Chapter 15

[1]Written both asSharru-GI-NA and asSharru-DU.

[2]Cf. "Cuneiform Inscriptions from Western Asia," Vol. II. (1866), pl. 39, No. 5, l. 41, where Sargon's name occurs in conjunction with his title "King of Agade," or pl. 48, l. 40, where he is credited with such descriptions as "king of justice" (shar kitti), "proclaimer of justice" (dabib kitti), "proclaimer of favours" (dabib damkâti); the passage in pl. 50, l. 64, which mentions the old Babylonian city of Dûr-Sharrukîn, "Sargon's Fortress," was also referred to him.

[3]Rawlinson announced his discovery of the Legend of Sargon in theAthenæum, No. 2080, Sept. 7, 1867, p. 305, where he made the acute suggestion that Sargon of Assyria, the father of Sennacherib, may have been called "the later Sargon" (Sharru-ukîn arkû) "to distinguish him from the hero of romance whose adventures were better known among the Assyrian people."

[4]"Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. III. (1870), pl. 4, No. VII.

[5]"Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. I. (1872), p. 46 f.

[6]See "Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. I. (1861), pl. 69, Col. II., ll. 29-32; Oppert had restored the name of Narâm-Sin's father as Sagaraktiyas (cf. "Expédition scientifique en Mésopotamie," Vol. I. (1863), p. 273, and "Histoire des Empires de Chaldée et d'Assyrie" (1865), pp. 22 ff.).

[7]See "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres," Ser. IV., Tome V. (Oct., 1877), pp. 330 ff. An impression of the seal had been sent from Baghdad to Constantinople, whence M. Ménant had received it from M. Barré de Lancy in 1865. It was later acquired by M. de Clercq (cf. "Collection de Clercq," Tome I., 1888, No. 46, pl. V., p. 49 f.).

[8]"Recherches sur la glyptique orientale," I. (1883), p. 73 f.

[9]See Pinches, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. V. (Nov. 7, 1882), pp. 8 f., 12. For a discussion of the date, see above, Chap. III., p.60f.

[10]See Pinches,op. cit., Vol. VI. (Nov. 6, 1883), pp. 11 ff. The identification was opposed by Ménant, who pointed out that the two final syllables of the name could not be treated as a title (op. cit., Feb. 5, 1884, pp. 88 ff., and "Collection de Clercq," p. 49 f.). Ménant adhered to his former opinion that Shargani-shar-lukh (as he now read the name) was an earlier king of Agade.

[11]See Oppert, "Expedition scientifique," II. (1859), p. 62, and "Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. I., pl. 3, No. VII.

[12]See George Smith, "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. I., p. 52.

[13]Cf. Winckler, "Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens" (1892), pp. 30, 39, and "Altorientalische Forschungen," I., p. 238 (1895); and Niebuhr, "Chronologie" (1896), p. 75.

[14]Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," I. (1893), pll. 1-3, p. 15.

[15]Op. cit., II. (1896), p. 19 f.

[16]Cf. Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres," Ser. IV., Tome XXIV., 1896, pp. 355 ff.; and Heuzey, "Revue d'Assyr.," IV. (1897), p. 2.

[17]See King, "Chronicles concerning early Babylonian Kings" (1907), Vol. I., pp. 27 ff.

[18]Shargani, the first part of the name Shar-Gani-sharri, was equated withSharru-GI-NA (=ukîn), and the second part of the name, read asshar-ali, "king of the city" was regarded as having been dropped by a process of abbreviation.

[19]See Gautier, "Recueil de travaux," Vol. XXVII., pp. 176 ff., and Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," IV., pp. 4 ff.

[20]See above, Chap. V., pp.125,130ff.

[21]See above, p.217, n. 1.

[22]See Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit," IV., pp. 4 ff.

[23]See Thureau-Dangin, "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," 1908, col. 313 ff.; cf. also King, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. XXX. (1908), pp. 239 ff.

[24]See above, p.203.

[25]See above, p.203f.

