THE CLOSE OF UR-NINÂ'S DYNASTY, THE REFORMS OF URUKAGINA, AND THE FALL OF LAGASH
Eannatum was the most famous and powerful member of Ur-Ninâ's dynasty, and it is probable that his reign marks the zenith of the power of Lagash as a city-state. We do not know the cause which led to his being succeeded upon the throne by his brother Enannatum I., instead of by a son of his own. That the break in the succession was due to no palace-revolution is certain from a reference Enannatum makes to his brother in an inscription found by Koldewey at El-Hibba,[1] where, after naming Akurgal as his father, he describes himself as "the beloved brother of Eannatum, patesi of Lagash." It is possible that Eannatum had no male issue, or, since his reign appears to have been long, he may have survived his sons. We may indeed conjecture that his victories were not won without considerable loss among his younger warriors, and many cadets of the royal house, including the king's own sons, may have given their lives in the service of their city and its god. Such may well have been the cause of the succession passing from the direct line of descent to a younger branch of the family. That Enannatum followed, and did not precede his brother upon the throne is proved by the reference to him in the El-Hibba text already referred to; moreover, he himself was succeeded by his own immediate descendants, and a reference to his reign upon the Cone of Entemena follows in order of time the same ruler's record concerning Eannatum. The few inscriptions of his reign, that have been recovered at Tello and El-Hibba, are of a votive rather than of an historical character, and, were it not for the historical summaries upon Entemena's Cone and an inscribed plaque of Urukagina, we should be without data for tracing the history of Sumer at this period. As it is, our information is in the main confined to the continued rivalry between Lagash and her near neighbour Umma, which now led to a renewal of active hostilities.
We have already seen that, in spite of the increase in the power of Lagash during the reign of Eannatum, the city of Umma had not been incorporated in its dominion, but had succeeded in maintaining an attitude of semi-independence. This is apparent from the terms of the treaty, by which the men of Umma undertook not to invade the territory of Lagash; and, although they paid a heavy tribute in corn to Eannatum, we may assume that they were ready to seize any opportunity that might present itself of repudiating the suzerainty of Lagash. Such an opportunity they may have seen in the death of their conqueror Eannatum, for after the accession of his brother we find them repeating the same tactics they had employed during the preceding reign under the leadership of their patesi, Ush. Enakalli, with whom Eannatum had drawn up his treaty, had been succeeded on the throne by Urlumma. In his cone-inscription Entemena gives no indication as to whether there was any interval between the reign of Enakalli and that of Urlumma. But from a small tablet of lapis-lazuli in the "Collection de Clercq," we gather that the latter was Enakalli's son, and, therefore, probably his direct successor upon the throne.[2] The little tablet was employed as a foundation-memorial, and a short inscription upon it records the building of a temple to the god Enkigal by Urlumma, who describes himself as the son of Enakalli. Each ruler bears the title of "king" in the inscription, and, although the reading of the sign following the title is uncertain, there is little doubt that we should identify the Urlumma and Enakalli of the tablet with the two patesis of Umma who are known to have borne these names.
Urlumma did not maintain his father's policy, but, following Ush's example, marshalled his army and made a sudden descent upon the territory of Lagash. His raid appears to have been attended with even greater violence than that of his predecessor. Ush had contented himself with merely removing the stele of delimitation set up by Mesilim, but Urlumma broke that of Eannatum in pieces by casting it into the fire, and we may assume that he treated Mesilim's stele in the same way.[3] The shrines, or chapels, which Eannatum had built upon the frontier and had dedicated to the gods whom he had invoked to guard the treaty, were now levelled to the ground. By such acts Urlumma sought to blot out all trace of the humiliating conditions imposed in earlier years upon his city, and, crossing the frontier-ditch of Ningirsu, he raided and plundered the rich plains which it had always been the ambition of Umma to possess.
It is probable that Urlumma's object in breaking the treaty was not merely to collect spoil from the fields and villages he overran, but to gain complete possession of the coveted plain. At least, both Entemena and Urukagina record that the subsequent battle between the forces of Umma and Lagash took place within the latter's territory, which would seem to imply that Urlumma and his army did not retreat with their plunder to their own city, but attempted to retain possession of the land itself. Enannatum met the men of Umma in Ugigga, a district within the temple-lands of Ningirsu, where a battle was fought, which, in Urukagina's brief account, is recorded to have resulted in Umma's defeat. Entemena, on the other hand, does not say whether Lagash was victorious, and his silence is possibly significant, for, had his father achieved a decided victory, he would doubtless have recorded it. Moreover, Urlumma continued to give trouble, and it was only in the reign of Entemena himself that he was finally defeated and slain. We may, therefore, conclude that Enannatum did no more than check Urlumma's encroachments, and it is not improbable that the latter retained for the time a considerable portion of the territory which Lagash had enjoyed for several generations.
