Kuara (Sumer)

Tell al-Lahm

Kuara, Kisiga, Ku'ara
Shown within Iraq
Location	Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq
Region	Mesopotamia
Coordinates	30°50′N 46°20′E / 30.833°N 46.333°E / 30.833; 46.333Coordinates: 30°50′N 46°20′E / 30.833°N 46.333°E / 30.833; 46.333
Type	tell
Site notes
Excavation dates	1855, 1918, 1940s
Archaeologists	J.E. Taylor, R. Campbell Thompson, F. Safar

Kuara (also known as Kisiga, Ku'ara, modern Tell al-Lahm site, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq) is an archaeological site in Dhi Qar Province (Iraq). According to the Sumerian king list, Kuara was also the home of Dumuzid, the fisherman, legendary third king of Uruk . The city's patron deity was Meslamtaea (Nergal). In Sumerian mythology, Kuara was also considered the birthplace of the god Marduk (Asarluhi), Enki's son. The cults of Marduk and Ninehama were centered in Kuara.

The location was excavated for a few days in 1855 by J. E. Taylor. He found a few inscribed bricks, and a single cuneiform tablet. While working at Eridu for the British Museum in 1918, R. Campbell Thompson excavated there briefly. In more modern times, Fuad Safar conducted soundings at Kuara.

Tell al-Lahm is locatedon the western bank of the mouth of the Euphrates, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Ur. The site consists of two tells or settlement mounds, with some peripheral ridges, near a dry canal bed.

Kuara was established ca. 2500 BC, during the Sumerian Early Dynastic II period. It was a seaport to the Persian Gulf, and traded with the port of Dilmun. In 709 BC, the Assyrian king Sargon II was trying to capture Marduk-apal-iddina II, who fled to Kuara, whereupon Sargon's army laid siege and destroyed the city. Alluvial soil carried by the Euphrates continually extended the land farther into the Persian Gulf; thus the modern site is far from the sea, even though it was a sea port 4500 years ago.