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The Third Dynasty of Ur arose some time after the fall of the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad Dynasty]]. The period between the last powerful king of the Akkad Dynasty, [[Shar-Kali-Sharri]], and the first king of Ur III, [[Ur-Nammu]], is not well documented, but most Assyriologists some scholars posit that there was a brief "dark age", followed by a power struggle among the most powerful city-states. On the king-lists, Shar-Kali-Shari is followed by two more kings of Akkad and six in Uruk, however there are no year-names surviving for any of these, nor even any artifacts confirming any of these reigns were historical — save one artifact for [[Dudu of Akkad]] (Shar-Kali-Sharri's immediate successor on the list). Akkad's primacy instead seems to have been usurped by [[Gutian dynasty of Sumer|Gutian]] invaders from the Zagros, whose kings ruled in Mesopotamia for an indeterminate period (124 years according to some copies of the kinglist, only 25 according to others.) An illiterate and nomadic people, their rule was not conducive to agriculture, nor record-keeping, and by the time they were expelled, the region was crippled by severe famine and skyrocketing grain prices. Their last king, [[Tirigan]], was driven out by [[Utu-hengal]] of [[Uruk]], beginning the "Sumerian Renaissance".

Assyriologists Scholars employ many complicated methods for establishing the most precise dates possible for this period, but controversy still exists. Generally, scholars use either the conventional (middle) or the low (short) chronologies. They are as follows: