The Burial Pit of the ensi₂ of Gizuna (ŠID.NUNki) and the Cemetery of Ur Between the Late Early Dynastic and Early Sargonic Periods

This article examines the available textual evidence from late Early Dynastic/Early Sargonic Ur concerning an unnamed ensi₂ of the northern Babylonian city of Gizuna (ŠID.NUNki). Based on a new interpretation of UET 2, Suppl. 44 and U 32450+U 32457, it is argued that a seven-day burial ceremony in honour of the ruler/governor of Gizuna was held, during which animals were sacrificed at his grave (sur₃-maḫ). It is suggested that the body of the ensi₂ was interred at Ur, either in the Early Dynastic ‘Royal Cemetery’ or in the later ‘Akkadian Cemetery’. A careful review of the late Early Dynastic/Early Sargonic cuneiform tablets from Ur further reveals the existence of an organisation called Ekisa(g) (‘pleasant-place house’), which probably handled the funerary offerings presented to the men and women buried in the city necropolis. If this is correct, then Ekisa(g) may have been the Sumerian name of the burial complex commonly known as the ‘Cemetery of Ur’.