History of Various Areas (11)(as of 1900)

No composition at all like this document has yet been recovered, and as
it is not very long we may here give a translation of the text. It will
be seen that the writer plunges at once into the subject of his
charges against the men of Gishkhu. No historical _r?sum?_ prefaces
his accusations, and he gives no hint of the circumstances that have
rendered their delivery possible. The temples of his city have been
profaned and destroyed, and his indignation finds vent in a mere
enumeration of their titles. To his mind the facts need no comment,
for to him it is barely conceivable that such sacred places of ancient
worship should have been defiled. He launches his indictment against
Gishkhu in the following terms: "The men of Gishkhu have set fire to the
temple of E-ki [... ], they have set fire to Antashura, and they have
carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have
shed blood in the palace of Tirash, they have shed blood in Abzubanda,
they have shed blood in the shrine of Enlil and in the shrine of the
Sun-god, they have shed blood in Akhush, and they have carried away the
silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have shed blood in the
Gikana of the sacred grove of the goddess Ninmakh, and they have carried
away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have shed blood
in Baga, and they have carried away the silver and the precious stones
therefrom! They have shed blood in Abzu-ega, they have set fire to
the temple of Gatumdug, and they have carried away the silver and the
precious stones therefrom, and have destroyed her statue! They have set
fire to the.... of the temple E-anna of the goddess Ninni, and they
have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom, and have
destroyed her statue! They have shed blood in Shapada, and they have
carried away the silver and precious stones therefrom! They have....
in Khenda, they have shed blood in the temple of Nindar in the town
of Kiab, and they have carried away the silver and the precious stones
therefrom! They have set fire to the temple of Dumuzi-abzu in the town
of Kinunir, and they have carried away the silver and the precious
stones therefrom! They have set fire to the temple of Lugaluru, and they
have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They
have shed blood in E-engura, the temple of the goddess Nin?, and they
have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They
have shed blood in Sag..., the temple of Amageshtin, and the silver
and the precious stones of Amageshtin have they carried away! They have
removed the grain from Ginarbaniru, the field of the god Ningirsu,
so much of it as was under cultivation! The men of Gishkhu, by the
despoiling of Shirpurla, have committed a transgression against the god
Ningirsu! The power that is come unto them, from them shall be taken
away! Of transgression on the part of Urukagina, King of Girsu, there
is none. As for Lugalzaggisi, patesi of Gishkhu, may his goddess Ni-daba
bear on her head (the weight of) this transgression!"

Such is the account, which has come down to us from the rough tablet of
some unknown scribe, of the greatest misfortune experienced by Shirpurla
during the long course of her history. Many of the great temples
mentioned in the text as among those which were burnt down and despoiled
of their treasures are referred to more than once in the votive and
historical inscriptions of earlier rulers of Shirpurla, who occupied the
throne before the ill-fated Urukagina. The names of some of them, too,
are to be found in the texts of the later pate-sis of that city, so
that it may be concluded that in course of time they were rebuilt and
restored to their former splendour. But there is no doubt that the
despoiling and partial destruction of Shirpurla in the reign of
Urukagina had a lasting effect upon the fortunes of that city, and
effectively curtailed her influence among the greater cities of Southern
Babylonia.

History of Various Areas (10)(as of 1900)

He thus added greatly to the wealth of Shirpurla by increasing the area
of territory under cultivation, and he continued to exercise authority
in Gishkhu by means of officers appointed by himself. A record of his
victory over Gishkhu was inscribed by Entemena upon a number of clay
cones, that the fame of it might be preserved in future days to the
honour of Ningirsu and the goddess Nin?. He ends this record with a
prayer for the preservation of the frontier. If ever in time to come the
men of Gishkhu should break out across the frontier-ditch of Ningirsu,
or the frontier-ditch of Nin?, in order to seize or lay waste the lands
of Shirpurla, whether they be men of the city of Gishkhu itself or men
of the mountains, he prays that Enlil may destroy them and that Ningirsu
may lay his curse upon them; and if ever the warriors of his own city
should be called upon to defend it, he prays that they may be full of
courage and ardour for their task.

