Whether the rule of these kings of Agade en- dured yet longer we know not. On the other hand, the pate.^i of Sirgulla must have for many centuries maintained their supremacy over S. E. liabylonia. < )ne of these, the famous Gudea, prob- ably exttMuled his sway over even tlio whole of Babylonia. In his numerous and lengthy inscrip-
• Or K-illnKiirrAna'i;innn. Tlic name = ' bringing (going) Into tlio liMusu of liU iro(l.'
t Thi" ilotvnnlimtlvo of jilixcc bilnc omillml. ■ Kin? of Kin ' " oulil lie liignl A'h/i-ii ; luit, nt the niiliio tlini', tho title liigill <•!»/) oont.iliis a |.lav upMn th.' iKiinc of tli.> dtv Kli.
tions, all composed entirely in Sumerian, he boasts of having brought the stones and timber for his buildings from the most diverse regions and moun- tains of the west country (Martu) and Arabia. Moreover, he conquered Elam, especially the jiart of it known as Anshan ('asses' land'). Special interest is awakened by the mention of the cedar mountain Amaiiu, the mountain Ibla (for Libia, i.e. I^ebanon ?), the m(niiitain Tidanu of Martu (Dedan in the E. Jordan district), and the name Martu itself (for Amartu, i.e. land of the Amor- ites). (Jf Arabian districts, we find named not only Magan (originally Ma'an ?) or E. Arabia, but also Milukh (N.W. Arabia, probably including the Sin. peninsula), Khakh (near Medina), and Ki- mash (' di.strict of Mash,' the modern Gebel Sham- mar). Kliiikh yielded gold dust, Milukh gold dust and precious stones, Jlagan and Ki-mash copper. Notwithstanding all this, Gudea no- where styles himself ' king of the four quarters of the world,' whence it appears plain that he did not actually possess these regions outsitie Babylonia, but simply ensured by treaties the passage of his cara- vans through them. Of his predecessors (Ur-Ba'u, Nam-inaghani. Ur-Xiiisuu, etc.) we know nothing of this kind ; their sphere of activity was probably restricted to Sirgulla. Gudea's son, Ur-Ningirsu, was still patesi of Sirgulla, but shortly thereafter a king of Ur named Ur-gur, who was probably of Semit. origin, succeeded in sulijugating the greater part of Babylonia. In almo.st all the cities of Babylonia (Ur, Erech, Larsa, Nipjiur) we encounter temples built by him, and he was, at the same time, the first to assume the title 'king of Ki- Ingi and Ki-bnr-bur (Akkad),' which, at a Inter period, was rendered 'king of Sumer and Akkad.' But it was his son Dungi who succeeded in de- throning the last patesi of Sirgulla, one IdimiuiXni (written Gullu-ka-ni). Dungi also built a temple for Nin-Shu-anna (i.e. 'lady of Babel,' to be identi- fied with Zarpanit the wife of Merodach), and for Nergal (Shit-lani-ta-uddu-a) the temple of Shit- lam at Kutha, as well as various temples at Sir- gulla and Girsu (Telloh). To what period Ur-gur atid Dinigi are to be assigned cannot unfortunately be determined with certainty, since we do not know whether the space of time that intervened between them and the kings of Nisin was a long or a short one. The very latest date we can assign to Gudea is c. li.C. 2500, to Ur-gur and Dungi of Ur c. 2400, and to the kings of Nisin c. 2.'300-2100 ; but it is quite conceivable that Ur-gur and Dungi reigned as early as c. 2700-2(i00, and (iuiiea c. 2800. It must further be mentioned that there are Semit. as well as Sumer. inscriptions, in which Dungi styles himself not ' king of Ki-Ingi and Akkad,' but 'king of the four quarters of the world,' a ciicutnstance which points to the fact that he must have held possession of part of Syria atid Elam, and thus, as a matter of course, of Mesopotamia.
About the same period we Iiave to place a certain Mutabil, governor of Dtlr-ilu, who calls himself ' breaker of the heads of tho people of Anshan (Elam), uprooter of Barakhsi.' Since his special god is Gudi ( = Nabfi?), and his capital Dflr-ilu, it is certain that the Elatnite district of lamutbal, wlio.se capital was also Dur-ilu, derived its name from him (Elam. t(i = land, and Miiilml = . Mutabil). The land of Barakhsi is already mentioned, in conjunction with Elam, by Alii- musar.sid of Kis, as a concpieied region ; the name reminds one both of Barkhazia (a Median province in time of Tiglath-pileser ill.) and of the well- known Barsua (for Barakhsi may bi' read Bara'si).
Of thc> same date, iu all probability, are the bricks, found by M. I'ognon, of the three patesi of Ashiiunna (or UinliaslO, viz. Ibalpll, Ur-Ningi.s-
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BABYLONIA
zidda (or Ainil-Xusku), and KuUaku. It is differ- ent with tlie inscription of Icing Anu-banini of Lnlub, found in tlie mountains of Batir (tlie modern Ser-i-pul near Holvan), and esp. witli tliat of king Lasirab of Guti. Tlie character of the signs used justifies us in assigning these to a mucli earlier date, about the time of Naram-Sin of Agade, or shortly thereafter.
The kings of Nisin, of whom we now know a whole series (Ishbi-Xergal, Amil-Nindar [I'r-Nin- ib], Libit-Istar, Uur-Sin, Idin-Dagan, and Ishmi- Dagan), were, as their names show, Semites. Tliey held Nippur (which is always named first in their inscriptions), Ur, Eridu, Erecb, and Xisin ; and, like the middle kings of Ur (Ur-gur and Dungi), they style themselves ' king of Ki-Ingi and Ivi- bur-bur (Sumer and Akkad).' The site of Xisin has not yet been accurately determined ; at a later period it was jironounced Isin, and in the time of the so-called Pashi-dyna.sty (12th cent. B.C.) was the seat of a Bab. governor, on the same footing as Babel itself, Khalvan, Namar, and Ushti.