Nippur

American

[ni-poor] / nɪˈpʊər /

noun

an ancient Sumerian and Babylonian city in SE Iraq: partially excavated.

Nippur British

/ nɪˈpʊə /

noun

an ancient Sumerian and Babylonian city, the excavated site of which is in SE Iraq: an important religious centre, abandoned in the 12th or 13th century

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Chicago University professor Augusta McMahon was in southern Iraq, working at the 6,000-year-old Nippur site, when the war began.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

They built temples in the Sumerian city of Nippur, which was sacred to the storm god Enlil, the ruler of the gods in the Sumerian pantheon.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

To unify this new empire, Hammurabi initiated the construction of irrigation projects, built new temples at Nippur, and published his legal edicts throughout his realm.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Dr. Civil participated in excavations at the ancient city of Nippur and assembled texts that resembled literary jigsaw puzzles, piecing together hundreds of clay fragments stored at institutions around the world.

From Washington Post • Jan. 30, 2019

It is probable that the belief in the Kharsag-kurkurra, or “mountain of the world,” on which the gods lived, originated at Nippur.

From The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia by Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023