[26]See King,op. cit., p. 240 f. M. Thureau-Dangin has since examined the text at Constantinople, and he confirms the restoration.

[27]Cf. Scheil, "Une saison de fouilles à Sippar," p. 96.

[28]See above, pp. 206, 212

[29]King, "Chronicles," Vol. II., pp. 27 ff., Sections II, IV., V., and VII.

[30]Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions," 1896, p. 358, No. 2 and n. 1, "Recueil de tablettes chaldéennes," p. 57, No. 124 (cf. p. 46, No. 85); see also "Königsinschriften," p. 225.

[31]"Chronicles," Vol. II., p. 25 f., Section I.

[32]"Comptes rendus," 1896, p. 357, No. 1; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 60, No. 130.

[33]The warlike expedition to Dêr (Dûr-ilu), which is referred to in the Legend of Sargon (see "Chronicles," Vol. II., p. 92), may possibly be connected with this campaign of Shar-Gani-sharri.

[34]See above, p.205, and below, pp.231,243f.

[35]"Comptes rendus," 1896, p. 359, No. 6; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 56, No. 118.

[36]"Chronicles," II., p. 8, l. 18.

[37]Op. cit., II., p. 27. The passage has no reference to Kish, as suggested by Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," II., p. 26.

[38]"Chronicles," II., pp. 3, 30 f., 90 f.

[39]See below, p.241.

[40]Though we have no direct evidence in his case, Sharru-Gi may well have been the founder of his dynasty; the absence of his father's name from the genealogy in the Constantinople text and the cruciform monument accords with this suggestion. Shar-Gani-sharri ascribes no title to his father Dâti-Enlil (see further, p.232).

[41]Cf. Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," I., pp. 16, 26.

[42]Dhorme's suggestion that GI was an ideographic writing forGaniin the early period (cf. "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," 1909, col. 53 f.) is scarcely probable, though the fact that the commonest ideographic value for GI waskanûorganû("a reed") may possibly have contributed in some way to the later confusion. It should also be noted that Clay has recently pointed out the occurrence of the nameSha-ru-ki-in, on a fragment of an early text (see "Amurru," p. 194), as apparently that of a ruler of "the four quarters." Since the finalncan hardly be treated as the nunnation (as in the wordir-bi-ti-inin the fifth line of the text), we may probably regard the passage as proving the early existence of the nameSharrukîn, Sargon, which would be the natural rendering of the name Sharru-GI (see above, p.221). But the title of the king in the new text, and his description as "the beloved of Ishtar," would suit a king of Akkad rather than a king of Kish, thus affording additional excuse for a confusion by the later scribes.

[43]I is therefore still permissible to employ the name "Sargon" as a synonym of Shar-Gani-sharri, the predecessor of Narâm-Sin upon the throne of Akkad. Similarly the terms "Pre-Sargonic" and "Post-Sargonic" need not be given up. In the text, however, the forms Sharru-Gi and Shar-Gani-sharri have been employed for the sake of clearness.

[44]See above, p.210f.

[45]See the frontispiece; and cf. p.242f.

[46]See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., p. 111.

[47]See above, p.211f.

[48]It should be noted that on a tablet from Tello of the time of the Dynasty of Akkad mention is made of a patesi of Susa who must have been the dependent of the reigning king. His name should probably be read as Ilishma, but as the end of the line is broken, it is also possible that the personage referred to was Ilish, an official in the service of the patesi of Susa (cf. "Rec. de tabl.," p. 57, No. 122, Rev., 1. 2 f.). It is possible that to this period also should be assigned a patesi, whose name, occurring upon the fragment of an archaic inscription from Susa, has been provisionally read as Ur-ilim (see Scheil, "Textes Elam.-Sémit.", III., p. 1); see further, p.243f.

[49]Cf. "Old Bab. Inscr.," Pt. II., pl. 2, No. 2; and see further, p. 248 f.

[50]See Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus," 1890, p. 359, No. 6; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 56, No. 118; and "Königsinschriften," p. 225.

[51]See King, "Chronicles," Vol. I., p. 38 f.

