We possess few records of the kings of Isin, and the greater part of our information concerning the dynasty is furnished by the Nippur dynastic list. From this document we know that it lasted for two hundred and twenty-five years and six months, and consisted of sixteen kings. These fall naturally into four groups. The first group comprises the family of Ishbi-Ura, four of whose direct descendants succeeded him upon the throne, their reigns together with his occupying a period of ninety-four years. The second group consists of Ur-Ninib and three of his descendants, who reigned for sixty-one years. Then followed a period of thirty-six and a half years, during which no less than five kings ruled in Isin, and, since none of them were related, it was clearly a time of great political unrest. A more stable condition of things appears to have prevailed during the closing period of thirty-four years, occupied by the reigns of Sin-magir and his son Damik-ilishu, under whom the dynasty came to an end. A number of tablets dated during the Dynasty of Isin have been found at Niffer, and at least one at Abû Habba, while a few short votive inscriptions of some of the kings themselves have been recovered on these two sites and also at Ur and Babylon. References to four of the kings of Isin in later Babylonian traditions complete the material from which a knowledge of the period can be obtained. The information derived from these rather scanty sources, combined with the succession of rulers on the Nippur list, enables us to sketch in outline the progress of events, but it naturally leaves many problems unsettled, for the solution of which we must await further discoveries.
The late tradition of Ishbi-Ura's successful reign is supported by the fact that he ruled for thirty-two years and firmly established his own family upon the throne of Isin. He was succeeded by his son Gimil-ilishu, who reigned for ten years. A very fragmentary inscription of Idin-Dagan, the son of Gimil-ilishu, who reigned for twenty-one years, has been found at Abû Habba,[17] proving that Sippar acknowledged his authority. Indeed, it is probable that already in Ishbi-Ura's reign Akkad as well as Sumer formed part of the kingdom of Isin, and evidence that this was the normal state of affairs may be seen in the fact that each king of Isin, of whom we possess a building-inscription or a votive text, lays claim to the title of King of Sumer and Akkad. The earliest record of this character is an inscription upon bricks found at Mukayyar and dating from the reign of Ishme-Dagan, the son and successor of Idin-Dagan. In addition to his titles of King of Isin and King of Sumer and Akkad, he styles himself Lord of Erech and records in various phrases the favour he has shown to the cities of Nippur, Ur, and Eridu; while his building activity at Nippur is attested by numerous bricks bearing his name and titles, which have been found on that site. The same cities are also mentioned in the titles borne by Libit-Ishtar, Ishme-Dagan's son, who succeeded to the throne after his father had reigned for twenty years. Both these rulers appear to have devoted themselves to the cult of Ninni, the great goddess of Erech, and Ishme-Dagan even styles himself her "beloved spouse." His claim to be the consort of the goddess was doubtless based on his assumption of divine rank, a practice which the kings of Isin inherited from the Dynasty of Ur.[18]
BRICKS OF BUR-SIN, KING OF UR, AND ISHME-DAGAN, KING OF ISIN.—From Mukayyar; Brit. Mus., Nos. 90056 and 90178; photo, by Messrs. Mansell & Co.
Libit-Ishtar was the last member of Ishbi-Ura's family to occupy the throne of Isin. He reigned for eleven years, and with his successor, Ur-Ninib, the throne passed to a different family. We may probably connect this change in the succession with the fact that about this time an independent kingdom makes its appearance in Larsa and Ur. For another son of Ishme-Dagan, named Enannatum, who was chief priest in the temple of the Moon-god at Ur, has left us an inscription upon clay cones, in which he records that he rebuilt the temple of the Sun-god at Larsa for the preservation of his own life and that of Gungunu, the king of Ur.[19] Gungunu himself, upon a brick-inscription commemorating his building of the great wall of Larsa, claims to be king of that city and also of the whole of Sumer and Akkad. It would therefore seem that towards the close of Libit-Ishtar's reign, or immediately after it, Gungunu established an independent kingdom with its capital at Larsa. It is strange that in the city of Ur, which was under his control, a son of Ishme-Dagan should continue to hold, or should be invested with, the office of chief priest, and there is something to be said for the suggestion that Libit-Ishtar's fall may not have been brought about by any active hostility on the part of Gungunu, but by a foreign invasion from Elam.[20]
According to this view Isin was captured by the invaders,[21] and in the confusion that followed Larsa secured the hegemony in Sumer. However this may be, it is probable that Gungunu's authority was of brief duration; for Ur-Ninib is represented by the dynastic list as Libit-Ishtar's immediate successor, and in an inscription of his own upon a brick from Nippur he not only claims the titles of King of Isin and King of Sumer and Akkad, but, like the earlier king Ishme-Dagan, styles himself Lord of Erech, and the patron of Nippur, Ur, and Eridu.[22] We may therefore assume that Ur-Ninib was successful in re-establishing the power of Isin, and in uniting once more the whole of Sumer and Akkad under its sway. After a reign of twenty-eight years he was followed by his son Bûr-Sin II., who bore the same titles as his father and mentions the same list of cities as having enjoyed his special favour. His comparatively long reign of twenty-one years is a further indication that Ur-Ninib's restoration of order had been effective. The last two descendants of Ur-Ninib to occupy the throne of Isin were sons of Bûr-Sin. Of Iter-kasha, who reigned for only five years, we know nothing, but the name of his brother Ura-imitti, and the strange manner in which he met his death after appointing his successor, have been preserved in later Babylonian tradition.
In the chronicle concerning Sargon of Akkad and other early Babylonian kings, to which reference has already been made,[23] a section is devoted to Ura-imitti, from which we gather that, having no son to succeed him upon the throne, he named Enlil-bani, his gardener, as his successor.[24] The text relates that, after placing the crown of his sovereignty upon Enlil-bani's head, he met his own death within his palace either through misadventure or by poison.[25] With him, therefore, Ur-Ninib's family came to an end, and, in view of the strange manner of his death and the humble rank of the successor he had appointed, it was but natural that Enlil-bani's claim to the throne should not have been at once, nor universally, recognized. During the struggle that followed Ur-imitti's death a certain Sin-ikisha[26] established himself in Isin, and for six months retained the throne. But at the end of this time Enlil-bani succeeded in ousting him from that position, and, having secured the throne himself, he continued to reign in Isin for twenty-four years. As he had been called to the throne by Ura-imitti, he cannot be regarded as a usurper, but he did not succeed in establishing a settled dynasty. Zambia,[27] who followed him, was a usurper, and after only three years he was in turn displaced. Two other usurpers held the throne for five and four years respectively, and only with Sin-magir, the fifteenth king of Isin, was a settled dynasty once more established.