6. Outline of the History.—The history of Babylonia and Assyria falls into eight different periods. Our information is not yet sufficiently complete to enable us to write the history of any one of them, but we can discern in outline a most fascinating course of events.
(1) The Prehistoric Period, or the period before the rise of written history, during which we can ascertain from various inferences the general course of events. This period must have begun about 4500 or 5000 B. C. and lasted down to about 3200 B. C. The Semites from Arabia[13] were the first to pour into the fertile valley of Mesopotamia. They came up from the south, establishing the city of Eridu on the shore of the Persian Gulf, then the cities of Ur, Erech, Lagash, Nippur, etc. They carried with them the culture of the palm-tree, and learned to raise grain in the alluvial soil of the rivers, but they had no system of writing. The early cities of Babylonia were the fortified residences of different tribes, which were frequently at war with one another. One city would subjugate its neighbors for a time and establish a small empire. As long as it continued to rule, a certain degree of homage was paid to its god by all the cities over which it ruled. In prehistoric times there were kingdoms of this sort ruled at one time by Eridu, at another by Erech, and at another by Nippur, for Ea, the god of Eridu, Anu, the god of Erech, and Enlil or Bel, god of Nippur, were ever after worshiped as the supreme gods of Babylonia.
Sumerians.—At some time before the dawn of history a people whom we call Sumerians moved into Babylonia from the East. These people spoke a language which possesses some features in common with Finnish and Turkish. They were neither Aryans nor Semites. The Semites wore thick hair and long beards; the Sumerians shaved both their heads and faces. These Sumerians overran southern Babylonia as far north as Nippur and in this region became the ruling race. They grafted the worship of their own gods upon the worship of the deities of the cities which they conquered, but the Semitic elements of these local deities persisted even in Sumerian thought. It thus came about that the bald and beardless Sumerians picture their gods with hair and beards. After settling in Babylonia, the Sumerians developed a system of writing. It was at first hieroglyphic, like the Egyptian system. Afterward the Semites, who still retained the supremacy in the cities of Kish and Agade in the north, and who had probably been reinforced there by fresh migrations from Arabia, adapted this system of writing to their own language. As clay was the usual writing material and it was difficult to make good pictures on it, the pictographic form of the writing was soon lost. The pictures degenerated into those conventional symbols which are today known as the “cuneiform” characters.
(2) The Pre-Babylonian Period of the history includes the period from about 3200 B. C. down to the rise of the city of Babylon, about 2100 B. C. This period, like the preceding, was a time of successive city kingdoms. 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. Ur-Nina’s grandson, Eannatum, raised the power of Lagash to its greatest height, conquering all the cities of Babylonia, even Kish. The Elamites were always invading the fertile plains of Babylonia, so Eannatum ascended the eastern mountains and subjugated Elam.
“Stele of the Vultures.”—He celebrated his victories by the erection of one of the most remarkable monuments which the ancient world produced, the so-called “stele of the vultures.” From the pictures on the monument we learn that the soldiers of Lagash, about 2950 B. C., waged their battles in a solid phalanx protected by shields. The Greeks were formerly supposed to have invented this form of attack, but were anticipated by 2,500 years; (see [Fig. 19]).
Although this dynasty furnished several other rulers, the leadership of all Babylonia was lost after the death of Eannatum. It passed first to Opis and then again to Kish. Lagash continued to flourish, however, during 200 years, while these cities were the overlords of its rulers. Its wars had made it rich, and all the arts flourished there. Our best specimens of terra-cotta and stone work come from this period of this city. Under Entemena, the successor of Eannatum, a silver vase of exquisite workmanship and ornamentation was made; (see [Fig. 21]). After a century or more of wealth and luxury, during which priests and officials became corrupt, a new king, Urkagina, seized the throne and endeavored to reform the administration. Naturally, his reforms were unpopular with the priesthood and the army, and, though popular with the people, he unintentionally weakened the defensive power of his country.
At this juncture a new ruler named Lugalzaggisi arose in the city of Umma, who ultimately overthrew Lagash and became king of all Babylonia. He made Erech his capital. This was about 2800 B. C. Lugalzaggisi claims to have overrun the country from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. If so, and there is no good reason to doubt his claim, Babylonia and the Palestinian coast-lands were under him brought together for the first time.
After Lugalzaggisi the city of Agade came to the fore. Its great King Sargon about 2775 B. C. founded a dynasty which ruled for nearly two hundred years. The kings of this line were Semitic and resided sometimes at Agade and sometimes at Kish. Sargon conquered Syria and a later chronicle says that he crossed the western sea. As a seal of this dynasty was found in Cyprus, it is possibly true. Naram-Sin, one of the most famous kings of this line, conquered the country of Magan, which some believe to be the peninsula of Sinai, but which others hold was situated in eastern Arabia.
About the time of this dynasty, or a little before, King Lugaldaudu flourished at Adab, the modern Bismya, where Dr. Banks found his statue. In this same general period a king named Anubanini ruled in a city to the northward, called Lulubi.
Perhaps it was under the later kings of this dynasty of Agade, or under a dynasty of Erech which held sway for a brief period after them, that Gudea flourished at Lagash. This ruler does not claim to be a king, but his city enjoyed great prosperity under him, and he rebuilt it in fine style. He seems to have been on peaceful terms with much of the world, and brought for his structures stone from Magan, cedar wood from Amanus on the Mediterranean coast, and copper from Lebanon. After this time the land was overrun by hordes from Gutium, a region to the northeast beyond the Tigris. They established a dynasty which lasted for 125 (or 159) years.