In Sumerian times Eridu ( Abu Shahrin ) was the southern limit, and was” on the shore of the sea “ Within an arc of some 250 Miles radius towards the north-west of that point stood the great centers of Sumerian culture and power. The geographical and climatic conditions of this territory had their inevitable influence in shaping the manner of life to be followed
there, but it is no exaggeration to say that a common stock of ideas and material equipment gave a definition to geography rather than the reverse. Whereas the early pre-historic cultures, which Babylonia only shared, have various but always wide extensions, the first age on history, the Early Dynastic, pass within limits which are almost narrow.
Eridu (or Eridug/Urudug, from Sumerian Eri.dugga, "Good City") was an ancient city seven miles southwest of Ur. Eridu was the southernmost of the conglomeration of cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another, in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia. One name of Eridu in cuneiform logograms was pronounced "NUN.KI" ("the Mighty Place") in Sumerian, but much later the same "NUN.KI" was understood to mean the city of Babylon. According to the Sumerian kinglist Eridu was the first city in the world. The opening line reads
"[nam]-lugal an-ta èd-dè-a-ba
[eri]duki nam-lugal-la"
"When kingship from heaven was lowered,
the kingship was in Eridu."
The ziggurat ruins of Eridu are far larger and older than any others, and seem to best match the Biblical description of the unfinished Tower of Babel. In the Sumerian king list, Eridu is named as the city of the first kings. The kinglist continues:In Eridu, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years. Then Eridu fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira |