From the Sumerian for 'mighty place', is modern Tell Abu Shahrain, Iraq. Eridu was the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia, founded c 5400 BCE. Located seven miles (12 km) southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of Sumerian cities that grew about temples, almost in sight of one another. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was founded by the Sumerian deity Enki, later known by the Akkadians as Ea.