The greater part of this information with regard to the struggles
between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, between the period of Mesilim, King of
Kish, and that of Entemena, is supplied by the inscription of the latter
ruler which has been found written around a small cone of clay. There is
little doubt that the text was also engraved by the orders of Entemena
upon a stone stele which was set up, like those of Mesilim and Eannadu,
upon the frontier. Other copies of the inscription were probably
engraved and erected in the cities of Gishkhu and Shirpurla, and to
ensure the preservation of the record Entemena probably had numerous
copies of it made upon small cones of clay which were preserved and
possibly buried in the structure of the temples of Shirpurla. Entemena's
foresight in this matter has been justified by results, for, while his
great memorials of stone have perished, the preservation of one of his
small cones has sufficed to make known to later ages his own and his
forefathers' prowess in their continual contests with their ancient rival
Gishkhu.

After the reign of Entemena we have little information with regard to
the relations between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, though it is probable that
the effects of his decisive victory continued to exercise a moderating
influence on Gishkhu's desire for expansion and secured a period
of peaceful development for Shirpurla without the continual fear of
encroachments on the part of her turbulent neighbour. We may assume that
this period of tranquillity continued during the reigns of Enannadu II,
Enlitarzi, and Lugal-anda, but, when in the reign of Urukagina the men
of Gishkhu once more emerge from their temporary obscurity, they appear
as the authors of deeds of rapine and bloodshed committed on a scale
that was rare even in that primitive age.

In the earlier stages of their rivalry Gishkhu had always been defeated,
or at any rate checked, in her actual conflicts with Shirpurla. When
taking the aggressive the men of Gishkhu seem generally to have confined
themselves to the seizure of territory, such as the district of Gu-edin,
which was situated on the western bank of the Shaft el-Hai and divided
from their own lands only by the frontier-ditch. If they ever actually
crossed the Shaft el-Hai and raided the lands on its eastern bank, they
never ventured to attack the city of Shirpurla itself. And, although
their raids were attended with some success in their initial stages, the
ruling patesis of Shirpurla were always strong enough to check them; and
on most occasions they carried the war into the territory of Gishkhu,
with the result that they readjusted the boundary on their own terms.
But it would appear that all these primitive Chal?an cities were subject
to alternate periods of expansion and defeat, and Shirpurla was not an
exception to the rule. It was probably not due so much to Urukagina's
personal qualities or defects as a leader that Shirpurla suffered
the greatest reverse in her history during his reign, but rather to
Gishkhu's gradual increase in power at a time when Shirpurla herself
remained inactive, possibly lulled into a false sense of security by the
memory of her victories in the past. Whatever may have been the cause of
Gishkhu's final triumph, it is certain that it took place in Urukagina's
reign, and that for many years afterwards the hegemony of Southern
Babylonia remained in her hands, while Shirpurla for a long period
passed completely out of existence as an independent or semi-independent
state.

