A Mesopotamian urban center, Kish is occupied for thousands of years. At about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Babylon Iraq, Kish is built upon the fertile floodplain of the Euphrates River. It's inhabited since the Neolithic Ubaid period (5300 - 4300 BCE).
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From the fourth millennium BCE Mesopotamian civilizations dominate the region, reigning for more than three thousand years. Mesopotamia comes from the Greek meaning land between the rivers.
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Much of its ancient territory is today's Iraq. Shown below, the river system empties into the Persian Gulf at south. Kish is about the middle of the valley, next to Babylon with star.
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Besides establishing some of the world's first cities and urban centers, the Mesopotamians develop the earliest writing systems, Sumerian cuneiform. From this region comes a sophisticated knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, the sail and even the wheel.
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Ancient Mesopotamians divide time units into 60 parts. The concept is still prominent in the 60-second minute and 60-minute hour of the West. It originates in creation tales of the Old God Anu.
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In the near East of c. 3500, the Stone Age makes way for copper, which begets bronze. Kish is a metropolis of science, philosophy, trade and the arts. The city achieves brilliant heights and sinks more than once in historical records.
A 'unicorn' seal from the Indus Valley dates back to c. 3000, an early example of trade relations between the Indus Valley and Mesopotamian civilizations. Traders and travelers navigate down the Persian Gulf to the Oman Sea, and thence to the Indus Valley.
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Trade objects include spice, jewelry, ivory, precious stones, fabric dyes, incense and resins such as myrrh and frankincense. Animals, skins and slaves are also traded, along with weapons, decorative items, pottery, perfumes, bottles, combs, kohl and oils.
To the ancient Mesopotamians, Kish is the place kingship descended from heaven after the great deluge destroyed the world. The Sumerian king list states Kish is the first city to have kings after the flood of 2459 BCE.
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Kish wields power c. 2900 - 2350 BCE or the Early Dynastic Period. Patron deities during this time are Queen of Heaven Goddess Inanna, and her consort the primordial god Ea. Inanna is the most-worshipped deity throughout the ages in Mesopotamia.
The city of Kish covers a vast area of 230 hectares (568 acres). Millennia of continual settlement, building and rebuilding, agriculture and livestock cultivation and the ages of metal shape Kish into a unique center of cosmopolitan trade, thriving agriculture and pastoral lifestyles and center of royalty.
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As a location for civilization, Kish is well suited. Temperatures average 40° to 85° F (10° - 29° C), which has stayed consistent for about 10,000 years, back to the time the area is first inhabited. The fertile, mineral-rich silt spreads through the floodplains in a series of alluvial fans of silt, an ideal environment for agriculture and lush pastoral growth.
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The Tigris and Euphrates region has its major flood season in April - May as the snow melts in the mountains of Anatolia. More gradual flooding happens November - March. The silt deposited by the early floods fertilizes crops and grasslands.
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A similar occasion is the flooding of the Nile or the Arrival of Hapi beginning in June in Egypt. Heavy rains bring rich silt from the Ethiopian highlands north to the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea.
Both Egyptians and Mesopotamians use basin irrigation systems, channeling water to flow into huge pools or basins. Silt settles to be used in fields, and the water is drained to further irrigate the land. In Mesopotamia the system is first used c. 3000 BCE by the Sumerians.
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In the 3rd millennium BCE, control of Kish dominates the northern part of the Euphrates flood plain. It's the greatest of days. Kish is a thriving super-city, home to over 100,000 people. The mighty war god Zababa and his wife, revered healing goddess Bau, are powerful tutelary gods of Kish.
Ziggurats and temples are built to honor Bau and Zababa, although Inanna keeps her temple. Other gods and entities such as Goddess Lammašaga (Lamashaga), the sukkal of Bau, various handmaids or attendants, and the sukkal of Zababa, Papsukkal, are also included on offering lists of Kish.
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Gods, priests and privileged others dwell within the ziggurats. Rarely is a member of the public allowed in. The god or goddesses is thought to inhabit a statue within. The statue is bathed, dressed and cared for.
Music, singing and prayers are given. The gods are 'fed' with sacrifice. More than one god can inhabit a ziggurat. There are usually more than one temple within. Kish is known for a spacious temple complex.
Kish finally dwindles as a power in the Hellenistic period (323 - 30 BCE). It remains inhabited into the 2nd millennium CE, abandoned in later years of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE). It's one of the most significant archaeological records of a civilization from prehistoric times.
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