Lagash

“ The men of Umma, by the despoiling of Lagash, have committed a sin against the god Ningirsu! The power that is come unto them, from them shall be taken away! Of sin on the part of Urukagina, king of Girsu, there is none. But as for Lugal-zaggisi, patesi of Umma, may his goddess Nidaba bear this sin upon her head! ”

“ Semitic immigration now took place from Akkad and the north. Among southern Sumerian cities Erech and Umma, Ninni-esh and Adab had particularly close relations with Lagash, while goods despatched from Kish, Nippur, and Ur are invoiced in the lists. The conquests of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin were also reflected in the articles of commerce that reached the market of Lagash, where contributions from Magan, Melukhkha, and Elam were not infrequently met with, and we even find the sale of slaves from such distant countries as Gutiu and Amurru recorded. ”

“ One city would establish an empire for a while, then another, having become more powerful, would take the leadership. When first our written records enable us to trace the course of events, Lagash in the south and Kish in the north were the rival cities. Lagash was ruled by a king, Enkhegal. A little later Meselim, King of Kish, conquered all of southern Babylonia, including Lagash. After Meselim had passed away, Ur-Nina founded a new dynasty at Lagash and gained his independence. ”

“ The most ancient recorded history of the human race is that engraved on the tablets and seals of chiefs who organized a civilization about the head of the Persian Gulf more than 4000 years before the beginning of the Christian era. These record by both text and pictures that the emblem of the Summerian city of Lagash, which ruled southern Mesopotamia long previous to its subjugation by Babylonia about 3000 B. C., was an eagle “displayed,” that is, facing us with wings and legs spread and its head turned in profile. This figure was carried by the army of Lagash as a military standard ”

“ Allusions to cities other than Lagash and its component parts in Urukagina's inscriptions are few, and [Pg 186] those that do occur fail to throw much light upon the relations he maintained with other city-states. A small object of clay in the form of an olive [53] has been found, which bears the votive inscription: "Ningirsu speaks good words with Bau concerning Urukagina in the temple of Erech,"—a phrase that seems to imply a claim on the part of Lagash to suzerainty over that city. ”

“ 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. ”

“ During the reign of Eannatum it is clear that the people of Lagash enjoyed a considerable measure of prosperity, for, although they were obliged to furnish men for their patesi's army, the state acquired considerable wealth from the sack of conquered cities, and from the tribute of grain and other supplies which was levied upon them as a mark of their permanent subjection. ”

“ At the proper distance from Lagash, he plunged off boldly across country and entered the main area of the forest, reflecting wryly as he did so that he was probably the first human in the short history of Antarian exploration who had gone into one of the great forests with absolute knowledge that he would come out of it alive. And, as so often happens to men who have no fear, trouble avoided him.
He followed the directions he had obtained from Shifaz and found the plantation without trouble. He could hardly miss it, because its size was far from accurately expressed in the native's memory. ”

“ We know few details concerning the condition of these cities, but the wealth enjoyed by the temples of Lagash may be regarded as typical of the other great Sumerian religious centres during Dungi's reign. Among the baked clay tablets from Tello which date from this period are extensive lists of cattle, sheep, and asses, owned by the temples, and detailed tablets of accounts concerning the administration of the rich temple lands. ”

“ For in his right hand the god holds the emblem of Lagash, the eagle with outspread wings, clawing the heads of two lions; and the stele itself, while indirectly perpetuating Eannatum's fame, was essentially intended to commemorate victories achieved by Ningirsu over his city's enemies. This fact will also explain the rest of the scene sculptured upon the lower fragment.
Fig. 46.—Part of the Stele of the Vultures, sculptured with a scene representing Ningirsu clubbing the enemies of Lagash (Shirpurla) , whom he has caught in his net.—Fragments D and E, Obverse ”

“ VI., ll. 46 ff., and cf. pp. 39 ff.
[30] The incantation is the one which has furnished us with authority for reading the name of Shirpurla as Lagash (see above, p. 17, n. 3) . It is directed against the machinations of evil demons, and in one passage the powers for good inherent in the ancient cities of Babylonia are invoked on behalf of the possessed man. Here, along with the names of Eridu, Lagash, and Shuruppak, occurs the ideogram for Opis, which is rendered in the Assyrian translation as Ki-e-shi, i.e. Kesh, or Kish (cf. Thompson, "Devils and Evil Spirits," vol. i., p. 162 f.) ”

“ The fact that other cities in the neighbourhood, which shared a similar fate, have not yielded such striking results to the excavator, in itself bears testimony to the important position occupied by Lagash, not only as the seat of a long line of successful rulers, but as the most important centre of Sumerian culture and art.
DOORWAY OF A BUILDING AT TELLO ERECTED BY GUDEA, PATESI OF SHIRPURLA; ON THE LEFT IS PART OF A LATER BUILDING OF THE SELEUCID ERA. Déc. en Chald., pl. 53 (bis) . ”

“ The war ended in a treaty concluded with Enakalli, vicegerent of Grishban, by which Lagash obtained considerable advantages. Idingiranagin replaced the stele of Meshilim, overthrown by one of Enakalli’s predecessors, and dug a ditch from the Euphrates to the provinces of Guedln to serve henceforth as a boundary. He further levied a tribute of corn for the benefit of the goddess Nina and her consort Ningirsu, and applied the spoils of the campaign to the building of new sanctuaries for the patron-gods of his city. ”