[52]See above, p.197f.

[53]For a discussion of the archaeological evidence adduced in favour of the theory, see further, Chap. XII., p.343f.

[54]The phrase "the Sea in the East," opposed to the Country of the West, can only mean the Eastern Sea,i.e.the Persian Gulf. It would be more than a fanciful interpretation to take it as implying a maritime expedition in the eastern portion of the Western Sea, as Winckler suggests (see "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," Nov. 1907, col. 580). The Neo-Babylonian Chronicle, though the tablet on which it is written is later in point of time than the Omen-tablet from Ashur-bani-pal's Library, clearly represents the more original version. There would be no object in amending the Chronicle's text, while its mutilation to fit the Liver-omens would naturally introduce inconsistencies, which it would be tempting to a copyist to correct.

[55]In the commercial tablets of the period of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin, reference is frequently made to transport by water. Thus the arrival of grain-boats at Lagash is often noted, or arrangements are made for the despatch of cattle and asses by boat to other places.

[56]See above, p.219.

[57]See above, p.218.

[58]See above, p.226.

[59]See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., pp. 2 ff.

[60]See Thureau-Dangin, "Rec. de tabl.," pp. 44 ff., Nos. 77 ff.; "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., pp. 71 ff.

[61]See above, pp.206ff.

[62]See "Chronicles," I., p. 40 f.; II., pp. 5, 32.

[63]See above, p.205.

[64]See Thureau-Dangin, "Recueil de tablettes," Nos. 99, 136, 176. The possibility may also be noted that the expedition represents one of Narâm-Sin's successful efforts, at the beginning of his reign, to recover his predecessor's empire which had dwindled during his later years.

[65]In addition to Lugal-ushumgal's seal-impression with its address to Shar-Gani-sharri, another has been recovered with a similar address to Narâm-Sin, which he evidently employed after the latter's ascension of the throne; see Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., p. 11.

[66]On the monument the end of the name is wanting. Scheil suggested the restoration Mani[um] (see "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," III., p. 5), a reading that would not be inconsistent with the traces on the Omen-tablet (see King, "Chronicles," II., p. 39, n. 1). But M. Thureau-Dangin informs me that the traces upon the statue are not those of the sign UM, but possibly of DAN, so that the form Mannu-dannu may be a fairly accurate transcription of the original name.

[67]See "Comptes rendus," 1899, p. 348.

[68]See "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," I., pp. 53 ff.

[69]See the frontispiece to this volume.

[70]See above, p.231, n. 2

[71]See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., p. 1. He also built in Lagash a temple to Sin, the Moon-god; see King, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Nov. 1909.

[72]See the date-formulæ on tablets Nos. 86, 106, and 144 in "Rec. de tabl.," pp. 46, 53, 65; "Königsinschriften," p 226.

[73]See p.245, Fig. 59.

[74]See Scheil, "Rec. de trav.," Vol. XV., p. 62.

[75]See Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," II., p. 63, No. 120; and Meyer, "Geschichte des Altertums," Bd. I., Hft. II., p. 473.

[76]I visited the site in the summer of 1904, when on my way from Persia to Samsun, and the exact spot was pointed out to me where the stele was found. Narâm-Sin's building, or platform, was on lower ground below the tell, on which probably stood the citadel. The stele was found only about five feet below the surface, and it is clear that no considerable accumulation of debris covers the remains of the city of Narâm-Sin's time, and that its excavation would be a comparatively simple matter.

[77]On being discovered by the villagers no particular value was attached to it, and, as it was too large for them to use, it was left lying for three years on the spot where it was found. It was then brought to Diarbekr by the owner of the village, Chialy Effendi, who built it into the edging of a fountain in the court of his house on the left bank of the Tigris outside the city. On his death, about fourteen years ago, Natik Effendi sent it to the Museum at Constantinople.

[78]See Ménant, "Recherches sur la glyptique orientale," p. 76, pl. 1, No. 1. The seal is that of Izinum, the scribe, who was evidently in Bin-Gani-sharri's service.

