Eridu

Eridu is the earliest known city in southern Mesopotamia at Tell Abu Shahrain. Located 24 km south-southwest of Ur, it was the southernmost of a cluster of Sumerian cities built around temples [1]. The city was dedicated to the god Enki (later Ea), believed to dwell in the Abzu—an underground aquifer considered the source of all freshwater and life [2]. Enki's temple, E-Abzu, was central to Eridu's religious significance, and the city's founding is attributed to Enki himself in Sumerian tradition [2].