A city of the Sumerians. It was occupied from the 5th millennium bc, and was at one point damaged by a severe flood. By 3000 bc it was one of a number of sizeable Sumerian cities. It was subject to the rule of Akkad, but emerged c.2150 as the capital of a new Sumerian empire, under the third dynasty established by Ur-Nammu. The city was captured by the Elamites c.2000, but thrived under the Chaldean kings of Babylon. It was finally abandoned in the 4th century bc.