Chapter 10

[21]See above, p.125.

[22]See the plate facing p.124.

[23]Fragment B, Reverse (see above, p.129, n. 1).

[24]See the plate facing p.124.

[25]See above, p.43.

[26]See above, p.42, n. 1.

[27]Fragment C, Reverse; see the plate facing p.138.

[28]The remains of this scene upon fragment F are figured in the text; for the fragment G, see "Cun. Texts in the Brit. Mus.," Pt. VII., pl. 1.

[29]See above, p.68, Fig. 20.

[30]See Obv., Col. VI., ll. 25 ff., Col. VII., ll. 1 ff.

[31]Foundation-stone A, Col. V., l. 23—Col. VI., l. 5; "Déc.," p. xliii.

[32]See Col, VI., ll. 6 ff.

[33]See Col. IV., ll. 25 ff.

[34]See the opposite plate.

[35]Foundation-stone A, Col. III., l. 13.

[36]Col. VI., ll. 6 ff.

[37]The phrase is not to be taken to mean that Eannatum buried the bodies of the slain Elamites, though it may be a conventional formula employed to describe any important battle. It may be noted that Entemena definitely states that he left the bones of his enemies to bleach in the open plain, and this was probably the practice of the period. Each side would bury its own dead to ensure their entrance into the Underworld.

[38]Rev., Col. VI., l. 10—Col. VII., l. 3.

[39]The name is expressed by the conflate sign, formed of the signs URU and A, the phonetic reading of which is unknown.

[40]The name of the place was formerly read in a short inscription engraved upon a mace-head of Gudea, and it was supposed to be described in that passage as lying near the Persian Gulf; cf. Heuzey, "Rev. Arch.," vol. xvii. (1891), p. 153; Radau, "Early Bab. Hist.," pp. 81, 191. But the syllable as occurs in that text without the determinative for "place," and it is rather to be interpreted as part of the name of the mountain from which Gudea obtained the breccia for his mace-head; and the mountain itself is described as situated on "the Upper Sea," i.e. the Mediterranean, see below, p.270f.

[41]See "Rev.," Col. VIII.

[42]Foundation-stone A, Col. VII., ll. 3 ff.

[43]For one of the inscribed bricks from the well, see the plate opposite p.154.

Eannatum was the most famous and powerful member of Ur-Ninâ's dynasty, and it is probable that his reign marks the zenith of the power of Lagash as a city-state. We do not know the cause which led to his being succeeded upon the throne by his brother Enannatum I., instead of by a son of his own. That the break in the succession was due to no palace-revolution is certain from a reference Enannatum makes to his brother in an inscription found by Koldewey at El-Hibba,[1]where, after naming Akurgal as his father, he describes himself as "the beloved brother of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash." It is possible that Eannatum had no male issue, or, since his reign appears to have been long, he may have survived his sons. We may indeed conjecture that his victories were not won without considerable loss among his younger warriors, and many cadets of the royal house, including the king's own sons, may have given their lives in the service of their city and its god. Such may well have been the cause of the succession passing from the direct line of descent to a younger branch of the family. That Enannatum followed, and did not precede his brother upon the throne is proved by the reference to him in the El-Hibba text already referred to; moreover, he himself was succeeded by his own immediate descendants, and a reference to his reign upon the Cone of Entemena follows in order of time the same ruler's record concerning Eannatum. The few inscriptionsof his reign, that have been recovered at Tello and El-Hibba, are of a votive rather than of an historical character, and, were it not for the historical summaries upon Entemena's Cone and an inscribed plaque of Urukagina, we should be without data for tracing the history of Sumer at this period. As it is, our information is in the main confined to the continued rivalry between Lagash and her near neighbour Umma, which now led to a renewal of active hostilities.

We have already seen that, in spite of the increase in the power of Lagash during the reign of Eannatum, the city of Umma had not been incorporated in its dominion, but had succeeded in maintaining an attitude of semi-independence. This is apparent from the terms of the treaty, by which the men of Umma undertook not to invade the territory of Lagash; and, although they paid a heavy tribute in corn to Eannatum, we may assume that they were ready to seize any opportunity that might present itself of repudiating the suzerainty of Lagash. Such an opportunity they may have seen in the death of their conqueror Eannatum, for after the accession of his brother we find them repeating the same tactics they had employed during the preceding reign under the leadership of their patesi, Ush. Enakalli, with whom Eannatum had drawn up his treaty, had been succeeded on the throne by Urlumma. In his cone-inscription Entemena gives no indication as to whether there was any interval between the reign of Enakalli and that of Urlumma. But from a small tablet of lapis-lazuli in the "Collection de Clercq," we gather that the latter was Enakalli's son, and, therefore, probably his direct successor upon the throne.[2]The little tablet was employed as a foundation-memorial, and a short inscription upon it records the building of a temple to the god Enkigal by Urlumma, who describes himself as the son of Enakalli. Each ruler bears the title of "king" in the inscription, and, although the reading of the sign following the title is uncertain, there is little doubt that we should identifythe Urlumma and Enakalli of the tablet with the two patesis of Umma who are known to have borne these names.

Urlumma did not maintain his father's policy, but, following Ush's example, marshalled his army and made a sudden descent upon the territory of Lagash. His raid appears to have been attended with even greater violence than that of his predecessor. Ush had contented himself with merely removing the stele of delimitation set up by Mesilim, but Urlumma broke that of Eannatum in pieces by casting it into the fire, and we may assume that he treated Mesilim's stele in the same way.[3]The shrines, or chapels, which Eannatum had built upon the frontier and had dedicated to the gods whom he had invoked to guard the treaty, were now levelled to the ground. By such acts Urlumma sought to blot out all trace of the humiliating conditions imposed in earlier years upon his city, and, crossing the frontier-ditch of Ningirsu, he raided and plundered the rich plains which it had always been the ambition of Umma to possess.

It is probable that Urlumma's object in breaking the treaty was not merely to collect spoil from the fields and villages he overran, but to gain complete possession of the coveted plain. At least, both Entemena and Urukagina record that the subsequent battle between the forces of Umma and Lagash took place within the latter's territory, which would seem to imply that Urlumma and his army did not retreat with their plunder to their own city, but attempted to retain possession of the land itself. Enannatum met the men of Umma in Ugigga, a district within the temple-lands of Ningirsu, where a battle was fought, which, in Urukagina's brief account, is recorded to have resulted in Umma's defeat. Entemena, on the other hand, does not say whether Lagash was victorious, and his silence is possibly significant, for, had his father achieved a decided victory, he would doubtless haverecorded it. Moreover, Urlumma continued to give trouble, and it was only in the reign of Entemena himself that he was finally defeated and slain. We may, therefore, conclude that Enannatum did no more than check Urlumma's encroachments, and it is not improbable that the latter retained for the time a considerable portion of the territory which Lagash had enjoyed for several generations.

Few other facts are known of the reign of Enannatum I. We gather that he sent men to the mountains, probably of Elam, and caused them to fell cedars there and bring the trunks to Lagash; and from the cedar-wood thus obtained he constructed the roof of a temple, which appears to have been dedicated to Ningirsu. The temple we may probably identify with Ningirsu's famous temple E-ninnû, whence we have recovered a mortar, which Enannatum prepared and presented that it might be used for pounding onions in connection with the temple-ritual. Another object dedicated to Ningirsu, which dates from this period, is preserved in the British Museum, and furnishes us with the name of a minister in the service of Enannatum. This is a limestone mace-head,[4]carved with the emblem of Lagash, and bearing an inscription from which we learn that it was deposited in the temple E-ninnû by Barkiba,[5]the minister, to ensure the preservation of the life of Enannatum, "his king." It would appear from this record that, although Enannatum himself adopted the title of "patesi," which he ascribes also to his father Akurgal, it was permissible for his subordinates to refer to him under the title of "king." That "patesi" was, however, his usual designation may be inferred not only from his own inscriptions, but from the occurrence of the title after his name upon a deed of sale drawn up on a tablet of black stone,[6]which probably dates from his reign. From this document, as well as from a text inscribed upon clay cones found by Koldewey atEl-Hibba,[7]we also learn that Enannatum had a son named Lummadur,[8]in addition to Entemena. It should be noted that neither on the clay cones nor on the tablet of black stone is the name of Enannatum's father recorded, so that the suggestion has been made that they should be referred to Enannatum II., rather than to Enannatum I. But the adornment of the temple E-anna, recorded on the cones, is referred to in the clay-inscription of Enannatum I., which, like the cones, was found at El-Hibba.[9]It is reasonable therefore to assign the cone-inscription also to Enannatum I., and to conclude that Lummadur was his son, rather than the son and possible successor of Enannatum II. The cone-inscription records the installation of Lummadur by his father as priest in E-anna, when that temple had been adorned and embellished in honour of the goddess Ninni. Since Enannatum was succeeded upon the throne of Lagash by Entemena, we may assume that Lummadur was the latter's younger brother.

