The Jemdet Nasr Period is an
archaeological culture in southern
Mesopotamia (modern-day
Iraq). It is generally dated from 3100 to 2900 BC. It is named after the
type siteTell Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first recognized. Its geographical distribution is limited to south-central Iraq. The culture of the proto-historical Jemdet Nasr period is a local development out of the preceding
Uruk period and continues into the
Early Dynastic I period.
Map of
Iraq showing important sites that were occupied during the Jemdet Nasr period (clickable map)
History of research
In the early 1900s,
clay tablets with an archaic form of the
Sumerian cuneiform script began to appear in the
antiquities market. A collection of 36 tablets was bought by the German excavators of
Shuruppak (Tell Fara) in 1903. While they thought that the tablets came from
Tell Jemdet Nasr, it was later shown that they probably came from nearby
Tell Uqair. Similar tablets were offered for sale by a French antiquities dealer in 1915, and these were again reported to have come from Tell Jemdet Nasr. Similar tablets, together with splendidly painted
monochrome and
polychrome pottery, were also shown by local Arabs in 1925 to the
AssyriologistStephen Herbert Langdon, then director of the excavations at
Tell al-Uhaymir. The Arabs told Langdon the finds came from Jemdet Nasr, a site some 26 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Tell al-Uhaymir. Langdon was sufficiently impressed, visited the site and started excavations in 1926. He uncovered a large
mudbrick building containing more of the distinctive pottery and a collection of 150 to 180 clay tablets bearing the proto-cuneiform script.
The importance of these finds was realized immediately and the Jemdet Nasr Period (named after the eponymous type site) was officially defined at a conference in Baghdad in 1930, where at the same time both the Uruk and Ubaid periods had been defined.[1] It has later been shown that some of the material culture that was initially thought to be unique for the Jemdet Nasr Period also occurred during the preceding Uruk Period and the subsequent Early Dynastic Period. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that the Jemdet Nasr Period is still sufficiently distinct in its material culture as well as its socio-cultural characteristics to be recognized as a separate period. Since the first excavations at Tell Jemdet Nasr, the Jemdet Nasr Period has been found at numerous other
archaeological sites across much of south-central Iraq, including
Abu Salabikh,
Shuruppak,
Khafajah,
Nippur,
Tell Uqair,
Ur, and
Uruk.[2]
Dating and periodization
Older scientific literature often used 3200–3000 BC as the beginning and end dates of the Jemdet Nasr Period. The period is nowadays dated from 3100 to 2900 BC based on
radiocarbon dating.[3][4][5][6] The Jemdet Nasr Period is contemporary with the early
Ninevite V Period of
Upper Mesopotamia and the
Proto-Elamite Period of
Iran, and shares with these two periods characteristics such as an emerging bureaucracy and hierarchy.[7]
Defining characteristics
The hallmark of the Jemdet Nasr Period is its distinctive painted monochrome and polychrome pottery. Designs are both geometric and figurative; the latter displaying trees and animals such as birds, fish, goats, scorpions, and snakes. Nevertheless, this painted pottery makes up only a small percentage of the total assemblage and at various sites it has been found in archaeological contexts suggesting that it was associated with high-status individuals or activities. At the site of Jemdet Nasr, the painted pottery was found exclusively in the settlement's large central building, which is thought to have played a role in the administration of many economic activities. Painted Jemdet Nasr Period pots were found in similar contexts at Tell Fara and Tell Gubba, both in the
Hamrin Mountains.[8]
Apart from the distinctive pottery, the period is known as one of the formative stages in the development of the
cuneiform script. The oldest clay tablets come from Uruk and date to the late fourth millennium BC, slightly earlier than the Jemdet Nasr Period. By the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period, the script had already undergone a number of significant changes. It originally consisted of
pictographs, but by the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period it was already adopting simpler and more abstract designs. It is also during this period that the script acquired its iconic wedge-shaped appearance.[9]
While the language in which these tablets were written cannot be identified with certainty, it is thought to have been
Sumerian.[10] The texts deal without exception with administrative matters such as the rationing of foodstuffs or listing objects and animals. Literary genres like
hymns and
king lists, which become very popular later in Mesopotamian history, are absent. Two different counting systems were in use: a
sexagesimal system for animals and humans, for example, and a bisexagesimal system for things like grain, cheese, and fresh fish.[11] Contemporary archives have been found at Tell Uqair, Tell Khafajah, and Uruk.[12]
Society in the Jemdet Nasr Period
The centralized buildings, administrative cuneiform tablets and
cylinder seals from sites like Jemdet Nasr suggest that settlements of this period were very organized, with a central administration regulating all aspects of the economy, from crafts to agriculture to the rationing of foodstuffs.
