Third Dynasty of Ur

The Third Dynasty of Ur or Ur III was a Mesopotamian dynasty based in the city of Ur in the 21st century BC (middle chronology). For a short period they were the preeminent power in Mesopotamia and their realm is sometimes referred to by historians as the Neo-Sumerian Empire.

The Third Dynasty of Ur is commonly abbreviated as "Ur III" by historians studying the period. It is numbered in reference to previous "dynasties" of Ur according to the historical reconstruction of the Mesopotamian past written in the Sumerian King List, such as the First Dynasty of Ur (26–25th century BC), but it seems the once supposed Second Dynasty of Ur was never recorded.

This kingdom was founded by Ur-Namma (c. 2112-2095 BC), who succeeded in reuniting southern Mesopotamia a few decades after the fall of the Empire of Akkad. His son and successor Shulgi (c. 2094-2047 BC) then firmly held the heart of the kingdom, a very prosperous agricultural and urban region, where a very advanced economic administration was established, based on the temple domains controlled by the royal power. Under his reign, military campaigns expanded further the influence of Ur, creating an "Empire." Shulgi's successors managed to maintain the empire for a quarter of a century. Then it gradually disintegrated, under the combined action of incursions of Amorite populations from the North and internal forces which restored their autonomy to several important cities and regions. The kingdom of Ur was destroyed around 2004 BC by an Elamite army.

In Mesopotamian history, this imperial experiment can be seen as a continuation of the Akkadian Empire, which preceded it by about two centuries and served as a model. The Third Dynasty of Ur, however, is of Sumerian, not Akkadian, identity. Because its kings, administrators, and scholars primarily used the Sumerian language and promoted literature in Sumerian, this period is sometimes called the "Neo-Sumerian period" or even a "Sumerian Renaissance" (which also includes the dynasty of Gudea of Lagash, which ended with the beginning of the reign of Ur III).

The Ur III period is also remarkable for the quantity of written documents that have come down to us, the vast majority of which are administrative in nature. They give us an impressive amount of informations relating to the functioning of the kingdom, and of certain aspects of its society and its economy. This abundance of documents and the analysis of the administrative practices of the time may have given the impression of a "bureaucratic" state. It is at least certain that this empire saw official institutions (temples and palaces) take on an unprecedented importance, rarely equaled subsequently in Mesopotamian history, and gave rise to original administrative experiments.