The extent of Manishtusu's authority within the limits of Babylonia is indicated by the reference to Southern Babylonian cities in his obelisk-inscription; for, since the patesis of Lagash and Umma sent their relatives or dependants to Manishtusu's court, it may be inferred that his dominions included at least a portion of Sumer as well as Akkad. Like Urumush, he also appears to have undertaken military expeditions, by means of which he added to the territory under his control. In the British Museum are fragments of two monoliths, engraved with duplicate inscriptions, which record his defeat of a confederation of thirty-two kings "on this side (?) of the sea," and the capture of the cities over which they ruled.[40] It is difficult to determine with certainty the region in which these cities lay, but, since "the sea" is mentioned without any qualifying phrase, we may probably take it as referring to the Persian Gulf. In that case the text may have recorded the subjugation of the southern portion of Sumer, or perhaps the conquest of cities within the Elamite border. Though Manishtusu's name does not occur in the few lines of the main inscription preserved upon the fragments, there is no doubt that the text is his, for upon one of them is engraved a dedication in rather larger characters, stating that the stele of which it formed a part was dedicated to Shamash by Manishtusu, King of Kish. Since both the fragments were found at Abû Habba, we may conclude that the stelæ were set up in the great temple at Sippar, and were dedicated by Manishtusu to the Sun-god in commemoration of his victory.
Other monuments of Manishtusu's reign that have come down to us consist of a number of figures and statues of the king which have been discovered at Susa during the French excavations on that site. There is no doubt that the majority of these were carried to Susa as spoil of war, and were not set up in that city by Manishtusu himself, for they bear Anzanite inscriptions to that effect. Thus one statue is stated to have been brought from Akkad to Susa by Shutruk-nakhkhunte,[41] and another[42] by the same king from "Ishnunuk," incidentally proving that the state of Ashnunnak, which lay to the east of the Tigris, formed part of Manishtusu's dominions.[43] But a more recently discovered statue of the king bears no later Anzanite record, and is inscribed with its original dedication to the god Naruti by a high official in Manishtusu's service.[44] It is a remarkable monument, for while the figure itself is of alabaster, the eyes are formed of white limestone let into sockets and held in place by bitumen; the black pupils are now wanting.[45] Though the staring effect of the inlaid eyes is scarcely pleasing, the statue is undoubtedly the most interesting example of early Semitic sculpture in the round that has yet been recovered. Both in this statue and in the more famous obelisk, Père Scheil would see evidence of Manishtusu's permanent subjugation of Elam, in support of his view that Elam and Babylonia practically formed a single country at this early period.[46] But the text inscribed upon the obelisk, as we have already seen,[47] is of a purely local interest, and no object would have been gained by storing such a record at Susa, even on the hypothesis that Manishtusu had transferred his capital thither. It is safer therefore to draw no historical conclusions from the provenance of the statue and the obelisk, but to class them with the other statues which we know to have been carried off as spoil to Elam at a later period. There is evidence that Manishtusu, like Urumush, carried on a successful war with Elam,[48] but it is probable that the successes of both kings were of the nature of victorious raids and were followed up by no permanent occupation of the country. The early existence of Semitic influence in Elam is amply attested by the employment of the Semitic Babylonian language for their own inscriptions by native Elamite rulers such as Basha-Shushinak.[49] But it does not necessarily follow that the inscriptions of native kings of Babylonia, which have been found at Susa, were deposited there by these kings themselves during a period of Semitic rule in Elam. In fact, it was probably not until the period of the Dynasty of Ur that Elam was held for any length of time as a subject state by kings of either Sumer or Akkad.
Fig. 57.—Alabaster statue of Manishtusu, King of Kish, dedicated by a high official to the god Naruti. Found at Susa.—See Comptes rendus, 1907, p. 398 f.; Délég. en Perse, Mém. X., pl. 1.
Until recently Manishtusu and Urumush were the only kings of Kish of this period whose names had been recovered. But a find has been made at Susa, which, while furnishing the name of another king of Kish, raises important questions with regard to the connection between the empires of Kish and Akkad. In the present chapter we have been dealing with a period of transition in the history of the lands of Sumer and Akkad. The fall of Lagash had been followed by a confederation of Sumerian cities with Erech as its capital, and the conquests of Lugal-zaggisi had sufficed to preserve for a time the integrity of the southern kingdom he had founded. But events were already taking place which were to result in the definite transference of power from Sumer to the north. The votive inscriptions from Nippur have thrown some light upon the struggles by which the Semitic immigrants into Northern Babylonia sought to extend their influence southward. The subsequent increase in the power of Kish was not followed by any fresh access of Sumerian power, but directly paved the way for the Semitic empire founded by Shar-Gani-sharri with the city of Akkad as his capital. The evidence of the close connection between the rise of Kish and Akkad suggests that both cities were borne up upon the same wave of Semitic domination, which by this time had succeeded in imposing itself on Babylonia from the north. In the following chapter we shall see that Shar-Gani-sharri was not the leader of this racial movement, and that his empire rested upon foundations which other rulers had laid.
[1] It has indeed been suggested that, as Urukagina is termed "King of Girsu" in the lament on the fall of Lagash, he may have survived the catastrophe and continued to rule as king in Girsu (cf. Genouillac, "Tabl. sum. arch.," p. xvi.); but it is scarcely probable that Lugal-zaggisi, after sacking and burning the greater part of the city, would have permitted him to do so.
[2] See Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," Pt. II., No. 87, pll. 38 ff.; Thureau-Dangin, "Königsinschriften," pp. 152 ff.