The evidence of the catastrophe that befell Shirpurla at this period is
furnished by a small clay tablet recently found at Telloh during Captain
Cros's excavations on that site. The document on which the facts in
question are recorded had no official character, and in all probability
it had not been stored in any library or record chamber. The actual spot
at Telloh where it was found was to the north of the mound in which
the most ancient buildings have been recovered, and at the depth of two
metres below the surface. No other tablets appear to have been found
near it, but that fact in itself would not be sufficient evidence on
which to base any theory as to its not having originally formed part of
the archives of the city. Its unofficial character is attested by the
form of the tablet and the manner in which the information upon it is
arranged. In shape there is little to distinguish the document from the
tablets of accounts inscribed in the reign of Urukagina, great numbers
of which have been found recently at Telloh. Roughly square in shape,
its edges are slightly convex, and the text is inscribed in a series of
narrow columns upon both the obverse and the reverse. The text itself
is not a carefully arranged composition, such as are the votive and
historical inscriptions of early Sumerian rulers. It consists of a
series of short sentences enumerating briefly and without detail the
separate deeds of violence and sacrilege performed by the men of Gishkhu
after their capture of the city. It is little more than a catalogue or
list of the shrines and temples destroyed during the sack of the city,
or defiled by the blood of the men of Shirpurla who were slain therein.
No mention is made in the list of the palace of the Urukagina, or of any
secular building, or of the dwellings of the citizens themselves. There
is little doubt that these also were despoiled and destroyed by the
victorious enemy, but the writer of the tablet is not concerned for the
moment with the fate of his city or his fellow citizens. He appears to
be overcome with the thought of the deeds of sacrilege committed against
his gods; his mind is entirely taken up with the magnitude of the
insult offered to the god Ningirsu, the city-god of Shirpurla. His bare
enumeration of the deeds of sacrilege and violence loses little by its
brevity, and, when he has ended the list of his accusations against the
men of Gishkhu, he curses the goddess to whose influence he attributes
their success.

History of Various Areas (9)(as of 1900)

According to this treaty Gu-edin was restored to Shirpurla, and a deep
ditch was dug between the two territories which should permanently
indicate the line of demarcation. The stele of Mesilim was restored to
its place, and a second stele was inscribed and set up as a memorial
of the new treaty. Enakalli did not negotiate the treaty on equal terms
with Eannadu, for he only secured its ratification by consenting to pay
heavy tribute in grain for the supply of the great temples of Nin-girsu
and Nin? in Shirpurla. It would appear that under Eannadu the power
and influence of Shirpurla were extended over the whole of Southern
Babylonia, and reached even to the borders of Elam. At any rate, it is
clear that during his lifetime the city of Gishkhu was content to remain
in a state of subjection to its more powerful neighbour. But it was
always ready to seize any opportunity of asserting itself and of
attempting to regain its independence.

Accordingly, after Eannadu's death the men of Gishkhu again took the
offensive. At this time Urlumma, the son and successor of Enakalli, was
on the throne of Gishkhu, and he organized the forces of the city
and led them out to battle. His first act was to destroy the frontier
ditches named after Ningirsu and Nin?, the principal god and goddess of
Shirpurla, which Eannadu, the powerful foe of Gishkhu, had caused to be
dug. He then tore down the stele on which the terms of Eannadu's treaty
had been engraved and broke it into pieces by casting it into the fire,
and the shrines which Eannadu had built near the frontier, and had
consecrated to the gods of Shirpurla, he razed to the ground. But
again Shirpurla in the end proved too strong for Gishkhu. The ruler
in Shirpurla at this time was Enannadu, who had succeeded his brother
Eannadu upon the throne. He marched out to meet the invading forces
of the men of Gishkhu, and a battle was fought in the territory of
Shirpurla. According to one account, the forces of Shirpurla were
victorious, while on the cone of Ente-mena no mention is made of
the issue of the combat. The result may not have been decisive, but
Enannadu's action at least checked Urlumma's encroachments for the time.

It would appear that the death of the reigning patesi in Shirpurla was
always the signal for an attack upon that city by the men of Gishkhu.
They may have hoped that the new ruler would prove a less successful
leader than the last, or that the accession of a new monarch might give
rise to internal dissensions in the city which would weaken Shirpurla's
power of resisting a sudden attack. As Eannadu's death had encouraged
Urlumma to lead out the men of Gishkhu, so the death of Enannadu seemed
to him a good opportunity to make another bid for victory. But this time
the result of the battle was not indecisive. Entemena had succeeded his
father Enannadu, and he led out to victory the forces of Shir-purla. The
battle was fought near the canal Lumma-girnun-ta, and when the men of
Gishkhu were put to flight they left sixty of their fellows lying dead
upon the banks of the canal. Entemena tells us that the bones of these
warriors were left to bleach in the open plain, but he seems to have
buried those of the men of Gishkhu who fell in the pursuit, for he
records that in five separate places he piled up burial-mounds in which
the bodies of the slain were interred. Entemena was not content with
merely inflicting a defeat upon the army of Gishkhu and driving it back
within its own borders, for he followed up his initial advantage and
captured the capital itself. He deposed and imprisoned Urlumma, andchose one of his own adherents to rule as patesi of Gishkhu in his
stead.