[79]The seal of Abi-ishar, the scribe, bore the names of both Narâm-Sin and Bin-Gani-sharri; see Thureau-Dangin, "Rec. de tabl.," p. 70, No. 169. Erinda is mentioned on a commercial tablet of the period as the slave of a certain Bi-Gani-sharri (op. cit., p. 48, No. 94, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., p. 76), who may possibly be identified with Narâm-Sin's son.

[80]"Comptes rendus," 1899, p. 348.

[81]See the opposite plate.

[82]See Heuzey, "Comptes rendus," 1895, pp. 22 ff.; "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. III., pp. 113 ff.; and Thureau-Dangin, "Revue Sémitique," 1897, pp. 166 ff. For the sculptures, see p.248f., Figs. 60 and 61.

[83]Certain epigraphic peculiarities in the inscription, which are not characteristic of the Sargonic period, may perhaps be explained as due to the influence of Lagash: the inscription may have been engraved by a scribe of that city, who has reproduced the local forms of the characters with which he was familiar (cf. "Rev. Sémit.," 1897, p. 169).

[84]As the stele was set up in Lagash, the section dealing with the distribution of that city's land would naturally be added to the historical record.

[85]See above, p. 220.

[86]See the plate facing p.206.

[87]See De Morgan, "Mission scientifique en Perse," Vol. IV., p. 161, pl. ix.

[88]When passing by this route into Persia from Turkey, in the spring of 1904, I made a careful study of all the sculptured panels on both sides of the Hulvan. The second largest panel is that of this early Semitic king; on the ledge below the sculpture are traces of an inscription, of which sufficient is preserved to prove that it is written in Semitic Babylonian. The sculptured panel at Sheikh-Khân, with its fragmentary Semitic inscription (De Morgan, op. city pl. x.), is a very much ruder production, and is probably of a considerably later date.

[89]See the panel on the cover of this volume; and cf. p.217f.

We have seen that the Dynasty of Akkad marks the culminating point attained by the races of Sumer and Akkad during the earlier periods of their history. It is true that the kings of this period owed much to their immediate predecessors, but they added to and improved their inheritance. Through long centuries of slow development the village community had gradually been transformed into the city-state, and this institution had flourished and had in its turn decayed before the centralizing influence of the kingdoms of Sumer and Kish. It was on the ruins of the latter monarchy that Shar-Gani-sharri founded his empire, which differed from that of Kish in its extent, rather than in the principles of its formation. A similarly close connection can be traced between the cultural remains of the successive periods with which we have hitherto been dealing. The rude, though vigorous, artistic efforts of the earlier Sumerians furnished the models upon which the immigrant Semites of Northern Babylonia improved. In the sculpture of Kish and upon cylinder-seals of that period we see the transition between the two styles, when the aim at a naturalistic treatment sometimes produced awkward and grotesque results. The full attainment of this aim under the patronage of the Akkadian kings gives their epoch an interest and an importance, which, from their empire alone, it would not perhaps have enjoyed.

While the earlier ages of Babylonian history afford a striking picture of gradual growth and development,the periods succeeding the Dynasty of Akkad are marked by a certain retrograde movement, or reversion to earlier ideals. The stimulus, which produced the empire and the art of Akkad, may be traced to the influx of fresh racial elements into Northern Babylonia and their fusion with the older and more highly cultured elements in the south. When the impulse was exhausted and the dynasties to which it had given rise had run their course, little further development along these lines took place. Both in art and politics a Sumerian reaction followed the period of Semitic power, and the establishment of the Dynasty of Ur was significant of more than a shifting of political influence southwards. It would appear that a systematic attempt was made to return to the earlier standards. But the influence of Akkad and her monarchs, though deliberately ignored and combated, was far from ineffective. As the sculptures of Gudea owe much to the period of Narâm-Sin, so the empire of Dungi was inevitably influenced by Shar-Gani-sharri's conquests. There was no sudden arrest either of the political or of the cultural development of the country. A recovery of power by the Sumerians merely changed the direction in which further development was to take place. Although, when viewed from a general standpoint, there is no break of continuity between the epoch of Akkad and that of Ur, there is some lack of information with regard to events in the intervening period. There is every indication that between the reign of Narâm-Sin and that of Ur-Engur, the founder of the Dynasty of Ur, we have to count in generations rather than in centuries, but the total length of the period is still unknown. The close of the Dynasty of Akkad, as we have already seen, is wrapped in mystery, but the gap in our knowledge may fortunately to some extent be bridged. At this point the city of Lagash once more comes to our assistance, and, by supplying the names of a number of her patesis, enables us to arrange a sequence of rulers, and thereby to form some estimate of the length of the period involved.