One of the first duties Entemena was called upon to perform, after ascending the throne, was the defence of his territory against further encroachments by Urlumma. It is evident that this ruler closely watched the progress of events in Lagash, and such an occasion as the death of the reigning patesi in that city might well have appeared to him a suitable time for the renewal of hostilities. The death of the great conqueror Eannatum had already encouraged him to raid and occupy a portion of the territory held up to that time by Lagash, and, although Eannatum had succeeded in holding him to some extent in check, he only awaited a favourable opportunity to extend the area of territory under his control. Such an opportunity he would naturally see in the disappearance of his old rival, for there was always the chance that the new ruler would prove a still less successful leader than his father, or his accession might give rise to dissension among the members of the royal house, which would materiallyweaken the city's power of resistance. His attack appears to have been carefully organized, for there is evidence that he strengthened his own resources by seeking assistance from at least one other neighbouring state. His anticipation of securing a decided victory by this means was, however, far from being realized. Entemena lost no time in summoning his forces, and, having led them out into the plain of Lagash, he met the army of Urlumma at the frontier-ditch of Lummagirnunta, which his uncle Eannatum had constructed for the defence and irrigation of Gu-edin, the fertile territory of Ningirsu. Here he inflicted a signal defeat upon the men of Umma, who, when routed and put to flight, left sixty of their fellows lying dead upon the banks of the canal.[10]Urlumma himself fled from the battle, and sought safety in his own city. But Entemena did not rest content with the defeat he had inflicted upon the enemy in the field. He pursued the men of Umma into their own territory, and succeeded in capturing the city itself before its demoralized inhabitants had had time to organize or strengthen its defence. Urlumma he captured and slew, and he thus put an end to an ambitious ruler, who for years had undoubtedly caused much trouble and annoyance to Lagash. Entemena's victory was complete, but it was not won without some loss among his own forces, for he heaped up burial-mounds in five separate places, which no doubt covered the bodies of his own slain. The bones of the enemy, he records, were left to bleach in the open plain.

MARBLE GATE-SOCKET BEARING AN INSCRIPTION OF ENTEMENA, PATESI OF SHIRPURLA.—Brit. Mus., No.90932; photo, by Messrs. Mansell & Co.

Entemena now proceeded to annex Umma, and he incorporated it within the state of Lagash and reorganized its administration under officers appointed by himself. As the new patesi of Umma he did not appoint any native of that city, but transferred thither an official of his own, who held a post of considerableimportance in another town under the suzerainty of Lagash. The name of the official was Ili, and at the time of the annexation of Umma he was acting as sangu, or priest, of the town, the name of which has been provisionally read as Ninab or Ninni-esh. Though the reading of the name of the place is still uncertain, it would appear to have been situated in Southern Babylonia, and to have been a place of some importance. A small tablet in the Louvre mentions together certain men of Erech, of Adab and of Ninni-esh,[11]and, when Lugal-zaggisi enumerates the benefits he had conferred on the cities of Southern Babylonia over which he ruled, he mentions Umma and Ninni-esh together, after referring to Erech, Ur, and Larsa.[12]We may, therefore, conclude with some probability that the city in which Ili was at this time acting as priest was situated not far from Umma. It was under the control of Lagash, and doubtless formed part of the empire which Eannatum had bequeathed to his successors upon the throne. Ili is described as the priest, not the patesi, of the city, and it is possible that his office included the control of its secular administration. But in view of the importance of the place, it is unlikely that it was without a patesi.