The man he appointed for this high office was named Hi, and he
had up to that time been priest in Nin?b. Entemena summoned him to his
presence, and, after marching in a triumphal procession from Girsu
in the neighbourhood of Shirpurla to the conquered city, proceeded toEntemena also repaired the frontier ditches named after Ningirsu and
Nin?, which had been employed for purposes of irrigation as well as for
marking the frontier; and he gave instructions to Hi to employ the men
dwelling in the district of Karkar on this work, as a punishment for
the active part they had taken in the recent raid into the territory of
Shirpurla. Entemena also restored and extended the system of canals
in the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates, lining one of the
principal channels with stone.

invest him with the office of patesi of Gishkhu.

History of Various Areas (8)(as of 1900)

Since the early spring of 1903 excavations have been conducted at Kuyunjik, the site of the city of Nineveh, by Messrs. L. W. King and R. C. Thompson on behalf of the Trustees of the British Museum, and have resulted in the discovery of many early remains in the lower strata of the mound, in addition to the finding of new portions of the two palaces already known and partly excavated, the identification of a third palace, and the finding of an ancient temple dedicated to Nabi, whose existence had already been inferred from a study of the Assyrian inscriptions. All these diggings at Babylon, at Ashur, and at Nineveh throw more light upon the history of the country during the Assyrian andNeo-Babylonian periods.

It may be noted that excavations are also being actively carried on in Palestine at the present time. Mr. Macalister has for some years been working for the Palestine Exploration Fund at Gezer; Dr. Schumacher is digging at Megiddo for the German Palestine Society; and Prof. Selli is at present excavating at Taanach (Ta'annak) and will shortly start work at Dothan. Good work on remains of later historical periods is also being carried on under the auspices of the Deutsch-Orient Gesellschaft at Ba'albek and in Galilee. It would be tempting to include here a summary of the very interesting results that have recently been achieved in this fruitful field of archaeological research, for it is true that these excavations may strictly be said to bear on the history of a portion of Western Asia. But the problems which they raise would more naturally be discussed in a work dealing with recent excavation and research in relation to the Bible, and to have summarized them adequately would have increased the size of the present volume considerably beyond its natural limits. They have therefore not been included within the scope of the present work.

A most interesting inscription has recently been discovered by Capt. Cros at Telloh, which throws considerable light on the rivalry which existed between the cities of Shirpurla and Gishkhu, and at the same time furnishes valuable material for settling the chronology of the
earliest rulers whose inscriptions have been found at Mppur and their relations to contemporary rulers in Shirpurla.

The cities of Gishkhu and Shirpurla were probably situated not far from one another, and their rivalry is typical of the history of the early city-states of Babylonia. The site of the latter city, as has already been said, is marked by the mounds of Telloh on the east bank of the Shatt el-Hai, the natural stream joining the Tigris and Euphrates, which has been improved and canalized by the dwellers in Southern Babylonia from the earliest period.

The site of Gishkhu may be set with considerable probability not far to the north of Telloh on the opposite bank of the Shatt el-Hai. These two cities, situated so close to one another, exercised considerable political influence, and though less is known of Gishkhu than of the more famous Babylonian cities such as Ur, Brech, and Larsam, her proximity to Shirpurla gave her an importance which she might not otherwise have possessed. The earliest knowledge we possess of the relations existing between Gishkhu and Shirpurla refers to the reign of Mesilim, King of Kish, the period of whose rule may be provisionally set before that of Sargon of Agade, i.e, about 4000 B.C.

