Kesh (Keš or Keši) was an ancient Sumerian city and religious site, whose patron goddess was Ninhursag. It was included on the "city seals" found at Jemdat Nasr. These seals sparked the theory that a proposed Early Dynastic I period of cities surrounding Nippur, known as the Kengir League, was in control of Sumer at that time.Steinkeller, Piotr, "Archaic City Seals and the Question of Early Babylonian Unity", Riches Hidden in Secret Places: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Memory of Thorkild Jacobsen, edited by Tzvi Abusch, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 249-258, 2002Matthews, Roger J., "Jemdet Nasr: The Site and the Period", The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 196–203, 1982 Its location is uncertain; some of the possible sites put forth include Al-Ubaid, near Ur, or Tell al-Wilayah near Adab or Abu Salabikh or even Tell Jidr though the consensus is now with Tell al-Wilayah or Tulul al-Baqarat. R. McC. Adams and H. Nissen, "The Uruk Countryside: The Natural Setting of Urban Societies", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972 Saadoon, Abather, "New Cuneiform Texts from Tell Al-Wilaya (ancient Kesh?) Kept in the Iraqi Museum", Sumer 59, pp. 42-61, 2014 The city is known to be located near to the ancient city of Irisaĝrig and was under the control of that city. According to a riddle from Early Dynastic times, there was a Kesh Canal, which Adab was on.Biggs, R. D., "Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, pp. 26–33, 1973

It has been suggested that Mesilim, traditionally considered "King of Kish" was actually a ruler of Kesh, based on epigraphic reasons and by the fact that he called himself "beloved son of Ninharsag".Luckenbill, D. D., "Two Inscriptions of Mesilim, King of Kish", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 219–23, 1914

Historical sources A number of personal names from the Early Dynastic period include the city of Kesh. An example was Me-Kèški ie "The divine forces of Kesh". Tavernier, Jan, "Ur and Other Cities in Some Sumerian and Akkadian Personal Names: The Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic Periods", Ur in the Twenty-First Century CE: Proceedings of the 62nd Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Philadelphia, July 11–15, 2016 edited by Grant Frame, Joshua Jeffers and Holly Pittman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 485-502, 2021

In the prologue of the Code of Hammurabi it states "the one whom the sage, Mama brought to perfection; who laid out the plans for Kesh" where Mama referred to the goddess Ninhursag.James B. Pritchard, "Collections of Laws from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor", Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 159-198, 1955

The third year name of Rim-Sîn II (c. 1700 BC), ruler of Larsa, reads "Year in which Ninmah raised greatly in the Kesz temple, the foundation of heaven and earth, (Rim-Sin) to kingship over the land, (king) having no enemy, no hostile (king), opposing him in all foreign lands." where Ninmah is another name for Ninhursag.Marcel Sigrist, Larsa Year Names, Andrews University Press, 1990 In a letter to Amurrum-tillati, Rim-Sin II declares "In order to bring light to Yamutbalum and to gather its scattered people, the great gods established the foundations of my throne in Keš, the city of my creatress" suggesting that his throne, and capital, were in Kesh.Seri, Andrea, "Conclusion. The House of Prisoners: State and slavery in Uruk during the revolt against Samsu-iluna", The House of Prisoners: Slavery and State in Uruk during the Revolt against Samsu-iluna, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 237-263, 2013 According to one statue inscription, Samsu-iluna, ruler of Babylon, destroyed Kesh and "Ninhursag’s Gate", and possibly executed Rim-Sin II there after suppressing his revolt. Lambert, Wilfred G., and Mark Weeden, "A statue inscription of Samsuiluna from the papers of WG Lambert", Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 114.1, pp. 15-62, 2020

Kesh is mentioned on the Bassetki Statue of Naram-Sin.Tinney, Steve, "A New Look at Naram-Sin and the ‘Great Rebellion.’", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 47, pp. 1–14, 1995

Temple Hymn There is a famous Kesh temple hymn about Ninhursag's temple in Kesh (hur-saĝ gal), where she is called Nintud. The goddess Nisaba appears as the temple's caretaker and decision maker. A cuneiform tablet fragment of the Kesh Temple Hymn was found at Abu Salabikh.Biggs, Robert D., "An Archaic Sumerian Version of the Kesh Temple Hymn from Tell Abū Ṣalābīkh", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 193-207, 1971

One of the Temple Hymns of Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334-2279 BC), is dedicated to Kesh as well, though it is shorter than the Early Dynastic composition:

Location Robert D. Biggs suggested Kesh could have just been a variation in the spelling of Kish. From inscriptions it is known that Adab was on the Kesh Canal.Biggs, R. D. "Pre-Sargonic Riddles from Lagash." Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 32, no. 1/2, 1973, pp. 26–33 More recently it has been suggested that Kesh is located at Tulul al-Baqarat.Steinkeller, Piotr. "Two Sargonic Seals from Urusagrig and the Question of Urusagrig’s Location" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol., no., 2021. https://doi.org/10.1515/za-2021-2001Viano, M. (2020): On the Location of Irisaĝrig Once Again, JCS 71, 35–52

See also Cities of the ancient Near East Chronology of the ancient Near East

References

External links Kesh Temple Hymn Composite at CDLI