The installation of Ili in the patesiate of Umma was accompanied by some degree of ceremonial. It would appear that his appointment did not take place immediately after the capture of the town, but that a short interval elapsed between the close of the war and the inauguration of the new government. Meanwhile, Entemena himself had returned to Lagash, and it was to that city that he summoned Ili into his presence. He then set out with Ili from Girsu, and, when Umma was reached, he formally installed him at the head of the government, and conferred on him the title of patesi. At the same time he dictated his own terms to the people of Umma, and commissioned Ili to see that they were duly carried out. In thefirst place he restored to Lagash the territory to which she had always laid claim, and the ancient frontier-ditches, which had been filled up or had fallen in, he caused to be repaired. In addition to reasserting the traditional rights of Lagash, he annexed new land in the district of Karkar, since its inhabitants had taken part in the recent rebellion, and had probably furnished an important contingent for the army of Urlumma. He gave directions to Ili to extend the two principal frontier-ditches, dedicated to Ningirsu and Ninâ respectively, within the territory of Karkar; and, with the large supply of forced labour which he exacted from his newly annexed subjects, he strengthened the defences of his own territory, and restored and extended the system of canals between the Euphrates and the Tigris. But Entemena did not content himself with exacting land and labour only from the conquered city. He imposed a heavy tribute in corn, and it was probably one of Ili's most important duties as patesi to superintend its collection and ensure its punctual transfer into the granaries of Lagash.

In order to commemorate the conquest and annexation of Umma, Entemena caused a record of his victory to be drawn up, which he doubtless had engraved upon a stone stele similar to those prepared in earlier times by Mesilim and Eannatum. This stele, like the earlier ones, was probably set up upon the frontier to serve as a memorial of his achievements. Fortunately for us, he did not confine the records to his own victories, but prefaced them with an epitomized account of the relations which had existed between Lagash and Umma from the time of Mesilim until his own day. Other copies of the inscription were probably engraved upon stone and set up in the cities of Umma and Lagash, and, in order to increase still further the chances in favour of the preservation of his record, he had copies inscribed upon small cones of clay. These last were of the nature of foundation-memorials, and we may conclude that he had them buried beneath the buildings he erected or repaired upon the frontier-canals, and also perhaps in the foundations of temples within the city of Lagash itself. Entemena's foresight in multiplyingthe number of his texts, and in burying them in the structure of his buildings, was in accordance with the practice of the period; and in his case the custom has been fully justified. So far as we know, his great stone stelæ have perished; but one of the small clay cones[13]has been recovered, and is among the most valuable of the records we possess of the early history of Sumer.

It is possible that the concluding paragraphs of the text were given in a fuller form upon the stone stelæ than we find them upon the cone; but, so far as the historical portion of the record is concerned, we have doubtless recovered the greater part, if not the whole, of Entemena's record. The stelæ may have been engraved with elaborate curses, intended to preserve the frontier-ditch from violation, and, though these have been omitted in the shorter version of the text, their place is taken by the brief invocation and prayer with which the record concludes. Entemena here prays that if ever in time to come the men of Umma should break across the boundary-ditch of Ningirsu or the boundary-ditch of Ninâ, in order to lay violent hands upon the territory of Lagash, whether they be men of the city of Umma itself or people from the lands round about, then may Enlil destroy them, and may Ningirsu cast over them his net, and set his hand and foot upon them. And, should the warriors of his own city be called upon to defend it, he prays that their hearts may be full of ardour and courage. It was not many years before Lagash was in sore need of the help which is here invoked for her by Entemena.

Apart from the cone recording the conquest of Umma, the inscriptions of Entemena do not throw much light upon the military achievements of his reign. Three fragments of a limestone vase have been found at Nippur in the strata beneath the temple of Enlil on the south-east side of the ziggurat, or temple-tower, bearing on their outer surface a votive inscription of Entemena.[14]From these we gather that the vase was dedicated to Enlil as a thank-offering after somevictory. The fragmentary character of the inscription prevents us from identifying the enemy who was subdued on this occasion; but we shall probably be right in taking the passage as referring, not to the conquest of Umma, but to the subjugation of some other district. In fact, we may regard the vase as evidence that Entemena attempted to retain his hold upon the empire which Eannatum had founded, and did not shrink from the necessity of undertaking military expeditions to attain this object. In further support of this view we may perhaps cite a reference to one of the cities conquered by Eannatum, which occurs upon a votive text drawn up in Entemena's reign, though not by the patesi himself. The text in question is stamped upon the perforated relief of Dudu, chief priest of Ningirsu,[15]which at one time formed the support of a colossal ceremonial mace-head dedicated in the temple of Ningirsu at Lagash.

