The Flooding of Lagash (Iraq): Evidence for Urban Destruction Under Lugalzagesi, the King of Uruk and Umma

Abstract

High-resolution remote sensing, magnetometry, and trench stratigraphy identify a significant flood event at Lagash (modern Tell al-Hiba) during the late Early Dynastic period (ca. 2400–2350 BC). Satellite imagery and magnetometry reveal a 90-meter-wide meander belt—3–15 times broader than documented canals—adjacent to primary temple districts. Test trenches further exposed over one meter of flood-deposited silt covering existing architecture. Optically stimulated luminescence dating (central age: 2390 ± 220 BC) aligns closely with radiocarbon dates obtained from contemporaneous burn layers elsewhere on the site. Displaced artifacts, including an inscribed foundation nail from the reign of King Enannatum I (ca. 2425 BC) and diagnostic ceramics, confirm that the flood occurred after his rule but before Akkadian occupation. Integrating geomorphic, sedimentological, and textual evidence, we propose that the flooding was triggered when Lugalzagesi of Uruk-Umma (reigned ca. 2350 BC) intentionally breached or precipitated the failure of Lagash's principal canal embankments during or immediately following his documented attack on the city. This event illustrates how critical infrastructure for irrigation and transportation could be deliberately exploited to exacerbate the environmental and economic impacts of warfare. By closely associating the flood, the military siege, and subsequent demographic decline within a single generational timeframe, our study refines third-millennium BC Mesopotamian chronology and underscores the interconnected roles of hydrology, conflict, and urban resilience in early urban societies.