On the assumption that Utug ruled in this early period, we may see in the fragments of his vase from Nippur, evidence of the struggles by which the city of Kish attained the position of supremacy it enjoyed under Mesilim. For Utug's vase was not carried to Nippur as spoil from Kish, but was deposited by Utug himself in the temple of Enlil, in commemoration of a victory he had achieved over the land of Khamazi. We here learn the name of one of the enemies with whom Kish had to fight in the early stages of its existence as an independent city-state, and we may conjecture that many more such battles had to be fought and won before its influence was felt beyond the boundaries of Akkad by the Sumerian cities in the south. The fact that after his victory Utug deposited the vase at Nippur as a thank-offering proves that in his time the shrine of Enlil was already regarded as the central sanctuary of Babylonia. Zamama, the god of Kish, had achieved the victory over Khamazi, but Enlil, as the supreme lord of the world, was entitled to some recognition and gratitude, and also probably to a share of the spoil. From one line of the inscription upon Utug's vase we may perhaps infer that his father's name was Bazuzu, but, as no title follows the name, he is not to be reckoned as a patesi of Kish. We may thus conclude that Utug did not succeed his father upon the throne. Whether he was a usurper or succeeded some other relative, and whether he followed up his military successes by founding at Kish a powerful dynasty to which Mesilim may have belonged, are among the questions which may perhaps be answered as the result of future excavation in Northern Babylonia.
It is probable that the early supremacy which Kish enjoyed during the reign of Mesilim continued for some time after his death. At any rate, the names of two other early rulers of that city are known, and, as they both bear the title of king, and not patesi, we may conclude that they lived during a period of the city's prosperity or expansion. The name of one of these kings, Urzage, occurs upon a broken vase of white calcite stalagmite, which was found at Nippur, approximately in the same place as the vase of the patesi Utug.[22] The inscription upon the vase records the fact that it was dedicated by Urzage to Enlil, "king of the lands." and his consort Ninlil, "the lady of heaven and earth." The end of the text is wanting, but we may conjecture that, like his earlier predecessor Utug, the king dedicated the vase in the temple of Enlil, at Nippur, in gratitude for some victory over his enemies. We may thus see in the dedication of the vase further evidence of the continued prosperity of Kish, though it is clear that it only maintained its position among the other great cities of the land by force of arms. The name of the other early king of Kish, Lugal-tarsi, is known to us from a short inscription upon a small tablet of lapis-lazuli preserved in the British Museum.[23] The text records the building of the wall of the enclosure, or outer court, of a temple dedicated to Anu and the goddess Ninni, but, as its provenance is unknown, it is impossible to base any argument upon it with reference to the extent of the influence exerted by Kish during the reign of Lugal-tarsi.[24] Such are the few facts which have come down to us with regard to the earliest period of the supremacy of Kish. But the fortunes of the city were destined to undergo a complete change, in consequence of the increase in the power of Lagash which took place during the reign of Eannatum. Before we describe the transfer of power from the north to Sumer, it will be necessary to retrace our steps to the point where we left the history of that city, during the time that Mesilim was ruling in the north.
The names of the successors of Lugal-shag-engur, Mesilim's contemporary, upon the throne of Lagash have not yet been recovered, and we do not know how long an interval separated his reign from that of Ur-Ninâ, the early king of Lagash, from whose time so many inscriptions and archaeological remains have been recovered at Tello.[25] It is possible that within this period we should set another ruler of Lagash, named Badu, to whom reference appears to be made by Eannatum upon the famous Stele of the Vultures. The passage occurs in the small fragment that has been preserved of the first column of the text engraved upon the stele,[26] the following line containing the title "King of Lagash." The context of the passage is not preserved, but it is possible that the signs which precede the title are to be taken as a proper name, and in that case they would give the name of an early ruler of the city. In favour of this view we may note that in the text upon an archaic clay tablet found below the level of Ur-Ninâ s building at Tello[27] the name Badu occurs, and, although it is not there employed as that of a king or patesi, the passage may be taken as evidence of the use of Badu as a proper name in this early age.