The material of which the block is composed is dark in colour, comparatively light in weight, and liable to crack; it consists of a mixture of clay and bitumen, and may have been formed by nature or produced artificially.[16]While this substance was still in a pliant state the block was formed from it, and the designs with the inscription were impressed by means of a stamp. According to the inscription, this bituminous substance was brought by Dudu to Lagash from one of the cities which had been conquered by Eannatum and incorporated within his empire. The fact that Dudu should have caused the substance to be procured from the city in question suggests that friendly relations existed between it and Lagash at the time; it is quite possible that it had not, meanwhile, secured its independence, but still continued to acknowledge the suzerainty of the latter city. The only other references to a foreign city in the texts of Entemena occur upon his two principal building inscriptions,[17]which include among the list of his buildingsthe erection of a great laver for the god Enki, described as "King of Eridu." We may perhaps see in this record a further indication that at least the southern portion of Eannatum's empire still remained in his nephew's possession.

Fig. 49.—Fig 50.—Fig 51.—Details from the engravings upon Entemena's silver vase. The upper group represents the emblem of Lagash; in the lower groups ibexes and stags are substituted for the lions.—Déc., pl 43bis; Cat. No. 218.

The high-priest, Dudu, whose portrait is included in the designs upon the plaque already referred to, appears to have been an important personage during the reign of Entemena, and two inscriptions that have been recovered are dated by reference to his period of office. One of these occurs upon the famous silver vase of Entemena, the finest example of Sumerian metal work that has yet been recovered. The vase, engraved in outline with variant forms of the emblem of Lagash,[18]bears an inscription around the neck, stating that Entemena, patesi of Lagash, "the great patesi ofNingirsu," had fashioned it of pure silver and had dedicated it to Ningirsu in E-ninnû to ensure the preservation of his life. It was deposited as a votive object in Ningirsu's temple, and a note is added to the dedication to the effect that "at this time Dudu was priest of Ningirsu." A similar reference to Dudu's priesthood occurs upon a foundation-inscription of Entemena recording the construction of a reservoir for the supply of the Lummadimdug Canal, its capacity being little more than half that of the earlier reservoir constructed by Eannatum. Since the canal was dedicated to Ningirsu, the reference to Dudu was also here appropriate. But such a method of indicating the date of any object or construction, even though closely connected with the worship or property of the city-god, was somewhat unusual, and its occurrence in these texts may perhaps be taken as an indication of the powerful position which Dudu enjoyed.[19]Indeed, Enlitarzi, another priest of Ningirsu during Entemena's reign, subsequently secured the throne of Lagash. Entemena's building-inscriptions afford further evidence of his devotion to Ningirsu, whose temple and storehouses he rebuilt and added to. Next in order of importance were his constructions in honour of the goddess Ninâ, while he also erected or repaired temples and other buildings dedicated to Lugal-uru, and the goddesses Ninkharsag, Gatumdug, and Ninmakh. Such records suggest that Entemena's reign, like that of Eannatum, was a period of some prosperity for Lagash, although it is probable that her influence was felt within a more restricted area.[20]By his conquest and annexation of Umma, he more than made up for any want of success on the part of his father, Enannatum I., and, through this victory alone, he may well have freed Lagash from her most persistent enemy throughout the reign of his immediate successors.

SILVER VASE DEDICATED TO THE GOD NINGIRSU BY ENTEMENA, PATESI OF SHIRPURLA.—In the Louvre; Déc. en Chald., pl.43 (bis).