It will be remembered that under Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin a certain Lugal-ushumgal was patesi ofLagash, and that the impressions of his seals have been recovered which he employed during the reigns of these two monarchs.[1]The names of three other patesis of Lagash are known, who must also be assigned to the period of the Dynasty of Akkad, since they are mentioned upon tablets of that date. These are Ur-Babbar, Ur-E, and Lugal-bur; the first of these appears to have been the contemporary of Narâm-Sin,[2]and in that case he must have followed Lugal-ushumgal. As to Ur-E and Lugal-bur, we have no information beyond the fact that they lived during the period of the kings of Akkad. A further group of tablets found at Tello, differentiated in type from those of the Dynasty of Akkad on the one hand, and on the other from tablets of the Dynasty of Ur, furnishes us with the names of other patesis to be set in the period before the rise of Ur-Engur. Three of these, Basha-mama,[3]Ur-mama, and Ug-me, were probably anterior to Ur-Bau, who has left us ample proof of his building activity at Lagash. We possess a tablet dated in the accession year of Ur-mama, and another dated during the patesiate of Ug-me, in the year of the installation of the high priest in Ninâ.[4]A sealing of this last patesi's reign has also been found, which supports the attribution of this group of tablets to the period between the Sargonic era and that of Ur. The subject of the engraving upon the seal is the adoration of a deity, a scene of very common occurrence during the later period; but by its style and treatment the work vividly recalls that of the epoch of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin. On the strength of this evidence it has been argued that Ug-me's periodwas not far from that of Lugal-ushumgal, Ur-E, and Lugal-bur.[5]

One of the documents of this period is dated during the patesiate of Ur-Bau himself, in the year in which he undertook certain extensive works of irrigation, while others are dated in the year of Ur-gar's accession, and in that which followed the accession of Nammakhni.[6]From other evidence we know that Nammakhni was Ur-Bau's son-in-law, since he espoused Ningandu, Ur-Bau's daughter, and secured through her his title to the throne.[7]Ur-gar, too, must belong to the generation following Ur-Bau, since a female statue has been found at Tello, which was dedicated to some deity by a daughter of Ur-Bau on behalf of her own life and that of Ur-gar, the patesi.[8]Tablets are also dated in the accession-years of Ka-azag, Galu-Bau, and Galu-Gula,[9]and their contents furnish indications that they date from about the same time.[10]Ur-Ninsun, whose name and title occur on the fragment of a bowl very similar to that employed by Nammakhni's wife,[11]is not mentioned on the tablets, but several are dated in the reigns of Gudea and of his son Ur-Ningirsu.[12]Now, in the reign of Dungi, the son of Ur-Engur, there lived a high priest of the goddess Ninâ named Ur-Ningirsu; and, if we may identify this priestly official with the patesi of that name, as is very probable,[13]we obtain a definite point of contact between the later history of Lagash and that of Ur. But even if the synchronism between Ur-Ningirsu and Dungi be regarded as non-proven, thereis no doubt that no long interval separated Gudea's reign from the Dynasty of Ur. The character of the art and the style of writing which we find in Lagash at this time are so similar to those of Ur, that the one period must have followed the other without a break. A striking example of the resemblance which existed in the artistic productions of the two cities at this time is afforded by the votive copper cones, or nails, of Gudea and Dungi, surmounted by the figures of a bullcouchant. A glance will show the slight changes in the form and treatment of the subject which have been introduced by the metal-workers of Dungi's reign.