Few other facts are known of the reign of Enannatum I. We gather that he sent men to the mountains, probably of Elam, and caused them to fell cedars there and bring the trunks to Lagash; and from the cedar-wood thus obtained he constructed the roof of a temple, which appears to have been dedicated to Ningirsu. The temple we may probably identify with Ningirsu's famous temple E-ninnû, whence we have recovered a mortar, which Enannatum prepared and presented that it might be used for pounding onions in connection with the temple-ritual. Another object dedicated to Ningirsu, which dates from this period, is preserved in the British Museum, and furnishes us with the name of a minister in the service of Enannatum. This is a limestone mace-head,[4] carved with the emblem of Lagash, and bearing an inscription from which we learn that it was deposited in the temple E-ninnû by Barkiba,[5] the minister, to ensure the preservation of the life of Enannatum, "his king." It would appear from this record that, although Enannatum himself adopted the title of "patesi," which he ascribes also to his father Akurgal, it was permissible for his subordinates to refer to him under the title of "king." That "patesi" was, however, his usual designation may be inferred not only from his own inscriptions, but from the occurrence of the title after his name upon a deed of sale drawn up on a tablet of black stone,[6] which probably dates from his reign. From this document, as well as from a text inscribed upon clay cones found by Koldewey at El-Hibba,[7] we also learn that Enannatum had a son named Lummadur,[8] in addition to Entemena. It should be noted that neither on the clay cones nor on the tablet of black stone is the name of Enannatum's father recorded, so that the suggestion has been made that they should be referred to Enannatum II., rather than to Enannatum I. But the adornment of the temple E-anna, recorded on the cones, is referred to in the clay-inscription of Enannatum I., which, like the cones, was found at El-Hibba.[9] It is reasonable therefore to assign the cone-inscription also to Enannatum I., and to conclude that Lummadur was his son, rather than the son and possible successor of Enannatum II. The cone-inscription records the installation of Lummadur by his father as priest in E-anna, when that temple had been adorned and embellished in honour of the goddess Ninni. Since Enannatum was succeeded upon the throne of Lagash by Entemena, we may assume that Lummadur was the latter's younger brother.
One of the first duties Entemena was called upon to perform, after ascending the throne, was the defence of his territory against further encroachments by Urlumma. It is evident that this ruler closely watched the progress of events in Lagash, and such an occasion as the death of the reigning patesi in that city might well have appeared to him a suitable time for the renewal of hostilities. The death of the great conqueror Eannatum had already encouraged him to raid and occupy a portion of the territory held up to that time by Lagash, and, although Eannatum had succeeded in holding him to some extent in check, he only awaited a favourable opportunity to extend the area of territory under his control. Such an opportunity he would naturally see in the disappearance of his old rival, for there was always the chance that the new ruler would prove a still less successful leader than his father, or his accession might give rise to dissension among the members of the royal house, which would materially weaken the city's power of resistance. His attack appears to have been carefully organized, for there is evidence that he strengthened his own resources by seeking assistance from at least one other neighbouring state. His anticipation of securing a decided victory by this means was, however, far from being realized. Entemena lost no time in summoning his forces, and, having led them out into the plain of Lagash, he met the army of Urlumma at the frontier-ditch of Lummagirnunta, which his uncle Eannatum had constructed for the defence and irrigation of Gu-edin, the fertile territory of Ningirsu. Here he inflicted a signal defeat upon the men of Umma, who, when routed and put to flight, left sixty of their fellows lying dead upon the banks of the canal.[10] Urlumma himself fled from the battle, and sought safety in his own city. But Entemena did not rest content with the defeat he had inflicted upon the enemy in the field. He pursued the men of Umma into their own territory, and succeeded in capturing the city itself before its demoralized inhabitants had had time to organize or strengthen its defence. Urlumma he captured and slew, and he thus put an end to an ambitious ruler, who for years had undoubtedly caused much trouble and annoyance to Lagash. Entemena's victory was complete, but it was not won without some loss among his own forces, for he heaped up burial-mounds in five separate places, which no doubt covered the bodies of his own slain. The bones of the enemy, he records, were left to bleach in the open plain.