At this period there was rivalry between the two cities, in consequence of which Mesilim, King of Kish, was called in as arbitrator. A record of the treaty of delimitation that was drawn up on this occasion has been preserved upon the recently discovered cone of Entemena. This document
tells us that at the command of the god Enlil, described as "the king of the countries," Ningirsu, the chief god of Shirpurla, and the god of Gishkhu decided to draw up a line of division between their respective territories, and that Mesilim, King of Kish, acting under the direction of his own god Kadi, marked out the frontier and set up a stele between the two territories to commemorate the fixing of the boundary.

This policy of fixing the boundary by arbitration seems to have been successful, and to have secured peace between Shirpurla and Gishkhu for some generations. But after a period which cannot be accurately determined a certain patesi of Gishkhu, named Ush, was filled with
ambition to extend his territory at the expense of Shirpurla. He therefore removed the stele which Mesilim had set up, and, invading the plain of Shirpurla, succeeded in conquering and holding a district named Gu-edin. But Ush's successful raid was not of any permanent benefit to
his city, for he was in his turn defeated by the forces of Shirpurla, and his successor upon the throne, a patesi named Enakalli, abandoned a policy of aggression, and concluded with Eannadu, patesi of Shirpurla, a solemn treaty concerning the boundary between their realms, the text of
which has been preserved to us upon the famous Stele of Vultures in the Louvre.

History of Various Areas (7)(as of 1900)

American excavators at Nippur, under the direction of Mr. Haynes, have done much in the past to increase our knowledge of Sumerian and early Babylonian history, but the work has not been continued in recent years, and, unfortunately, little progress has been made in the publication of the material already accumulated. In fact, the leadership in American excavation has passed from the University of Pennsylvania to that of Chicago. This progressive university has sent out an expedition, under the general direction of Prof. R. F. Harper (with Dr. E. J. Banks
as director of excavations), which is doing excellent work at Bismya, and, although it is too early yet to expect detailed accounts of their achievements, it is clear that they have already met with considerable success. One of their recent finds consists of a white marble statue of an early Sumerian king named Daudu, which was set up in the temple of E-shar in the city of Udnun, of which he was ruler. From its archaic style of workmanship it may be placed in the earliest period of Sumerian history, and may be regarded as an earnest of what may be expected to
follow from the future labours of Prof. Harper's expedition.

At Fira and at Abe Hatab in Babylonia, the Deutsch-Orient Gesellschaft, under Dr. Koldewey's direction, has excavated Sumerian and Babylonian remains of the early period. At the former site they unearthed the remains of many private houses and found some Sumerian tablets of
accounts and commercial documents, but little of historical interest; and an inscription, which seems to have come from Abu Hatab, probably proves that the Sumerian name of the city whose site it marks was Kishurra. But the main centre of German activity in Babylonia is the
city of Babylon itself, where for the last seven years Dr. Koldewey has conducted excavations, unearthing the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar II on the mound termed the Kasr, identifying the temple of E-sagila under the mound called Tell Amran ibn-Ali, tracing the course of the sacred way between E-sagila and the palace-mound, and excavating temples dedicated to the goddess Ninmakh and the god Ninib.

Dr. Andrae, Dr. Koldewey's assistant, has also completed the excavation of the temple dedicated to Nabi at Birs Nimrud. On the principal mound at this spot, which marks the site of the ancient city of Borsippa, traces of the ziggurat, or temple tower, may still be seen rising from the soil, the temple of Nabi lying at a lower level below the steep slope of the mound, which is mainly made up of debris from the ziggurat. Dr. Andrae has recently left Babylonia for Assyria, where
his excavations at Sher-ghat, the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Ashur, are confidently expected to throw considerable light on the early history of that country and the customs of the people, and already he has made numerous finds of considerable interest.