In all probability there are lists still in existence buried in the ruins of various cities, as yet unexplored, that in time will restore to us a reasonably full record of those long stretches of time which now seem so hazy. In numerous places the excavations are still going on, discoveries are daily being made, undeciphered material is being read; in a word, new chapters of this oldest past are being almost daily brought to light. Whatever is written to-day regarding early Babylonian history must then, in the nature of the case, be subject to possible revision to-morrow. At least this is true to the extent that additions are sure to be made to the present incomplete knowledge in the near future. It does not follow, however, that the knowledge of the present will be altogether superseded. Such king lists as have been already deciphered, covering in the aggregate considerable periods of time, may be depended upon, in general, as accurate and permanent records, which will be supplemented rather than supplanted by the new records of future discovery. Meantime, we must be content with the glimpses into here and there an epoch, and with the citation of here and there a name, covering as best we may some three or four thousand years of Babylonian history in a few meagre chapters.
Tantalising as it is to catch such mere glimpses into realms that must be fascinating could we but know their fuller history, there is at least a certain consolation in the thought that our generation is the first within the past two thousand years to gain even a glimpse of these epochs of history. Even in classical times nothing was known of early Babylonia: such reminiscences of Mesopotamian greatness as were preserved pertained to the later Assyrian history and to New Babylonia. And the Assyrians and New Babylonians themselves were possessed of but little information regarding their remote ancestors, whose records were, in the main, as completely hidden from them as they have been from all succeeding generations of men until our own time.
To co-ordinate properly the great mass of information, unearthed of late years concerning the numerous states that existed in Babylonia in the earliest historic period, is the task that Dr. Hugo Radau has undertaken with great success. The following extract from his recently published work[20] will give the reader the latest knowledge of these petty kingdoms, and enable him to understand how the greater ones absorbed the lesser, and how the way was thus paved for the union of all Babylonia under one ruler.[a]
THE BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY
[ca. 4500 B.C.]
The oldest king of Babylonia of whom we have any record, is Enshagkushanna, whose date we have placed before 4500 B.C. He calls himself “lord of Kengi,” the southern part of Babylonia. As to his nationality, whether he was a so-called “Sumerian” or a “Semite,” we have no means of knowing. Besides “lord of Kengi,” he seems to have had another title, viz. “king of … “ The lacuna probably contained the names of the capital of the kingdom. He must have waged war against Kish in northern Babylonia, which city he terms “wicked of heart.” He was the victor, and presented the spoil to “Enlil, king of the lands.” Enlil—the later Bel—was the chief god in Nippur; Nippur accordingly was called En-lil-ki, the “city of Enlil.” Hence Enlil of Nippur seems to have been the god who wielded the chief influence over the inhabitants of Early Babylonia. From inscriptions of certain patesis[21] of Shirpurla, as well as from those of Lugalzaggisi, we know that this temple was under the control of the king, who called himself accordingly patesi-gal, “the great patesi.” But it also had its own “chief local administrator,” the dam-kar-gal, who in his turn had several minor priests or patesis under him. The cult of this god seems to have been well arranged; the king, being the summus episcopus, had a host of other officers (priests) under him, who exercised the ordinary functions of the so-called priesthood of Bel. Few as the historical notices are, yet they enable us to get an insight into the condition of the land and of the people at this remote time. They show us that a struggle went on between the south (Kengi) and the north (Kish) which struggle lasted undoubtedly for several centuries.
Prominent cities at this time were the capital of Kengi, i.e. Shirpurla-Girsu, as we shall see later on; not Erech (Hilprecht), Nippur, and Kish.
It is necessary, however, before tracing the different steps in the development of Kish, to turn our attention to a kingdom called in the inscriptions “Shirpurla.” The inscriptions of the rulers of this kingdom give us an impression of a power and might which presupposes centuries for its development. All that we know of its art and civilisation tends in the same direction.
THE RULERS OF SHIRPURLA
[ca. 4500-4100 B.C.]