The economy seems to have been primarily concerned with subsistence based on agriculture and sheep-and-goat
pastoralism and small-scale trade. Very few precious stones or exotic trade goods have been found at sites of this period. However, the homogeneity of the pottery across the southern Mesopotamian plain suggests intensive contacts and trade between settlements. This is strengthened by the find of a sealing at Jemdet Nasr that lists a number of cities that can be identified, including Ur, Uruk, and
Larsa.[13]
Matthews, Roger (2002), Secrets of the dark mound: Jemdet Nasr 1926-1928, Iraq Archaeological Reports, vol. 6, Warminster: BSAI,
ISBN0-85668-735-9
Pollock, Susan[in German] (1992), "Bureaucrats and managers, peasants and pastoralists, imperialists and traders: Research on the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods in Mesopotamia", Journal of World Prehistory, 6 (3): 297–336,
doi:
10.1007/BF00980430,
S2CID161700843
Pollock, Susan (1999), Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
ISBN978-0-521-57568-3
Woods, Christopher (2010),
"The earliest Mesopotamian writing"(PDF), in Woods, Christopher (ed.), Visible language. Inventions of writing in the ancient Middle East and beyond, Oriental Institute Museum Publications, vol. 32, Chicago: University of Chicago, pp. 33–50,
ISBN978-1-885923-76-9
The Jemdet Nasr Period is an
archaeological culture in southern
Mesopotamia (modern-day
Iraq). It is generally dated from 3100 to 2900 BC. It is named after the
type siteTell Jemdet Nasr, where the assemblage typical for this period was first recognized. Its geographical distribution is limited to south-central Iraq. The culture of the proto-historical Jemdet Nasr period is a local development out of the preceding
Uruk period and continues into the
Early Dynastic I period.
Map of
Iraq showing important sites that were occupied during the Jemdet Nasr period (clickable map)
History of research
In the early 1900s,
clay tablets with an archaic form of the
Sumerian cuneiform script began to appear in the
antiquities market. A collection of 36 tablets was bought by the German excavators of
Shuruppak (Tell Fara) in 1903. While they thought that the tablets came from
Tell Jemdet Nasr, it was later shown that they probably came from nearby
Tell Uqair. Similar tablets were offered for sale by a French antiquities dealer in 1915, and these were again reported to have come from Tell Jemdet Nasr. Similar tablets, together with splendidly painted
monochrome and
polychrome pottery, were also shown by local Arabs in 1925 to the
AssyriologistStephen Herbert Langdon, then director of the excavations at
Tell al-Uhaymir. The Arabs told Langdon the finds came from Jemdet Nasr, a site some 26 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Tell al-Uhaymir. Langdon was sufficiently impressed, visited the site and started excavations in 1926. He uncovered a large
mudbrick building containing more of the distinctive pottery and a collection of 150 to 180 clay tablets bearing the proto-cuneiform script.