With Enannatum II., the son of Entemena, who succeeded his father upon the throne, the dynasty foundedby Ur-Ninâ, so far as we know, came to an end.[21]The reign of Entemena's son is attested by a single inscription engraved upon a door-socket from the great store-house of Ningirsu at Lagash, his restoration of which is recorded in the text. There then occurs a gap in our sequence of royal inscriptions found at Tello, the next ruler who has left us any records of his own, being Urukagina, the ill-fated reformer and king of Lagash, under whom the city was destined to suffer what was undoubtedly the greatest reverse she encountered in the long course of her history. Although we have no royal texts relating to the period between the reigns of Enannatum II. and Urukagina, we are fortunately not without means for estimating approximately its length and recovering the names of some, if not all, of the patesis who occupied the throne of Lagash in the interval. Our information is derived from a number of clay tablets, the majority of which were found in the course of native diggings at Tello after M. de Sarzec's death.[22]They formed part of the private archive of the patesis of Lagash at this time, and are concerned with the household expenses of the court and particularly of the harîm. Frequently these tablets of accounts make mention of the reigning patesi or his wife, and from them we have recovered the names of three patesis—Enetarzi, Enlitarzi, and Lugal-anda[23]—who are to be set in the interval between Enannatum II. and Urukagina. Moreover, it has been pointed out that the inscriptions upon most of the tablets end with a peculiar form of figure, consisting of one or more diagonal strokes cutting a single horizontal one; and a plausible explanation has been given of these figures, to the effectthat they were intended to indicate the date of the tablet, the number of diagonal strokes showing at a glance the year of the patesi's reign in which the text was written, and to which the accounts refer. A considerable number of such tablets have been examined, and by counting the strokes upon them it has been concluded that Enetarzi reigned for at least four years, Enlitarzi for at least five years, and Lugal-anda for at least seven years.[24]

The relative order of these three patesis may now be regarded as definitely fixed, and, though it is possible that the names of others are missing which should be set within the period, the tablets themselves furnish indications that in any case the interval between Enannatum II. and Urukagina was not a long one. It had for some time been suspected that Enlitarzi and Lugal-anda lived at about the same period, for a steward named Shakh was employed by the wife of Enlitarzi as well as by Barnamtarra, the wife of Lugal-anda.[25]This inference has now been confirmed by the discovery of a document proving that Lugal-anda was Enlitarzi's son; for a clay cone has been found, inscribed with a contract concerning the sale of a house, the contracting parties being the family of Lugal-anda, described as "the son of Enlitarzi, the priest," and the family of Barnamtarra, Lugal-anda's future wife.[26]Moreover, we have grounds for believing that Lugal-anda was not only the last of the three patesis whose names have been recovered, but was Urukagina's immediate predecessor. An indication that this was the case may be seen in the fact that the steward Eniggal, who is frequently mentioned in tablets of his reign, was also employed by Urukagina and his wife Shagshag. Confirmation of this view has been found in the text upon a tablet, dated in the first year of Urukagina's reign as king, in which mention ismade of Barnamtarra, Lugal-anda's wife.[27]This only leaves an interval before the reign of Enlitarzi, in which Enetarzi, the remaining patesi, is to be set.

That this was not a long period is clear from the fact that Enlitarzi himself occupied the throne soon after Enannatum II., an inference we may draw from a double date upon a sale-contract, dated in the patesiate of Entemena, patesi of Lagash, and in the priesthood of Enlitarzi, chief priest of Ningirsu.[28]There can be no doubt of the identity of Enlitarzi, the priest here referred to, with Enlitarzi, the patesi, for the wife of the priest, who is mentioned in the contract, bears the same name as the wife of the patesi.[29]Since, therefore, Enlitarzi already occupied the high position of chief priest of Ningirsu during the reign of Entemena, it is reasonable to conclude that his reign as patesi was not separated by any long interval from that of Entemena's son and successor. The internal evidence furnished by the texts thus supports the conclusion suggested by an examination of the tablets themselves, all of which are distinguished by a remarkable uniformity of type, consisting, as they do, of baked clay tablets of a rounded form and written in a style which closely resembles that of Urukagina's royal inscriptions. The interval between the death of Entemena and Urukagina's accession was thus a short one, and the fact that during it no less than four patesis followed one another in quick succession suggests that the period was one of unrest in Lagash.

