Ur-Nammu

Hello! My name is Ur-Nammu, and I was a king a very, very long time ago in a land called Sumer. My home was a busy city named Ur. It was a wonderful place, built right near two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Our houses weren't made of wood or stone like you might see today. Instead, we built them from bricks made of mud that dried in the hot sun. Those big rivers were so important to us. They gave us water to drink and helped our farmers grow lots of food, which kept everyone in my city healthy and strong.

Before I became king around the year 2112 BCE, the lands of Sumer and another place called Akkad were not always peaceful. People sometimes fought, and things were not always fair for everyone. When I became the ruler, my biggest wish was to change that. I wanted to bring all the people together so they could live safely and happily. I made a promise to everyone, from the farmers working in the fields to the families living in the city. I promised that I would be a fair and just king who would protect them and make their lives better.

To keep my promise, I did two very important things that I am still proud of today. First, I created one of the world's very first sets of written laws. We call it the Code of Ur-Nammu. I wrote these rules down so that everyone knew how to be fair to one another and what would happen if they were not. It was a way to make sure that justice was the same for all people. My second big project was building something magnificent for our city. I started building the Great Ziggurat of Ur. It was a huge temple that rose up in giant steps, like a staircase reaching for the sky. We built it to honor our moon god, Nanna, and to show how much we respected him.

I was the king of Sumer for about 18 years. My time as ruler came to an end around the year 2095 BCE, but my work did not stop. My son, Shulgi, became king after me and continued to help our people. Today, people remember me for bringing peace to the land and for creating some of the first laws to make sure everyone was treated with kindness. They also remember the amazing buildings I created, and you can even see the ruins of the Great Ziggurat of Ur today, still standing after all this time.