Assuming that Badu represents a royal name, it may be inferred from internal evidence furnished by Eannatum's inscription that he lived and reigned at some period before Ur-Ninâ. The introductory columns of Eannatum's text appear to give a brief historical summary concerning the relations which were maintained between Lagash and the neighbouring city of Umma in the period anterior to Eannatum's own reign. Now the second column of the text describes the attitude of Umma to Lagash in the reign of Akurgal, Ur-Ninâ's son and successor; it is thus a natural inference that Badu was a still earlier ruler who reigned at any rate before Ur-Ninâ. Whether he reigned before Lugal-shag-engur also, there are no data for deciding. It will be noted that Eannatum calls him "king" of Lagash, not "patesi," but the use of these titles by Eannatum, as applied to his predecessors, is not consistent, and, that he should describe Badu as "king," is no proof that Badu himself claimed that title. But he may have done so, and we may provisionally place him in the interval between the patesi Lugal-shag-engur and Ur-Ninâ, who in his numerous texts that have been recovered always claims the title of "king" in place of "patesi," a fact that suggests an increase in the power and importance of Lagash.[28] To the same period we may probably assign Enkhegal, another early king of Lagash, whose name has been recovered on an archaic tablet of limestone.[29]
It is possible that Ur-Ninâ himself, though not a great soldier, did something to secure, or at least to maintain, the independence of his city. In any case, we know that he was the founder of his dynasty, for to neither his father Gunidu, nor to his grandfather Gursar, does he ascribe any titular rank. We may assume that he belonged to a powerful Sumerian family in Lagash, but, whether he obtained the throne by inheritance from some collateral branch, or secured it as the result of a revolt within the city, is not recorded. It is strange that in none of his numerous inscriptions does he lay claim to any conquest or achievement in the field. Most of his texts, it is true, are of a dedicatory character, but, to judge from those of other Sumerian rulers, this fact should not have prevented him from referring to them, had he any such successes to chronicle. The nearest approach to a record of a military nature is that he rebuilt the wall of Lagash. It is therefore clear that, though he may not have embarked on an aggressive policy, he did not neglect the defence of his own city. But that appears to have been the extent of his ambition: so long as the fortifications of the city were intact, and the armed men at her disposal sufficient for the defence of Lagash herself and her outlying territory, he did not seek to add to his own renown or to the city's wealth by foreign conquest. The silence of Entemena with regard to the relations of Lagash to Umma at this period is not conclusive evidence that Mesilim's treaty was still in force, or that the peace he inaugurated had remained unbroken. But Entemena's silence fully accords with that of Ur-Ninâ himself, and we may infer that, in spite of his claims to the royal title, he succeeded in avoiding any quarrel with his city's hereditary foe. Ur-Ninâ's attitude towards the city-state upon his own immediate borders may be regarded as typical of his policy as a whole. The onyx bowl which he dedicated to the goddess Bau may possibly have been part of certain booty won in battle,[30] but his aim appears to have been to devote his energies to the improvement of his land and the adornment of his city. It is therefore natural that his inscriptions[31] should consist of mere catalogues of the names of temples and other buildings erected during his reign, together with lists of the statues he dedicated to his gods, and of the canals he cut in order to increase the material wealth of his people.
But, while Ur-Ninâ's policy appears to have been mainly of a domestic character, he did not fail to maintain relations with other cities in the sphere of religious observance. That he should have continued in active communication with Nippur, as the religious centre of the whole of Babylonia, is what we might infer from the practice of the period, and we may probably trace to this fact his dedication to Enlil of one of the canals which was cut during his reign. A more striking instance of the deference paid by Ur-Ninâ to the god of another city may be seen in his relations to Enki, the Sumerian prototype of the god Ea. When Ur-Ninâ planned the rebuilding of the temple E-ninnû, he appears to have taken precautions to ensure the success of his scheme by making a direct appeal to Enki, the city-god of Eridu. On a diorite plaque that has been found at Tello[32] he records the delivery of his prayer to Enki, that in his character of Chief Diviner he should use his pure reed, the wand of his divination, to render the work good and should pronounce a favourable oracle. The temple of Enki in the city of Eridu, near the shore of the Persian Gulf, was one of the earliest and most sacred of Sumerian shrines, and we may perhaps picture Ur-Ninâ as journeying thither from Lagash, in order to carry his petition in person into the presence of its mysterious god.