“ Unfortunately the excavations have not yielded us a rich harvest for the study of the artistic development of sculpture during this period, but the material at hand would tend to show that there was far less development in the interval between the later dynasty of Lagash, the age in which Gudea lived, and the establishment of the first Semitic dynasty of the city of Babylon, than there was in the period separating the first dynasty of Lagash from the epoch of Sargon and Narâm-Sin, the Semitic kings of Agade. ”

“ Whether Akkad, or some other city, still claimed a nominal suzerainty over the southern districts it is impossible to say, but it is at least clear that in the reign of Gudea no such claim was either recognized or enforced. We may suppose that Lagash and the other great cities in the south, relieved from the burden of Semitic domination, enjoyed a period of peace and tranquillity, which each city employed for the development of her material resources. ”

“ After the time of Gudea, Lagash seems to have lost its importance; at least we know nothing more about it until the construction of the Seleucid fortress mentioned, when it seems to have become part of the Greek kingdom of Characene. The objects found at Tello are the most valuable art treasures up to this time discovered in Babylonia. ”

“ Entemena, the pious patesi of Lagash, whose memory is associated with the famous silver vase decorated with the lion-headed eagle form of Nin-Girsu, had been raised to the dignity of a god, and Ammiditana caused his statue to be erected so that offerings might be made to it. He set up several images of himself also, and celebrated the centenary of the accession to the throne of his grandfather, Samsu-iluna, "the warrior lord", by unveiling his statue with much ceremony at Kish. ”

“ For instance, from the Tello inscriptions there is no doubt that Lagash was in Sumer. Thus the god Ningirsu, when informing Gudea, patesi of Lagash, that prosperity shall follow the building of E-ninnû, promises that oil and wool shall be abundant in Sumer; [17] the temple itself, which was in Lagash, is recorded to have been built of bricks of Sumer; [18] and, after the building of the temple was finished, Gudea prays that the land may rest in security, and that Sumer may be at the head of the countries. [19] Again, Lugal-zaggisi, who styles himself King of the Land, i.e. ”

“ From the preceding discussion of the campaigns of Eannatum it will have been seen that during his reign a considerable expansion took place in the power and influence of Lagash. From being a city-state with her influence restricted to her own territory, she became head of a confederation of the great Sumerian cities, she successfully disputed with the northern cities the hegemony in Babylonia, and she put a check upon the encroachments of Elam, the hereditary foe of Sumer and Akkad alike. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is true that in the records that have come down to us the men of Umma are represented as always taking the initiative, and provoking hostilities by crossing the frontier-ditch which marked the limit of their possessions. But they never aimed at more than the seizure of territory, and the patesi of Lagash was always strong enough to check their advance, and generally to expel them, before they [Pg 188] reached the city itself. Indeed, Entemena had done more than this, and, by his capture and annexation of Umma, had crippled for a time the resources of this ambitious little state. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The transference of the quality of 'brilliancy' from the town to the goddess would be expressed by calling the latter the offspring of that part of visible nature which is associated in the mind with 'brilliancy.' Somewhat mysterious, and still awaiting a satisfactory explanation, is the title 'sacrificer,' or 'priest of Anu,' which one of the rulers of Lagash, Ur-Nin-girsu, assumes. It is scarcely possible that the god of heaven can be meant; and, on the other hand, if we are to assume merely a personification of heaven, we encounter fresh difficulties. ”

“ This Gudea (c. 2700 B.C.) was high-priest of Lagash, a city perhaps thirty miles north of Ur, and was famous as a patron of the architectural and allied arts. He ransacked western Asia for building materials. Arabia supplied him with copper for ornamentation, the Amames mountains with cedar-wood, the quarries of Lebanon with stone, while the deserts adjacent to Palestine furnished him with rich stones of all kinds for use in decorative work, and districts on the shores of the Persian Gulf with timber for ordinary building purposes. ”

“ It is true that the records, from which our information is derived, were drawn up by the rulers of Lagash whose deeds they chronicle, and are naturally far from being impartial authorities. A victory may sometimes have been claimed, when the facts may not have fully justified it; and to this extent we have been forced to view the history of Sumer and of Akkad from the standpoint of a single city. Had the sites of other cities yielded as rich a harvest as Tello, it is probable that other states would be found to have played no less important parts. ”

“ We may indeed go further and assume that Girsu and Uru-azagga are the two oldest quarters of the city, the combination of the two representing the first natural steps in the development of the principality, afterwards known as Lagash, through the addition of other quarters [33] . She is indeed explicitly called the consort of Nin-girsu; and this relation is implied also, in the interesting phrase used by Gudea, who presents gifts to Bau in the name of Nin-girsu, and calls them 'marriage gifts'. ”

“ We have definite evidence that he also held the neighbouring city of Larsa, for bricks have been found at Senkera, which record his rebuilding of the temple of Babbar, the Sun-god. With the acquisition of Lagash, he was doubtless strong enough to obtain the recognition of his authority throughout the whole of Sumer.
BRICK OF UR-ENGUR, KING OF UR, RECORDING THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE OF THE GODDESS NINNI IN THE CITY OF ERECH.—Front Warka; Brit. Mus., No. 90015; photo, by Messrs. Mansell & Co. ”