Part III

The accident that so much of our earliest historical material comes from the excavations on the site of the ancient city of Lagash ^[1] naturally places this city in the foreground of our horizon, but making due allowance for this fact, it is nevertheless certain that Lagash played a most important role as early at least as 3000 B.C., and exercised at one time a sway over a considerable portion of Sumer, including Nippur. Its most serious rival at the time when the outlines of this period become defined with sufficient clearness to enable us to grasp some details is the city of Kish, whose patron deity was a solar god known as Zamama.

Indeed, a ruler, Mesilim, whose date can be approximately fixed at 3100 B.C., claimed Lagash as a part of his territory. This condition must have lasted for some time, for a patesi of Lagash, Entemena, whose date may be fixed as c. 2850 B.C., refers in a historical survey of the relations between Lagash and a neighboring centre, Umma, to Mesilim's intervention as arbitrator between the two hostile districts. Through his mediation a treaty was made, fixing the boundary line between Lagash and Umma. ^[2]

There are reasons for believing that not long before the days of Mesilim, the conditions were reversed and that Kish was in a state of dependency upon Lagash or some other centre, for a ruler, Utug, ^[3] who is in all probabilities older than Mesilim, calls himself patesi of Kish, on a vase offered as a tribute to Enlil of Nippur, in commemoration of a victory over the land of Khamazi. Under Eannatum, Kish again falls into the hands of Lagash, which, however, was not able to hold it for a long time.

The Semites, perhaps originally pressed into service as mercenaries by the rulers of Kish, ^[4] obtain control for a time the first indication of the coming Semitic conquest of the Euphrates Valley, but are again pushed back by Sumerians. Such a constant shift of political conditions extends over a long period, until Lugalzaggisi, of Uruk (c. 2675 B.C.), comes to the fore, puts an end to the independence of Kish, and this time in an effective manner.

The treaty between Lagash and Kish, above referred to, took place c. 3050 B.C., as nearly as we can calculate at present; and we are safe in assuming that the supremacy exercised by Kish over important centres in the south began perhaps a century earlier and lasted until c. 2975 B.C., when we find a ruler on the throne of Lagash, Ur-Nina, who adopts the title of king, whose reign was marked by an era of peace, during which commerce flourished and the ruler was able to devote himself to the welfare of his subjects and to honoring the gods by beautifying their temples and bringing to their shrines evidence of his loyalty and affection in the shape of tributes and votive offerings. We have a remarkable series of limestone plaques showing Ur-Nina and his family in the act of taking part in the building of the temple E-Ninnu to Ningirsu the main sacred edifice in Lagash. ^[5]

He is also occupied with strengthening the wall of Lagash and in digging numerous canals and reservoirs, clearly intended to regulate the annual overflow of the Euphrates and to direct its waters into the fields. By the extension of this canal system, upon which the prosperity and growth of the country so largely depended, he established his claim to being a ruler devoted to the welfare of his subjects. Conditions changed soon after the death of Ur-Nina. His successor, Akurgal, appears to have been troubled again by the old-time rival and enemy to the north, Umma, though the crisis is not reached until the days of his son, Eannatum, c. 2920 B.C. The men of Umma removed the stele set up by Mesilim, the king of Kish, as the boundary between Lagash and Umma.

This was the signal for an outbreak that ended disastrously for the district of which Umma was the centre. Eannatum appeals to his god Ningirsu for help. Ningirsu appears to Eannatum in a dream and promises victory over the enemy. Thus encouraged, Eannatum gathers his army and sets out for the encounter. The result was a total defeat of Umma, of whose warriors Eannatum assures us that he slew thirty-six hundred. ^[6]

The victory was followed up by the pursuit of the fleeing army. Eannatum takes Umma by assault, sweeping all before him, as he tells us, "like a destructive storm". In commemoration of the engagement he sets up a monument, ^[7] on which he depicts in vivid form the incidents of the battle. The old boundary stone was again set up and a new treaty made between Eannatum and Enakalli, the successor of Ush, who probably perished in the encounter.

The district of Gu-eddin, wrongfully appropriated by Umnia, was restored and a tribute imposed. A large booty was secured, and in commemoration of the event shrines were erected on the frontier to various deities, to Enlil and his consort, Ninkharsag, to Ningirsu and TJtu (the sun-god) for their assistance. A solemn oath was sworn by the two sides. "I have sworn the oath", says Eannatum, "and the men of TJmma have sworn the oath to Eannatum, in the name of Enlil, the king of heaven and earth. ... If at any time they shall deviate from this agreement, may the great net of Enlil, in whose name they have sworn this oath, overwhelm them". The gods thus become the active partners in the events of the day.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Above, p. 39, seq.

[2]:

Heuzey, Decouvertes en Chaldee, Pl.47, and Thureau-Dangin, Burner, und Akkad. Konigsinschriften, p. 36.

[3]:

Hilprecht, Old Babylonian Inscriptions, I, 2, No. 108, seq.

[4]:

So Meyer, Qeschichte, I, 2, p. 481.

[5]:

See Plate XL VI, Fig. 1.

[6]:

The number is under suspicion of being a round one, but nevertheless it furnishes us with an indication of the numbers that must have engaged in the struggle.

[7]:

See Plate XLVII and XLVIII and the description of the monument p. 387, seq.