The importance of these finds was realized immediately and the Jemdet Nasr Period (named after the eponymous type site) was officially defined at a conference in Baghdad in 1930, where at the same time both the Uruk and Ubaid periods had been defined.[1] It has later been shown that some of the material culture that was initially thought to be unique for the Jemdet Nasr Period also occurred during the preceding Uruk Period and the subsequent Early Dynastic Period. Nevertheless, it is generally believed that the Jemdet Nasr Period is still sufficiently distinct in its material culture as well as its socio-cultural characteristics to be recognized as a separate period. Since the first excavations at Tell Jemdet Nasr, the Jemdet Nasr Period has been found at numerous other
archaeological sites across much of south-central Iraq, including
Abu Salabikh,
Shuruppak,
Khafajah,
Nippur,
Tell Uqair,
Ur, and
Uruk.[2]
Dating and periodization
Older scientific literature often used 3200–3000 BC as the beginning and end dates of the Jemdet Nasr Period. The period is nowadays dated from 3100 to 2900 BC based on
radiocarbon dating.[3][4][5][6] The Jemdet Nasr Period is contemporary with the early
Ninevite V Period of
Upper Mesopotamia and the
Proto-Elamite Period of
Iran, and shares with these two periods characteristics such as an emerging bureaucracy and hierarchy.[7]
Defining characteristics
The hallmark of the Jemdet Nasr Period is its distinctive painted monochrome and polychrome pottery. Designs are both geometric and figurative; the latter displaying trees and animals such as birds, fish, goats, scorpions, and snakes. Nevertheless, this painted pottery makes up only a small percentage of the total assemblage and at various sites it has been found in archaeological contexts suggesting that it was associated with high-status individuals or activities. At the site of Jemdet Nasr, the painted pottery was found exclusively in the settlement's large central building, which is thought to have played a role in the administration of many economic activities. Painted Jemdet Nasr Period pots were found in similar contexts at Tell Fara and Tell Gubba, both in the
Hamrin Mountains.[8]
Apart from the distinctive pottery, the period is known as one of the formative stages in the development of the
cuneiform script. The oldest clay tablets come from Uruk and date to the late fourth millennium BC, slightly earlier than the Jemdet Nasr Period. By the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period, the script had already undergone a number of significant changes. It originally consisted of
pictographs, but by the time of the Jemdet Nasr Period it was already adopting simpler and more abstract designs. It is also during this period that the script acquired its iconic wedge-shaped appearance.[9]
While the language in which these tablets were written cannot be identified with certainty, it is thought to have been
Sumerian.[10] The texts deal without exception with administrative matters such as the rationing of foodstuffs or listing objects and animals. Literary genres like
hymns and
king lists, which become very popular later in Mesopotamian history, are absent. Two different counting systems were in use: a
sexagesimal system for animals and humans, for example, and a bisexagesimal system for things like grain, cheese, and fresh fish.[11] Contemporary archives have been found at Tell Uqair, Tell Khafajah, and Uruk.[12]
Society in the Jemdet Nasr Period
The centralized buildings, administrative cuneiform tablets and
cylinder seals from sites like Jemdet Nasr suggest that settlements of this period were very organized, with a central administration regulating all aspects of the economy, from crafts to agriculture to the rationing of foodstuffs.
The economy seems to have been primarily concerned with subsistence based on agriculture and sheep-and-goat
pastoralism and small-scale trade. Very few precious stones or exotic trade goods have been found at sites of this period. However, the homogeneity of the pottery across the southern Mesopotamian plain suggests intensive contacts and trade between settlements. This is strengthened by the find of a sealing at Jemdet Nasr that lists a number of cities that can be identified, including Ur, Uruk, and
Larsa.[13]
Matthews, Roger (2002), Secrets of the dark mound: Jemdet Nasr 1926-1928, Iraq Archaeological Reports, vol. 6, Warminster: BSAI,
ISBN0-85668-735-9
Pollock, Susan[in German] (1992), "Bureaucrats and managers, peasants and pastoralists, imperialists and traders: Research on the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods in Mesopotamia", Journal of World Prehistory, 6 (3): 297–336,
doi:
10.1007/BF00980430,
S2CID161700843
Pollock, Susan (1999), Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
ISBN978-0-521-57568-3
Woods, Christopher (2010),
"The earliest Mesopotamian writing"(PDF), in Woods, Christopher (ed.), Visible language. Inventions of writing in the ancient Middle East and beyond, Oriental Institute Museum Publications, vol. 32, Chicago: University of Chicago, pp. 33–50,
ISBN978-1-885923-76-9