Mesilim, who feels dishonoured by this action of Ush, takes the side of Shirpurla and defeats Gishban (22-31). Gishban in course of time again becomes restless. It invades, under its patesi Gunammide, the territory of Shirpurla, and more specifically the Guedin, a district sacred to Ningirsu. “Gunammide, the patesi of Gishban, according to the command of his god … the Guedin, the beloved territory of Ningirsu he destroyed.” Eannatum, after having fortified Shirpurla sufficiently (“the wall of Uruazagga he built”), and having led his armies victoriously against Elam and Gishgal, feels himself strong enough to deal a deadly (?) blow at Gishban. “Gishban he put under the yoke, twenty of its dead ones he buried.” Having done this, he restores the sacred territory, the Guedin, to Ningirsu; concludes a treaty with Enakalli, (one of) the successor(s) of Gunammide; digs a canal “from the great river (i.e. the Euphrates?) to the Guedin,” and makes the Gishbanites swear never to invade the sacred territory of Ningirsu again, nor to trespass this boundary.
“In the future time the territory of Ningirsu, when (the Gishbanites) should invade it again, the dyke and the canal, if they should trespass it, the statue, if they should take it away—at that time when they invade it, then the sa-shush-gal (i.e. Eannatum) of Utu, the powerful king by whom they have sworn, shall rise against Gishban.”
“The Stèle des Vautours” has for its main object the commemoration of this treaty with Enakalli, patesi of Gishban, after the latter city had been defeated by Eannatum. But Eannatum was not satisfied with this; he imposes a heavy tribute upon Gishban, consisting of one karu of grain for Nina and one karu for Ningirsu, besides 144,000 (?) great karu. (Cone ii, 19 ff.) After having reduced Gishban to tranquillity, Eannatum also carries his victorious weapons against Erech (Warka) and Ur (the Ur of the Chaldeans), Ki-Utu (Larsa?) and Az (on the Persian Gulf)—the patesi of which latter city he kills—against Melimme and Arua. These latter cities were all in the neighbourhood of Shirpurla. Last of all he crushes and defeats Zuzu, king of Ukh. But even this does not exhaust the record of his victories. He becomes king of Kish—Kish, which for so long had itself been sovereign over Shirpurla. How this victory was accomplished is not evident from the inscriptions so far extant. Probably at some future time we may find an account of this war.
Eannatum was not only a hero in war, but also a wise administrator. He not only renewed three suburbs of his capital, one of which—Uruazagga—he even surrounded by a wall, but also improved the condition of Shirpurla itself by digging different canals, which he consecrated to his god Ningirsu: the Kishedin, which probably marked the boundary between the Guedin and Gishban, and which the Gishbanites had to swear never to cross; the Lummagirnuntashagazaggipadda along the territory of Ningirsu; and the Lummadimshar.
Urukagina, we have seen, was the first to build a canal, viz. one for Nina, which he called Nina-ki-tum-a. In the Cone of Entemena are also mentioned the canal Lummasirta, the Imdubba, and the Namnundakiggara. Here, then, we have the beginning of the most characteristic feature of Babylonia. Babylonia becomes the “land of canals,” such as the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote that touching psalm, “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept.” Further, Eannatum was not unmindful of his duty to the gods. He confesses that all that he is and that he has comes from his gods. Accordingly, he shows his gratitude by erecting sanctuaries for Enlil, Ninkharsag, Ningirsu, and Utu, and by restoring old buildings, which had been erected by his predecessors in honour of the gods, among which is to be found the Tirash.
In spite of the solemn promise of Gishban never to invade the territory of Shirpurla again, or to pass over the boundary canal, it very soon—probably at the end of the reign of Eannatum, or better, at the beginning of that of Enannatum I—becomes rebellious as before. It invades the territory of Girsu, under the leadership of a certain Urlumma, patesi of Gishban, passes over the boundary canals which Eannatum had made, removes the steles erected on those canals in honour of Ningirsu, casts them into the fire, and even destroys the sanctuaries which Eannatum had built on one of these canals (i.e. the Namnundakigarra) in honour of Enlil, Ninkharsag, Ningirsu, and Utu, and lays waste the country. Enannatum promptly arises to chastise “those dogs” who had dared to break their solemn promise. Whether this battle was decisive or not, is not evident. It seems, however, that Enannatum I gained but a slight victory over Gishban.
For Entemena, the son of Enannatum, finds it necessary to renew the war with Gishban. “He puts Urlumma under the yoke,” i.e. subdues him, forces him to return to his own country, and pursues him to the very midst of Gishban. This triumphant victory began with the decisive battle at the canal Lummasirta in the territory of Shirpurla. “Of his (i.e. Urlumma’s) army sixty men on the side of the Lummasirta he left.” On account of the severe loss Gishban fled. Entemena pursued after it, of which pursuit he records that “he left the bones of the soldiers (of Urlumma) in the field.” Many of these soldiers of Gishban must have fallen, so many that Entemena was obliged “to bury their dead in five different places.”
Arrived in Gishban, Entemena makes a certain priest of Innannaab-ki (or Nin-ab-ki), Ili by name, patesi of Gishban, probably after having deposed Urlumma. As a compensation for the new dignity thus conferred, Entemena commands Ili to build in the territory of Karkar—which latter had also become rebellious—boundary canals and some other buildings. The canal which Eannatum had built “from the great river (Euphrates?) to the Guedin” Entemena prolongs to the Tigris, and also repairs the other canals, which had been destroyed more or less by the Gishbanites, and dedicates them anew to Ningirsu and Nina.
Interesting also is the subscription of this Cone:
“When the men of Gishban the boundary canal of Ningirsu and the boundary canal of Nina—for the purpose of ravaging these territories—shall pass over, then may Enlil destroy the men of Gishban and the men of the mountains; may Ningirsu bring his curse over them; may he lift up his great power; may the soldiery of his (Entemena’s) city be filled with bravery; may in the midst of the city be courage in their hearts.”