Like Enlitarzi, Enetarzi also appears to have been chief priest of Ningirsu before he secured the throne;at least we know that a priest of that name held office at about this period. The inscription from which this fact may be inferred is an extremely interesting one,[30]for it consists of the earliest example of a letter or despatch that has yet been found on any Babylonian site. It was discovered at Tello during the recent excavations of Commandant Cros, and, alike in the character of its writing and in its general appearance, it closely resembles the tablets of accounts from the patesis' private archive, to which reference has already been made. The despatch was written by a certain Lu-enna, chief priest of the goddess Ninmar, and is addressed to Enetarzi, chief priest of the god Ningirsu. At first sight its contents are scarcely those which we should expect to find in a letter addressed by one chief priest to another. For the writer informs his correspondent that a band of Elamites had pillaged the territory of Lagash, but that he had fought with the enemy, and had succeeded in putting them to flight. He then refers to five hundred and forty of them, whom he probably captured or slew. The reverse of the tablet enumerates various amounts of silver and wool, and certain royal garments, which may have formed part of the booty taken, or recaptured, from the Elamites; and the text ends with what appears to be a reference to the division of this spoil between the patesi of Lagash and another high official, and with directions that certain offerings should be deducted for presentation to the goddess Ninmar, in whose temple the writer was chief priest.

That a chief priest of Ninmar should lead an army against the enemies of Lagash and should send a report of his success to the chief priest of Ningirsu, in which he refers to the share of the spoil to be assigned to the patesi, may be regarded as an indication that the central government of Lagash was not so stable as it once had been under the more powerful members of Ur-Ninâ's dynasty. The reference to Enetarzi suggests that the incursion of the Elamites took place during the reign of Enannatum II. We may thus conclude that the last member of Ur-Ninâ's dynasty did notpossess his father's ability to direct the affairs of Lagash and allowed the priests of the great temples in the city to usurp many of the privileges which had hitherto been held by the patesi. It is probably to this fact that the close of Ur-Ninâ's dynasty may be traced. The subsequent struggle for the patesiate appears to have taken place among the more important members of the priesthood. Of those who secured the throne, Enlitarzi, at any rate, was succeeded by his son, by whom, however, he may have been deposed,[31]and no strong administration appears to have been established, until Urukagina, abandoning the traditions of both the priesthood and the patesiate, based his government on the support he secured from the people themselves. Such appears to have been the course of events at this time, although the paucity of our historical materials renders it impossible to do more than hazard a conjecture.

Fig. 52. Fig 53.—Impression of a seal of Lugal-anda, patesi of Lagash (Shirpurla), engraved with the emblem of Lagash, and with figures of animals, heroes, and mythological creatures. Below is a reconstruction of the cylinder-seal, indicating its size.—See Allotte de la Fuÿe,Rev. d'Assyr., Vol. VI., No. 4, pl. i.

In addition to the tablets of accounts concerning the household expenditure of the patesis, and the letter to Enetarzi from Lu-enna, the principal relics of this period that have come down to us are numbers of clay sealings, some of which bear impressions of the seals of the patesi Lugal-anda, his wife Barnamtarra, and his steward Eniggal. They afford us no new historical information, but are extremely valuable for the study of the artistic achievements and religious beliefs of the Sumerians.[32]From the traces upon their lower sides, it is clear that they were employed for sealing reed-baskets or bundles tied up in sacking formed of palm-leaves and secured with cords. In consequence of the rough character of the lumps of clay, no single one presents a perfect impression, but, as several examples of each have been found, it is possible in some cases to reconstruct the complete design and to estimate the size of the original seal. In the accompanying blocks reproductions aregiven of the designs upon the cylinder-seals of Lugal-anda which can be most completely restored. The principal group of figures in the larger of the two consists of two rampant lions in conflict with a human-headed bull and a mythical and composite being, half-bull and half-man, whose form recalls the description of Ea-bani in the legend of Gilgamesh. To the left of the inscription is the emblem of Lagash, and below is a row of smaller figures consisting of two human-headed bulls, two heroes and a stag. The figures onthe smaller cylinder represent the same types, but here the emblem of Lagash is reduced to the eagle without the lions, which was peculiarly the emblem of Ningirsu. The mythological being who resembles Ea-bani is repeated heraldically on each side of the text in conflict with a lion.

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