Walls and Gates of Cutha

The city walls of Cutha, Ugal-amaru and Nergal-lugal-me-du, are mentioned in a royal inscription of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus, in the Kuyunjik Ziggurat List, and in an explanatory temple list.

Names and Spellings

Cutha's main city wall went by the Sumerian ceremonial name Ugal-amaru, which means "Great Storm, (Which) Is a Deluge," while its lower, outer wall was called by the Sumerian name Nergal-lugal-me-du, which translates as "Nergal Engenders Battle." The Kuyunjik Ziggurat List lists Nergal-lugal-medu as the main wall of the city, but an explanatory temple list recording topographic information from Kish to Apak refers to it as the rampart (probably used in that text as a synonym for outer wall). An Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus (r. 555–539 BC) records that Ugal-amaru was Cutha's city wall, just like the aforementioned explanatory temple list.

Written Forms: BAD₃.u₄-gal-(a)-ma₂-uru₅; u₄-gal-a-ma₂-ru₁₀; BAD₃.^dU.GUR-lugal-me₃-du₃.

The aforementioned explanatory temple list translates the Sumerian name Ugal-amaru into Akkadian as Abūb Anzî, "Deluge of Anzû," which might have been mythological speculation on the part of the text's author.

Known Builders

• Neo-Babylonian (ca. 625–539 BC)
Nabonidus (r. 555–539 BC)

Building History

In an Akkadian inscription recording work at the city of Marad, the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus (r. 555–539 BC) states that he raised the mud-brick superstructure of the main wall of Cutha, Ugal-amaru. No details around the project are provided in that text.

Further Reading

• George A.R. 1993. House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamian Civilizations 5), Winona Lake, p. 55.

Jamie Novotny & Naomi Weir

Jamie Novotny & Naomi Weir, 'Walls and Gates of Cutha', Babylonian Temples and Monumental Architecture online (BTMAo), The BTMAo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, [http://oracc.org/btmao/Cutha/WallsandGates/]