c. 2900–2600 BC). Surface surveys and excavations show that the peak occupation, with an area of about 500 hectares occurred during the Early Dynastic III period (c. 2500–2334 BC). The later corresponds with what is now called the First Dynasty of Lagash. Lagash then came under the control of the Akkadian Empire for several centuries. With the fall of that empire, Lagash had a period of revival as an independent power during the 2nd Dynasty of Lagash before coming under the control of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur. After the fall of Ur, there was some modest occupation in the Isin-Larsa and Old Babylonian periods. Lagash was then largely deserted until a Seleucid era fortress was built there in the 2nd century BC. thumb|upright=1.2|right|Location of Lagash before the expansion of the Akkadian Empire (in green). The territory of [[Sumer appears in orange. Circa 2350 BC]]