Once more—before we leave southern Babylonia and pass over to the north—we have to direct our attention to Shirpurla. The traces which we possess of the life of Shirpurla and its patesis during this time (i.e. 4100-3800 B.C.) are but fragmentary. Only one patesi is known to us from a tablet recently published by Thureau-Dangin, in the Revue d’Assyriologie. This patesi, Lugalanda by name, cannot have lived very long after Lummadur, for the writing of that tablet shows all the palæographic peculiarities of the inscriptions of Eannatum. Probably he belonged to those patesis over whom Lugalzaggisi or his successors may have ruled.
With the next two patesis, Lugalushumgal and his son (?) Ur-E, we arrive at the time of Sharganisharali [Sargon], 3800 B.C. A considerable gap in this period has still to be filled up. Let us hope that the future excavations, combined with the industry of the decipherer, will bring some light into this darkest of all periods in Old Babylonian history.
Mentioning only another patesi that belongs to this period, Ur-(dingir) Utu(?)—whose name is followed by [nam?] patesi Uru-um-ki-ma (i.e. Ur)—we pass from the south to the north of Babylonia, i.e. to the city of Agade.
KINGS OF AGADE
Agade, near the modern Abu-Habba, formed in olden times with Sippar a double city. It was situated near the Euphrates and north of Babylon. As early as 3800 B.C. Semitic kings ruled in this city, extending their sceptres over the whole of Babylonia.
The finding of the Infant Sargon
[ca. 3800 B.C.]
The first king, as far as our knowledge goes, was Sharganisharali, cited by us as Sargon I. He was the son of a certain Itti-Bel. This latter is neither called a king nor even a patesi. In this we may see a confirmation of the so-called “legend of Sargon,” according to which this monarch was “of an inferior birth on his father’s side,” and so either a usurper or the founder of the dynasty of Agade. This legend—probably written in the eighth century B.C.—purports to be a copy of an inscription written on a statue of this great king, and bears a certain similarity to the Biblical account of Moses. It reads: “Shargena, the powerful king, the king of Agade, am I. My mother was of noble family (?) [others: was poor], my father I did not know, whereas the brother of my father inhabited the mountains. My town was Azipiranu, which is situated on the bank of the Euphrates. My mother of noble family (?) (or, who was poor) conceived me and gave birth to me secretly. She put me into a basket of shurru (reeds?), and shut up the mouth (?) of it (?) with bitumen; she cast me into the river, which did not overwhelm (?) me. The river carried me away and brought me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, took me up in … Akki, the drawer of water, reared me to boyhood. Akki, the drawer of water, made me a gardener. During my activity as gardener, Ishtar loved me. X + IV years I exercised dominion, … years I commanded the black-headed people (i.e. the Semites) and ruled them,” etc. The rest of this legend tells us something about his campaign against Dur-ilu on the borders of Elam; it is, however, too fragmentary to be coherent.