Irisaĝrig (iri-saĝ-rig₇ki), also Urusagrig, Iri-Saĝrig, and in the Akkadian language Al-Šarrākī "City of the (Divine) Donors" or alternatively "City of Thieves", was an ancient Near East city in Iraq whose location is not known with certainty but is currently thought to be at the site of Tell al-Wilayah, on the ancient Mama-šarrat canal off the Tigris river, near the ancient site of Kesh, Tulul al-Baqarat.Viano, Maurizio, "Irisaĝrig Reloaded: Some Thoughts about the Location of Irisaĝrig in Light of Recent Studies", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, pp. 99-112, 2026 The city was occupied during the Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Ur III, and early Old Babylonian periods. While cuneiform tablets from the city had appeared from time to time, the flood of artifacts entering the private market from looting which followed the 2003 war in Iraq included a large number from Irisaĝrig. This spurred interest by archaeologists in finding the site. The city became of popular interest because of the Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal which resulted in a large number of Irisaĝrig artifacts and cuneiform tablets being repatriated to Iraq without being recorded and published first. While there were a number of significant temples in the city, the titular deity is not known though the Isin-Larsa period literary composition Lament for Eridu names the goddess Aruru in that role. It has also been suggested that there were temples of Ashgi and Alla.Nicolet, Grégoire, "Old Babylonian god-lists in retrospect: A new edition of TH 80.112", Syria. Archéologie, art et histoire 99, pp. 9-78, 2022 There is known to have been a temple of Ninisina and one of Nergal of Eresh in Irisagrig in the Ur III period, at least back to the reign of Shu-Suen and Amar-Sin respectively, and continuing under the rule of Malgium.Notizia, Palmiro, and Ammar M. al-Taee, "Sealed Bullae and Livestock Management at Irisaĝrig in the Early Old Babylonian Period", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 113.2, pp. 169-192, 2023 During the Ur III period sacrifices and donations were made to Ninḫursaĝa of Irisaĝrig suggesting there was at least a shrine in Irisaĝrig.Sallaberger, Walther, "Urmes Appointed, Dismissed, and Re-appointed as Governor of Irisaĝrig: A Model Case of Royal Interventions and Their Administrative Implementation", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, pp. 113-140, 2026 One researcher has suggested that another logogram for the city was e2-nu-zuḫ "City of Thieves".Steinkeller, Piotr, "A Campaign of Southern City-States against Kiš as Documented in the ED IIIa Sources from Šuruppak (Fara)", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 76.1, pp. 3-26, 2024
An alternate name for Ursagrig during the Akkadian Empire and Ur III periods has been proposed as Šarrākum (possibly a variation of Al-Šarrākī).Frayne, Douglas R., "The Early Dynastic List of Geographical Names", Vol. 7400, American Oriental Society, 1992Steinkeller, P., "Seal of Išma-Ilum, son of the Governor of Matar", Vicino Oriente 6, pp. 27-40 + Addenda et corrigenda, 1986David I. Owen, "URU-Sagrig (Iri-Sagrig, Al-Šarrākī, Šarrākum)", Reallexikon der Assyriologie 14, ed. Michael P. Streck, Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, pp. 498-500, 2014-2016 This suggestion has been contested.Lecompte, C., "Listes lexicales et representations spatiales des époques archaïques à la période paléo-babylonienne", Ph.D. dissertation, Université de Versaille St-Quentin-en-Yvelines / Université de Genève, 2009
Location In 1992, Douglas Frayne proposed the site of Umm al-Hafriyat, near Nippur, as the location based a) on it being 4 rowing days upstream from Umma on the Iturungal canal off the Euphrates river, suggested by an early itinerary, b) on it being the largest mound north of Adab with known Early Dynastic and Sargonic remains and c) on reports of the quality of tablet making clay at the site.Frayne, D. R., "The Early Dynastic List of Geographical Names.", American Oriental Series 74. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1992 After more consideration, in 2001, Piotr Steinkeller judged that the site had to lie off the Tigris river and not the Euphrates and must lie north of Adab. He suggested several unnamed mounds as possible locations for Irisaĝrig.Steinkeller, P., "New Light on the Hydrology and Topography of Southern Babylonia in the Third Millennium", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 91, pp. 22-84, 2001
More Ur III texts became available on boat journeys between Irisaĝrig, Nippur, and Umma, combined with better information of ancient watercourse in the area, allowed refinement on the distances involved. Texts indicated Irisaĝrig was two towing days from the Tabbi-Mama canal and also on the Mama-šarrat canal. It has been suggested those were actually two phases of the same canal. Additionally, satellite photographs of looting activity were correlated with the appearance of tablets from the site on the private market. Surface surveys also were checked to match the periods when the city was known to be occupied. The result was a proposal that Irisaĝrig was located at one of two sites 1) Site #1032 - 80 kilometers upstream of Umma, and 2) Site #1056 - 76 kilometers upstream of Umma on the Adams survey.Molina, Manuel. "On the Location of Irisaĝrig"., From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22–24 July 2010, edited by Steven J. Garfinkle and Manuel Molina, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 59-88, 2010 Adams, R. McC., "Heartland of Cities. Surveys of Ancient Settlement and Land use on the Central Floodplain of the Euphrates.", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981
