Jemdet Nasr
| Location | Iraq |
|---|---|
| Region | Babylon Governorate |
| Coordinates | 32°43′4.01″N 44°46′45.98″E / 32.7177806°N 44.7794389°E |
| Type | tell, archaeological site, type site |
| Area | 1.5 hectare, 7.5 hectare |
| Height | 2.9 metre, 3.5 metre |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 3250 BC |
| Abandoned | c. 3000 BC |
| Periods | Jemdet Nasr period, Ubaid period, Early Dynastic I, Uruk period |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 1926 |
| Excavation dates | 1926, 1928, 1988-1989 |
| Archaeologists | Stephen Herbert Langdon, Louis-Charles Watelin, Roger Matthews |
Jemdet Nasr (Arabic: جمدة نصر) (also Jamdat Nasr and Jemdat Nasr) is a tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate, Iraq that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (c. 3100–2900 BC), under an alternate periodization system termed the Uruk III period, and was one of the oldest Sumerian cities. It is adjacent to the much larger Neo-Babylonian and Sassanian site of Tell Barguthiat (also Tell Bargouthiat) to the northeast. The site was first excavated in 1926 by Stephen Langdon, who found Proto-Cuneiform clay tablets in a large mudbrick building thought to be the ancient administrative centre of the site. A second season took place in 1928, but this season was very poorly recorded. Subsequent excavations in the 1980s under British archaeologist Roger Matthews were, among other things, undertaken to relocate the building excavated by Langdon. These excavations have shown that the site was also occupied during the Ubaid, Uruk and Early Dynastic I periods. Based on texts found there mentioning an ensi of NI.RU that is thought to be its ancient name. During ancient times the city was on a canal linking it to other major Sumerian centers.