For the supply of his principal irrigation-canal with water after the period of the spring-floods, Eannatum did not depend solely upon such water as might find its way in from the river, before the surface of the latter sank below the level of the canal-bed; nor did he confine himself to the laborious method of raising it from the river to his canal by means of irrigation-machines. Both these methods of obtaining water he doubtless employed, but he supplemented them by the construction of a reservoir, which should retain at least a portion of the surplus water during the early spring, and store it up for gradual use in the fields after the water-level in the river and canals had fallen. In the passage in his foundation-inscription, which records this fact, he says: "For Ningirsu he founded the canal Lummadimdug and dedicated it to him; Eannatum, endowed with strength by Ningirsu, constructed the reservoir of Lummadimdug, with a capacity of three thousand six hundred gur of water."[42] It is true that his reservoir was not of very imposing dimensions, but its construction proves that Eannatum or his engineers had studied the problem of irrigation in a scientific spirit, and had already evolved the method of obtaining a constant water-supply which is still regarded as giving the best results.
Smaller canals were possibly dug during Eannatum's reign for supplying water to those quarters of Lagash which he improved or added to; and we also know that, where canalization was impracticable, he obtained water by sinking wells. Within the enclosure of Ningirsu's temple, for instance, he constructed a well for supplying the temple with water, and some of the bricks have been recovered which lined the well on the inside.[43] On these he inscribed his name beside those of the gods by whom he had been favoured; and, after giving a list of his more important conquests, he recorded that he had built the well in the spacious forecourt of the temple, and had named it Sigbirra, and had dedicated it to Ningirsu. From the reference to his conquests in the inscription upon the bricks, it is clear that the sinking of the well, like the cutting of the irrigation-canal Lummadimdug, took place in the later years of Eannatum's reign.
The phrase with which the well-inscription of Eannatum ends may be taken as indicating the measure of prosperity to which the state of Lagash attained under his rule. "In those days," it says, "did Ningirsu love Eannatum." But Eannatum's claim to remembrance rests, as we have seen, in a greater degree upon his military successes, by means of which he was enabled to extend the authority of Lagash over the whole of Sumer and a great part of Akkad. He proved himself strong enough at the same time to defend his empire from the attack of external foes, and it is probable that, after his signal defeat of the Elamites, he was not troubled by further raids from that quarter. Three times in the course of his inscriptions he states that "by Eannatum, whose name was uttered by Ningirsu, were the countries broken in the head," and it would appear that his boast was justified. The metaphor he here employs is taken from the heavy battle-mace, which formed an effective weapon in the warfare of the period. It may be seen in use in the scene sculptured upon the principal monument of Eannatum's reign, where Ningirsu himself is portrayed as breaking the heads of his foes. This representation of the city-god of Lagash, one of the finest examples of early Sumerian sculpture, in itself admirably symbolizes the ambition and achievements of the ruler in whose reign and by whose order it was made.
[1] "Déc. en Chaldée," p. xl.; cf. Thureau-Dangin, "Königsinschriften," pp. 10 ff.
[2] With the lower part of Col. IV. (pl. xl.), ll. 5-8, cf. Col. V., ll. 23-29.
[3] Literally, "devoured.".
[4] Col. I., ll. 10 ff. ("Déc. en Chaldée," p. xlvii.).
[5] Obv., Col. VII. (lower part) and Col. VIII. ff.
[6] Cone-Inscription, Col. I., ll. 32 ff.