Further work negated an assumption of earlier researchers that Irisaĝrig was near to Nippur, actually being somewhat further away. Excavation at Tulul al-Baqarat showed it to be the site of Kesh. Irisaĝrig and Kesh were known from inscriptions to be very near to each other with the later acting as a cult site under the control of the former. Tulul al-Baqarat is about 6 kilometers from Tell al-Wilayah. They are also connected by a canal. Irisaĝrig is known to have been quite large and the proposed Tell al-Wilayah site is a sizable 64 hectares. Surface surveys and brief excavations by Iraqi archaeologists at the site have also shown it to have been occupied at the proper times. This all has led to the current proposal that Tell al-Wilayah is Irisaĝrig. Viano, Maurizio., "On the Location of Irisaĝrig once again.", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 71.1, pp. 35-52, 2019 This is not without some scholarly dissent. Steinkeller has stated that Tell al-Wilayah is definitely not Irisaĝrig but may actually be ancient Anzagar. Anzagar lay near to Irisaĝrig and held a temple of Ninegal and shrines or sanctuaries of Ninḫursaĝ, PAP.NAGAR, Nergal, Allātum, and Inana. Another proposed location is at Tell Jidr.Powell, Marvin A., "Karkar, Dabrum, and Tall Ǧidr: An Unresolved Geographical Problem", Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 47–52, 1980
It is known that the city of Der was on the road between Irisaĝrig and Pašime.Bartash, Vitali and Pottorf, Andrew, "Muškēnum in Third-Millennium BC Mesopotamia", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 19-48, 2024
Archaeology While Irisaĝrig has not yet been excavated (or definitely located) thousands of cuneiform tablets, generally thought to total in the area of 3500, from there are available as a result of looting.M. Molina, "The Looting of Ur III Tablets after the Gulf Wars", in: W. Sommerfeld (ed.), Dealing with Antiquity: Past, Present & Future. RAI Marburg. AOAT 460. Münster, pp. 324–35, 2020 The majority are from the Ur III period. The large number of tablets allows analysis such as the determination of the calendar system in use in Irisaĝrig, one only found in Sargonic tablets from Tell al-Willayah. A unique rationing system was also in place in the city. The tablets also document numerous visits by the Ur III rulers for reasons as yet unclear but possibly related to the presence of three temples to deified rulers Šulgi, Amar-Suena, and Šu-Suen of that dynasty in Irisaĝrig as well as a funerary chapel for Ur-Nammu.Gerstenblith, Patty. "Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible and the Law: A Case Study of the Looting of Archaeological Artifacts from Iraq." Antiquities Smuggling in the Real and Virtual World. Routledge, pp. 59-95, 2022Sigrist, Marcel, Gabbay, Uri and Avila, Mark. "Cuneiform Tablets and Other Inscribed Objects from Collections in Jerusalem"., The First Ninety Years: A Sumerian Celebration in Honor of Miguel Civil, edited by Lluís Feliu, Fumi Karahashi and Gonzalo Rubio, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 311-336, 2017Owen, David. "The Archive of Iri-Saĝrig / Āl-Šarrākī: A Brief Survey." in From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.: Proceedings of the International Conference on Neo-Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid, 22–24 July 2010, edited by Steven J. Garfinkle and Manuel Molina, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 89-102, 2021 Zwaid, Wafaa H., and Eric L. Cripps. "Some Ur III Texts from Irisagrig in the Iraq Museum." Akkadica 141.2, pp. 97-114, 2020 It is known that there were other temples at for Šulpae, Ašgi, PAP.NAGAR, and Šimtiša and that a second temple of Šu-Suen was built at Nēber-Šu-Suen (Ford of Šu-Suen), a new settlement built near Irisaĝrig.Molina, Manuel, "Artisans, Crafts, and Treasuries in Irisaĝrig", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum 36, pp. 177-215, 2026Borrelli, Noemi, "The temple gates. Some considerations on the dynastic cult under Šu-Suen", DOCUMENTA ASIANA 14, pp. 93-100, 2024 Many of the texts refer to provisioning of messengers and royal functionaries.Zwaid, Wafaa Hadi, "Cuneiform Tablets from the Archive of Irisaĝrig", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, pp. 345-358, 2026 A typical excerpt would be "1 portion of mutton, 2 liters of soup (and) 2 fish (for) Enna-Suen, envoy of the king, when he came to capture bandits".Noori Fattah, Hayman, "Six Ur III Texts From Irisaĝrig in the Sulaymaniyah Museum", New Perspectives on the History of Early Mesopotamia: The Region of Irisagrig and Malgum, edited by Manuel Molina and Palmiro Notizia, De Gruyter, 2026, pp. 323-344, 2026
History The city of Irisaĝrig is known through a number of cuneiform inscriptions dating back into the Early Dynastic IIIb period.Edzard, D. O., and Farber, W., "Die Orts und Gewässernamen der Zeit der 3. Dynastie von Ur", Répertoire Géographique des Textes Cunéiformes 2. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert., 1974 It was also occupied during the Sargonic period. Two year names of Akkadian Empire rulers mention Urusagrig ie "Year in which Il the temple official of Urusagrig was seized" and "Year in which the ensi of Nippur allied? with Urusagrig ...".Marcel Sigrist and Peter Damerow, "Mesopotamian Year Names", Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, 2001 From a seal the name of one governor under the Akkadian Empire ruler Naram-Sin is known, prince and son of Naram-Sin Šaratigubišin (earlier thought to be either a son of Shar-Kali-Sharri or the son of a Gutian king):Suter, Claudia E., "On Images, Visibility, and Agency of Early Mesopotamian Royal Women", The First Ninety Years: A Sumerian Celebration in Honor of Miguel Civil, edited by Lluís Feliu, Fumi Karahashi and Gonzalo Rubio, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 337-362, 2017
dNa-ra-am-dSuen / LUGAL / ki-ib-ra-tim / ar-ba-im - NaramSuen, king of the Four Quarters of the World Sar-a-ti-gu-bi-si-in / ENSI2 / Uru-sag-rig7ki / DUMU-su -