Girsu
Girsu was one of the principal cities of ancient Sumer, serving as the religious capital of the state of Lagash. Continuously inhabited from around 5000 BC to 1750 BC, Girsu flourished as a major sacred, administrative and intellectual centre during the third millennium BC. The city yielded some of the earliest known examples of cuneiform writing, monumental architecture, and complex urban planning, and is today considered one of the key sites for understanding the emergence of civilisation in Mesopotamia.
Geography and Setting
Girsu lay in southern Mesopotamia, near the modern town of Nasr and about260 kilometers southeast of modern Baghdad, in Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. In antiquity, the city occupied a fertile plain irrigated by canals branching from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. It lies on the Al-Gharraf River, an ancient canal linking the Tigris to the
Euphrates, possibly the Iturungal canal. The surrounding landscape was rich in wildlife, reeds, and farmland, making it suitable for large-scale irrigation agriculture. Over time, environmental change and shifts in the rivers’ courses turned much of the region into arid landscape.
Historical Overview
Early occupation
Archaeological evidence shows that Girsu was already inhabited in the Ubaid period. A terracotta figurine of ophidian or 'snake-like' form found in 2018 attests to occupation from these earliest times.Sumerian civilization
By the fourth millennium BC, Sumerian communities had founded some of the first true cities in history, including Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Lagash and Girsu. The Sumerians invented writing, wheel-based transport, and developed early forms of geometry, astronomy, and irrigation engineering. Every Sumerian city was dedicated to a patron deity. Girsu was the home of Ningirsu, the warrior god who subdued chaos and maintained cosmic order. As Ningirsu’s sanctuary, Girsu became a revered pilgrimage destination, comparable in importance to later sacred cities.Politics and Culture
Girsu formed part of the wider state of Lagash, which flourished during the Early Dynastic period. While the political capital alternated between cities, Girsu remained the spiritual and ceremonial heart of the state. Prominent rulers such as Ur-Nanshe, Eannatum, Enmetena, and later Gudea commissioned temples, canals, and monumental sculptures to celebrate Ningirsu. These rulers left inscriptions describing military campaigns, boundary treaties, and temple foundations, providing one of the richest historical records from Early Mesopotamia.File:Stele of the Vultures in the Louvre Museum.jpg|thumb|The Stele of the Vultures depicting the god Ningirsu on display at the Louvre Museum.|330x330px
Urban Development
At its zenith, Girsu was home to around 20,000 people. The city featured monumental architecture, numerous temples, extensive irrigation canals, warehouses, administrative buildings, residences, and the world’s oldest known bridge. The Sumerians designed complex water-control systems with reservoirs and dams that supported agriculture. Over 100,000 clay tablets have been recovered, revealing an advanced bureaucracy that tracked grain distribution, livestock management, and temple affairs.Religion and Temples
, often depicted as a lion-headed eagle or Thunderbird, embodied divine power over storms and fertility. His cult dominated religious life in Girsu.File:British Museum - Room 56.jpg|thumb|The Thunderbird Mace Head. British Museum 23287.|left|325x325pxThe Old and New Temples of Ningirsu
The Old Temple of Ningirsu stood at the city’s centre for nearly a millennium and was repeatedly rebuilt. Around 2125 BC, the ruler Gudea transferred the main shrine to a new sacred mound and constructed the monumental New Temple of Ningirsu, dedicated to the god as hero and architect of the cosmos. This complex was one of the largest in Mesopotamia and included shrines to Ningirsu and his consort Bau. Nine diorite statues of Gudea depict him as a pious ruler with clasped hands in prayer, emphasising devotion and divine authority.Iconography and artefacts
Notable finds from Girsu include the Silver Vase of Enmetena, a limestone mace head carved with the Thunderbird, the Stele of the Vultures, and thousands of administrative cuneiform tablets among the earliest written records in the world.File:Sumerian - Dedication Nail - Walters 481457 - View A.jpg|thumb|335x335px|Foundation clay nail of Gudea dedicated to the god Ningirsu. Walters Art Museum 48.1457.