Fig. 62.—Fig. 63. Copper figures of bulls surmounting cones which were employed as votive offerings in the reigns of Gudea and Dungi.—Déc., pl. 28, Figs. 5 and 6; Cat. Nos. 159 and 162.

From the brief summary given in the preceding paragraphs it will have been noted that we have recovered the names of some twelve patesis of Lagash, who may be assigned to the period between the dynasties of Akkad and Ur. Of these twelve names no less than eleven occur upon a group of tablets, which were found together at Tello, and are marked out by theirshape and contents as belonging to a single period. The tablets themselves are of unbaked clay, and they form a transition between the types of Akkad and Ur. In the last of the reigns mentioned it is probable that we may trace a synchronism with the Dynasty of Ur, and, although no actual point of contact can yet be established with the Dynasty of Akkad, such evidence as that furnished by Ug-me's sealing suggests that no considerable lapse of time can have taken place. That these twelve patesis were the only ones who ruled at Lagash during this interval is improbable, and at any time the names of other rulers may be recovered. But it is certain the reigns of many of these patesis were extremely brief, and that we have not to do with a single dynasty, firmly established throughout the whole period, whose separate members, after their accession, each held the throne for the term of his natural life. We have definite proof that several of the patesis, such as Ka-azag, Galu-Bau, and Galu-Gula, ruled only for a few years, and it would seem that at certain points during this period a change of rulers took place in Lagash with considerable frequency.

The employment of the title of patesi, and the total absence of that of "king" at this time, suggests that Lagash had not succeeded in establishing her independence, and still owed allegiance to some alien dynasty. It is in accordance with this view that the dates inscribed upon the commercial tablets do not refer to events of a military character. We may conclude that, at any rate until the reign of Gudea, Lagash and her rulers were not concerned to enforce their authority over other cities, nor to defend their own border from attack. The existence of a more powerful city, claiming the hegemony in Babylonia, would account for the absence of military enterprise reflected in the date-formulæ and in the foundation-records of the time. For such a city, while guaranteeing the integrity of each of her tributary states, would have resented the inauguration of an ambitious policy by any one of them. On the other hand, the purely local character of the events commemorated in the date-formulæ is no less significant. These are without exception drawnfrom the local history of Lagash, and betray no evidence of the authority exercised by a foreign suzerain. It is therefore probable that during the greater part of this period Lagash enjoyed a considerable measure of autonomy, and that such bonds as may have united her to any central administration were far less tightly drawn than at the time of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin. Like Lagash, her old rival Umma seems to have survived as a patesiate under the later Semitic rulers in the north, and it is probably to this time that we may assign Galu-Babbar, the patesi of that city, three of whose votive cones are preserved in the British Museum.[14]During the earlier part of this period Lagash presents the picture of a compact and peaceful state, content to develop her own resources. A considerable increase of power is noticeable in the reign of Gudea, the most famous ruler of the period, who, though still retaining the title of patesi, must be regarded as practically an independent sovereign, since he was strong enough to undertake a successful campaign in Elam, and imported his building materials from Arabia and the Syrian coast.

With the exception of Gudea, the only ruler of this period who has left us any considerable records or remains is Ur-Bau, the predecessor of Nammakhni and Ur-gar upon the throne of Lagash. We possess a small diorite statue of this ruler, which, like most of those found at Tello, is without its head.[15]It is a standing figure, and its squat and conventional proportions suffice to show that it must date from a rather earlier period than the larger and finer statues of Gudea, which are fashioned from the same hard material. Gudea definitely states that he fetched the diorite for his series of large statues from Magan, but Ur-Bau makes no such boast; and, although it is clear that his stone must have come from the same quarries, we may probably conclude that the small block he employed for his figure had not been procured as the result of a special expedition. In fact, such records as he has left us portray him as devoting all his energies to thebuilding of temples within the different quarters of his city.[16]

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