The Kish Collection

Kish, Its Place and History

The archaeological site of Kish (32° 30’ N, 44° 35’ E) is located on the floodplain of the Euphrates River in modern Iraq, twelve kilometers due east of ancient Babylon and eighty kilometers south of Baghdad.

The site is made up of more than forty mounds scattered over a twenty-four-square-kilometer area divided by the ancient course of the Euphrates River (the Puratta) into eastern and western portions. The eastern complex (known in ancient times as Hursagkalama) is dominated by a series of mounds known as Ingharra, while the ziggurat (stepped temple tower) of Uhaimir towers over the western remains of the city.

The geographic situation of Kish, on the banks of the Euphrates, the region’s main riverine artery, and near the convergence of major interregional road systems, gave its early settlers numerous advantages. According to the Sumerian King List, Kish was the first seat of kingship founded after the great flood, and archaeologists now recognize the site as one of the earliest cities in the world, and the region’s first true hegemon.

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