Architecture and Engineering
Girsu demonstrates remarkable Sumerian engineering. Buildings were primarily made of sun-dried and fired mudbricks, often stamped with royal inscriptions.The Bridge of Girsu
The city’s most extraordinary engineering achievement is the Bridge of Girsu. Today, these are the remains of the oldest bridge structure in the world, dating to around 2000 BC. Discovered in the 1930s and later reidentified by the British Museum and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage between 2018 and 2023, it served both as a pedestrian crossing and a hydraulic structure that bears strong similarities to modern hydraulic flumes. Its design likely accelerated the water flow and prevented stagnation.Economy and Daily Life
The prosperity of Girsu relied on irrigation. Water from the Euphrates and Tigris sustained crops of wheat, barley, onions, lentils, and dates. Livestock, fishing, and reed-boat trade complemented agriculture. Temples acted as both religious and economic centres, employing artisans, scribes, and labourers. Archaeological records reveal a highly organised society that meticulously documented production and labour.Decline and Later History
Girsu was abandoned around 1750 BC when the Tigris River shifted eastwards, causing severe water shortages. Within decades, its canal network dried up and the city became deserted. However, its sanctity endured – around 330 BC, under Alexander the Great, the main temple was briefly refounded, symbolising a Hellenistic revival of ancient Mesopotamian traditions. Bricks dated to the 4th century BC with a bilingual Greek and Aramaic inscription bearing the name of Adadnadinakhe were found at the shrine, which was dedicated to Heracles and Ningirsu.Archaeological Exploration
Early excavations
Modern rediscovery began in 1877 when the French diplomat Ernest de Sarzec excavated at Tello on behalf of the Louvre Museum. He uncovered temples, archives, and statues of Gudea, revealing the existence of the forgotten Sumerian civilization. Subsequent French archaeologists – Gaston Cros, Henri de Genouillac, and André Parrot – continued work until 1933.Modern research
After an eighty-year hiatus, new excavations resumed in 2015 under the supervision of Sébastien Rey and Fatima Yassir Husain. In 2016 the Tello/Girsu Project was transferred to the British Museum. The Girsu Project, a collaboration between the British Museum and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage, combines fieldwork, digital survey, site conservation and training programs for Iraqi archaeologists. A number of the interpretations of the current excavators have been challenged.File:Four statuettes of Mesopotamian gods.jpg|thumb|Copper foundation pegs from Gudea’s New Eninnu on display at the British Museum.|307x307px
Recent campaigns at the Mound of the Temple have brought to light major remains of the Temple of Ningirsu built by Gudea in the late third millennium BC. Among the finds were dedicatory tablets and inscribed cones. Archaeologists also uncovered a favissa containing over 300 fragments of vessels, animal offerings, and cult objects. The assemblage, one of the most complete ritual deposits from Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, offers new insight into the ceremonies of Ningirsu’s temple. Notable items include a bronze duck figurine thought to be linked to Nanshe, and a fragment of an Early Dynastic inscribed calcite vase dedicated to Ningirsu.
Excavations at Tablet Hill revealed a large administrative and archival complex dating to the Akkadian and Ur III periods. More than 200 cuneiform tablets and numerous Akkadian sealings were recovered, documenting the management of labour, taxation, and supply. These records provide new insights into how imperial power was maintained. One sealing of Naram-Sin proclaims: “Naram-Sin, the mighty, god of Akkad, king of the four quarters: Lugal-ushumgal, the scribe, governor, your servant”. These discoveries illuminate the workings of the Akkadian imperial bureaucracy, described by excavators as the original “tools of empire.”
On Tell K foundation deposits were found during the early excavations. The 10.5 meter by 7.3 meter
building in this area was named "Maison des Fruits". A single radiocarbon sample was tested from the Maison de Fruits yielding a radiocarbon date of 4150 ± 30 BP giving a calendar date of 2876–2627 BC when calibrated with IntCal09. This would be in the Early Dynastic I period.
A number of foundation deposits were "copper peg figurine about 15 cm high and a flat disc-shaped piece of copper pierced with a round hole" which in 5 cases were with a plano-convex brick stone cuneiform tablet. The peg was inscribed "Ur-Nanše, the ruler of Lagash, the son of Gunidu, built the eš3 of Ĝirsu" and most were found embeded in a mudbrick in situ though at least one entered the antiquities market. Seven bitumen coated bricks
with the same inscription were found in another findspot.
The tablet texts were a descriptions of temple construction. Three inscribed door sockets were found with one including the phrase "He had ships of Dilmun submit timber as tribute from the foreign lands.".
Two fragments of the Victory Stele of Rimush over Lagash were also found on Tell K.