Of the deities of Lagash to whose service Ur-Ninâ appears especially to have devoted himself, the goddess Ninâ, whose name he bore within his own, was one of the most favoured. For one of the chief claims to distinction that he puts forward is that he built her temple at Lagash; and although, unlike the later great builder Gudea, he gives in his inscriptions few details of his work, we may conclude that he lavished his resources upon it. He also boasts that he made a statue of Ninâ, which he no doubt set up within her temple, and one of his canals he dedicated to her. Her daughter Ninmar was not neglected, for he records that he built her temple also, and he erected a temple for Gatumdug, Ninâ's intercessor, and fashioned a statue of her. Another group of Ur-Ninâ's buildings was connected with the worship of Ningirsu, the city-god of Lagash, whose claims a ruler, so devoted to the interests of his own city as Ur-Ninâ, would naturally not have ignored.
A glance at his texts will show that Ur-Ninâ more than once describes himself as the builder of "the House of Girsu," a title by which he refers to E-ninnû, the great temple dedicated to Ningirsu, since it stood in that quarter of the city which was named Girsu and was by far its most important building.[33] He also built E-pa, a sanctuary closely connected with E-ninnû and the worship of Ningirsu. This temple was added to at a later date by Gudea, who installed therein his patron god, Ningishzida, and set the nuptial gifts of Bau, Ningirsu's consort, within its shrine; it is possible that Ur-Ninâ's onyx bowl, which was dedicated to Bau, and the fragments of other bowls found with it,[34] were deposited by Ur-Ninâ in the same temple. Of other deities in Ningirsu's entourage, whom Ur-Ninâ singled out for special veneration, may be mentioned Dunshagga, Ningirsu's son, and Uri-zi, the god whose duty it was to look after Ningirsu's harîm. Among lesser temples, or portions of temples, which were built or restored by him was the Tirash, where on the day of the New Moon's appearance it was the custom to hold a festival in honour of Ningirsu; while another act of piety which Ur-Ninâ records was the making of a statue of Lugal-uru, the god from whose festival one of the Sumerian months took its name. In this connection, mention may also be made of the god Dun-...,[35] whom Ur-Ninâ describes as the "God-king," since he stood in a peculiar relation to Ur-Ninâ and his family. He became the patron deity of the dynasty which Ur-Ninâ founded, and, down to the reign of Enannatum II., was the personal protector of the reigning king or patesi of Lagash.[36]
For the construction of his temples Ur-Ninâ states that he fetched wood from the mountains, but unlike Gudea in a later age, he is not recorded to have brought in his craftsmen from abroad. In addition to the building of temples, Ur-Ninâ's other main activity appears to have centred in the cutting of canals; among these was the canal named Asukhur, on the banks of which his grandson Eannatum won a battle. That the changes he introduced into the canalization of the country were entirely successful may be inferred from the numerous storehouses and magazines, which he records he built in connection with the various temples,[37] and by his statement that when he added to the temple of Ningirsu he stored up large quantities of grain within the temple-granaries. In fact, from the inscriptions he has left us, Ur-Ninâ appears as a pacific monarch devoted to the worship of his city-gods and to the welfare of his own people. His ambitions lay within his own borders, and, when he had secured his frontier, he was content to practise the arts of peace. It was doubtless due to this wise and far-seeing policy that the resources of the city were husbanded, so that under his more famous grandson she was enabled to repel the attack of enemies and embark upon a career of foreign conquest. Ur-Ninâ's posthumous fame is evidence that his reign was a period of peace and prosperity for Lagash. His great-grandson Entemena boasts of being his descendant, and ascribes to him the title of King of Lagash which he did not claim either for himself or for his father Enannatum I., while even in the reign of Lugal-anda offerings continued to be made in connection with his statue in Lagash.[38]