A History of Sumer and Akkad / An account of the early races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the Babylonian monarchy

by L. W. King

In the reign of Dungi, who succeeded his father upon the throne and inherited from him the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad, the whole of Northern Babylonia was brought to acknowledge the suzerainty of Ur. Considerable light has been thrown upon Dungi's policy, and indirectly upon that of the whole of Ur-Engur's dynasty, by the recently published chronicle concerning early Babylonian kings, to which reference has already been made. The earlier sections of this document, dealing with the reigns of Sargon and Narâm-Sin, are followed by a short account of Dungi's reign, from which we learn two facts of considerable significance.[5] The first of these is that Dungi "cared greatly for the city of Eridu, which was on the shore of the sea," and the second is that "he sought after evil, and the treasure of E-sagila and of Babylon he brought out as spoil." It will be noted that the writer of the chronicle, who was probably a priest in the temple of E-sagila, disapproved of his treatment of Babylon, in consequence of which he states that Bêl (i.e. Marduk) made an end of him. In view of the fact that Dungi reigned for no less than fifty-eight years and consolidated an extensive empire, it is not improbable that the evil fate ascribed to him in the chronicle was suggested by Babylonian prejudice. But the Babylonian colouring of the narrative does not affect the historical value of the other traditions, but rather enhances them. For it is obvious that the disaster to the city and to E-sagila was not an invention, and must, on the contrary, have been of some magnitude for its record to have been preserved in Babylon itself through later generations.

In Dungi's treatment of Babylon, and in his profanation of the temple of its city-god, we have striking proof that the rise of the Dynasty of Ur was accompanied by a religious as well as a political revolution. Late tradition retained the memory of Sargon's building activity in Babylon, and under his successors upon the throne of Akkad the great temple of E-sagila may well have become the most important shrine in Northern Babylonia and the centre of Semitic worship. Eridu, on the other hand, was situated in the extreme south of Sumer and contained the oldest and most venerated temple of the Sumerians. Dungi's care for the latter city to the detriment of Babylon, emphasized by contrast in the late records of his reign, suggests that he aimed at a complete reversal of the conditions which had prevailed during the preceding age. The time was ripe for a Sumerian reaction, and Ur-Engur's initial success in welding the southern cities into a confederation of states under his own suzerainty may be traced to the beginning of this racial movement. Dungi continued and extended his father's policy, and his sack of Babylon may probably be regarded as the decisive blow in the struggle, which had been taking place against the last centres of Semitic influence in the north.

Other evidence is not lacking of the Sumerian national revival, which characterized the period of the kings of Sumer and Akkad. Of Ur-Engur's inscriptions every one is written in Sumerian, in striking contrast to the texts which date from the time of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin. Of the still more numerous records of Dungi's reign, only two short votive formulæ are written in Semitic Babylonian, and one of these is from the northern city of Cutha. The predominant use of Sumerian also characterizes the texts of the remaining members of Ur-Engur's dynasty and the few inscriptions of the Dynasty of Isin that have been recovered.[6] In fact, only one of these is in Semitic, a short brick-inscription giving the name and titles of Gimil-Sin, which was found at Susa. It is true that the last three kings of the Dynasty of Ur apparently bear Semitic names, and of the rulers of the Dynasty of Isin the Semitic character of the majority of the names is not in doubt. But this in itself does not prove that their bearers were Semites, and a study of the proper names occurring in the numerous commercial documents and tablets of accounts, which were drawn up under the kings of Ur and Isin, are invariably Sumerian in character.[7] A more convincing test than that of the royal names is afforded by the cylinder-seals of the period. In these both subject and treatment are Sumerian, resembling the seals of Lagash at the time of Gudea and having little in common with those of the Dynasty of Akkad. Moreover, the worshippers engraved upon the seals are Sumerians, not Semites. Two striking examples are the seal of Khashkhamer, the contemporary and dependant of Ur-Engur, and that which Kilulla-guzala,[8] the son of Ur-baga, dedicated to Meslamtaea for the preservation of Dungi's life.[9] It will be noticed that on each of these seals the worshipper has a shaven head and wears the fringed Sumerian tunic. There can be little doubt, therefore, that Ur-Engur and his descendants were Sumerians, and we may probably regard the Dynasty of Isin as a continuation of the same racial movement which led to the establishment of the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad.[10]

Besides affording information with regard to the racial characteristics of the inhabitants of Southern Babylonia, the official lists and commercial documents of this period indirectly throw light upon historical events. In the first great collection of tablets found by M. de Sarzec at Tello, the majority of those belonging to Dungi's period were dated in the later years of his reign; but among the tablets recovered during the more recent diggings on the site are many dated in his earlier years. The date-formulæ inscribed upon these documents, in conjunction with fragmentary date-lists, have rendered it possible to arrange the titles of the years in order for the greater part of his reign; and, since the years were named after important occurrences, such as the building or inauguration of temples in different cities and the successful prosecution of foreign campaigns, they form a valuable source of information concerning the history of the period.[11] From these we can gather some idea of the steps by which Dungi increased his empire, and of the periods in his reign during which he achieved his principal conquests. During his earlier years it would seem that he was occupied in securing complete control within the districts of Northern Babylonia, which he had nominally inherited from his father. The sack of Babylon may well have been commemorated in the title for the year in which it took place, and, if so, it must be placed within the first decade of his reign, where a gap occurs in our sequence of the date-formulæ. Such of the earlier titles as have been recovered refer for the most part to the building of palaces and temples, the installation of deities within their shrines, and the like. It is not until the thirty-fourth year of his reign that a foreign conquest is explicitly recorded.

