Eridu

/er"i dooh'/, n.

an ancient Sumerian and Babylonian city near the Euphrates in S Iraq: center for the worship of Ea; partially excavated.

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Ancient Sumerian city on the Persian Gulf.

Although it was the chief seaport of Sumer and Babylonia and was located on the Euphrates River near the city of Ur, siltation has since moved the coastline southward and the city's remains are now some 120 mi (200 km) inland, in modern Iraq. It was revered as the oldest city in Sumer, and its patron god was Enki (Ea). Founded on sand dunes с 5th millennium BC, its ruins show the sequence of the preliterate Ubaid civilization, with a long succession of superimposed temples portraying the development of an elaborate mud-brick architecture. It was occupied until с 600 BC.

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▪ ancient city, Iraq

      ancient Sumerian city south of modern Ur (Tall al-Muqayyar), Iraq. Eridu was revered as the oldest city in Sumer according to the king lists, and its patron god was Enki ( Ea), “lord of the sweet waters that flow under the earth.” The site, located at a mound called Abū Shahrayn, was excavated principally between 1946 and 1949 by the Iraq Antiquities Department; it proved to be one of the most important of the prehistoric urban centres in southern Babylonia. Founded on sand dunes probably in the 5th millennium BC, it fully illustrated the sequence of the preliterate Ubaid civilization, with its long succession of superimposed temples portraying the growth and development of an elaborate mud-brick architecture.

      The city continued to be occupied to about 600 BC but was less important in historic periods.

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