Ur (Sumerian: Urim; Akkadian: Uru) was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in South Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. The site was known and excavated by Leonard Woolley and others during the 1920s and 1930s as one of the most important in the region. In the bible, it was said to be the home town of Abraham.

Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, south of the Euphrates on its right bank, 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) from Nasiriyah.



Occupation at Ur began during 'Ubaid' times, in the 6th-5th Millennia BC,when the town covered up to 10 ha (25 acres); it grew size and importance during the 3rd millennium, reaching 50 ha (124 acres) by the late early dynastic period when the city was an important factor in regional affairs. Its first record being stated as a City State in written history was from the 26th Century BC, its king being Mesh-Ane-pada. The city's patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian and Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the god's name, URIM (2KI) being the classical Sumerian spelling of LAK-32.UNUG(KI), litterally "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna (LAK-32)".



In the last century of the 3rd millennium BC the city was the ceremonial centre of the Ur III empire, which briefly controlled much of Mesopotamia and the adjacent zones of the Zagros. The city lost its political importance in the following centuries, though it remained an important trading centre of the Persian Gulf Trade and grew slightly in size (to 60 ha - 148 acres). The place continued to be inhabited until the late 1st millennium, but at reduced scale and prosperity.

Notable features include: the evidence for early settlement in southern Mesopotamia; the extreme wealth of royal and other elite burials, as well as the differences in wealth seen in other graves in the Royal Cemetery; the 3rd millennium religious architecture, principally the ziggurat of Nanna/Sin the moon god; the layout of early Mesopotamian cities and the residential architecture and street plans; and a rich body of texts that range from the early 3rd millennium to the late 1st millennium BC.