| Abstract: | ABSTRACT If one goes to Iraq today, as I did in the summer of 1972 one sees that the area once served by this ancient canal system is presently abandoned to desert. The Ur III texts would indicate that the Sumerian irrigation system allowed them to raise good crops of grain, vegetables and fruits, in an area now completely barren except for an occasional thorn-bush. This paper deals in detail with the Sumerian term nag-ku5, which seems to be a key word in arriving at a more accurate picture of Sumerian canal and irrigation systems. Ur III material indicates that the nag-ku5 may have served a role similar to that of the modern settling-reservoir. The aim of this study is the hope that knowledge of the past could help this desert bloom once more. |