But before this period there are indications that an expansion of Dungi's empire was already taking place. In the nineteenth year of his reign he installed the goddess Kadi in her temple at Der, an act which proves that the principal frontier town on the Elamite border was at this time in his possession. In the following year he installed in his temple the god Nutugmushda of Kazallu, in which we may see evidence that he had imposed his suzerainty over this country, the conquest of which, according to the late tradition, had been a notable achievement of Sargon's reign. In his twenty-sixth year he appointed his daughter to be "lady" of the Elamite region of Markharshi, a record that throws an interesting light upon the position enjoyed by women among the Sumerians. These districts, and others of which we have no knowledge, may well have been won by conquest, for it is obvious that the official date-formulæ could not take account of every military expedition, especially in years when an important religious event had also taken place. But, in the case of the three countries referred to, it is also possible that little opposition was offered to their annexation, and for that reason the title of the year may have merely recorded Dungi's performance of his chief privilege as suzerain, or the appointment of his representative as ruler. Whichever explanation be adopted, it is clear that Dungi was already gaining possession of regions which had formed part of the empire of the Semitic kings of Akkad.

In addition to acquiring their territory, Dungi also seems to have borrowed from the Semites one of their most effective weapons, for the twenty-eighth year of his reign was known as that in which he enrolled the sons of Ur as archers. The principal weapon of the earlier Sumerians was the spear, and they delivered their attack in close formation, the spearmen being protected in line of battle by heavy shields carried by shield-bearers. For other purposes of offence they depended chiefly on the battle-axe and possibly the dart, but these were subsidiary weapons, fitted rather for the pursuit of a flying enemy when once their main attack had been delivered. Eannatum's victories testify to the success achieved by the method of attack in heavy phalanx against an enemy with inferior arms. The bow appears to have been introduced by the Semites, and they may have owed their success in battle largely to its employment: it would have enabled them to break up and demoralize the serried ranks of the Sumerians, before they could get to close quarters. Dungi doubtless recognized the advantage the weapon would give his own forces, especially when fighting in a hilly country, where the heavy spear and shield would be of little service, and it would be difficult to retain a close formation. We may conjecture that he found his companies of bowmen of considerable assistance in the series of successful campaigns, which he carried out in Elam and the neighbouring regions, during the latter half of his reign.

Of these campaigns we know that the first conquest of Gankhar took place in Dungi's thirty-fourth year, and that of Simuru in the year that followed. The latter district does not appear to have submitted tamely to annexation, for in his thirty-sixth year Dungi found it necessary to send a fresh expedition for its reconquest. In the following year he followed up these successes by the conquest of Kharshi and Khumurti. Gankhar and Simuru were probably situated in the mountainous districts to the east of the Tigris, around the upper course of the Diyala, in the neighbourhood of Lulubu; for the four countries Urbillu, Simuru, Lulubu, and Gankhar formed the object of a single expedition undertaken by Dungi in his fifty-fifth year.[12] Kharshi, or Kharishi, appears to have also lain in the region to the east of the Tigris.[13] These victories doubtless led to the submission of other districts, for in his fortieth year Dungi married one of his daughters to the patesi of Anshan, among the most important of Elamite states. The warlike character of the Elamites is attested by the difficulty Dungi experienced in retaining control over these districts, after they had been incorporated in his empire. For in the forty-first year of his reign he was obliged to undertake the reconquest of Gankhar, and to send a third expedition there two years later; in the forty-third year he subdued Simuru for the third time, while in the forty-fourth year Anshan itself revolted and had to be regained by force of arms.

In the course of these ten years it is probable that Dungi annexed the greater part of Elam, and placed his empire upon an enduring basis. It is true that during the closing years of his reign he undertook a fresh series of expeditions, conquering Shashru in the fifty-second year, subduing Simuru and Lulubu in the fifty-fourth year "for the ninth time," and Urbillu, Kimash, Khumurti and Kharshi in the course of his last four years. But the earlier victories, by means of which he extended his sway far beyond the borders of Sumer and Akkad, may be held to mark the principal era of expansion in the growth of his empire. It was probably during this period that he added to his other titles the more comprehensive one of "king of the four quarters (of the world)," thus reviving a title which had already been adopted by Narâm-Sin at a time when the empire of Akkad had reached its zenith. Another innovation which Dungi introduced in the course of his reign, at a period it would seem shortly before his adoption of Narâm-Sin's title, was the assumption of divine rank, indicated by the addition of the determinative for divinity before his name. Like Narâm-Sin, who had claimed to be the god of Akkad, he styled himself the god of his land, and he founded temples in which his statue became the object of a public cult. He also established a national festival in his own honour, and renamed the seventh month of the year, during which it was celebrated, as the Month of the Feast of Dungi. He appears to have been the first Sumerian ruler to claim divine honours. By so doing he doubtless challenged comparison with the kings of Akkad, whose empire his conquests had enabled him to rival.