Isin

settlement · 3000 BC – 2100 AD

Isin (modern Ishan al-Bahriyat), a city located 107 km southeast of Babylon and 27 km south of Nippur, was an important cult center of the healing goddess Gula (who was also called Ninisinna, the “Lady of Isin”). Its principal religious structure was called Egalmah, which was rebuilt during the long reign of the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC). The Sumerian ceremonial names of a few other temples in this city are known. Although Isin was founded as late as the Early Dynastic Period, possibly already in the Ubaid period, and its main cult remained active until at least the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (625–539 BC), the city held brief authority over southern Mesopotamia only twice in its long history. The First Dynasty of Isin, under its fifteen kings, was the dominant power from the collapse of the Ur III state until Isin’s chief rival Larsa became the most dominate city-state (ca. 2017–1924 BC) The Second Dynasty of Isin, under its eleven kings, held authority over Babylonia from ca. 1157 BC to 1026 BC, when it was supplanted by the Second Dynasty of the Sealand.

Isin
Coordinates
31.88532, 45.26927
Also known as
Ishān Baḥrīyāt (ar), Isín (gl), Íszín (hu), İsin (az), Ісін (be), Исин (ba), איסין (he), إشان نحريات (ar), إيسن (ar), ایسن (fa), ኢሲን (am), イシン (ja), 이신 (ko)
Dating
attested

Sources

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