May 18, 2017 urukagina claimed to have put an end to all this while urukagina focused on his reforms, known to us today from six inscriptions three of them are almost identical, the kingdom of lagash was systematically attacked by its deadly enemies in umma and its king lugalzagesi. His reign witnessed a gradually shrinking sphere of political power under threat from both uruk and umma, that at one point forced him to abandon lagash and move his capital to girsu. His reign witnessed a gradually shrinking sphere of political power under threat from both uruk and umma, that at one point forced him to. Lugalzagesi, the ruler of umma, for his goddess nisaba let that sin be borne on his neck. His uncle, eannatum, had been king earlier and was responsible for the treaty with lagash mentioned in these documents. All of this relative success of legal documents formed the background of legal codes as between ruler and citizen and citizen and citizen, including urukaginas code and, still 600 years later, hammurabis glorious code of law. The last of these, urukagina, was known for his judicial, social, and economic reforms, and his may well be the first legal code known to have existed. A legend of lagash foundation for economic education. Selected temple documents of the ur dynasty, new haven, 1919. Inscriptions describing the reforms of king urukagina of lagash c. Pdf mesopotamian law codes the human roots of moses laws. The provenance of most of these tablets is fixed by the mention of lagash in the date formula, or where there is none, by their similarity to tablets known to have come from that place. Girsu tello, lagash tell alhiba, and nigin tell surghul. Hence he found himself dropping into measures, and finally wrote it all in iambic pentameter, as here presented.
Feb 10, 20 gudea, a sumerian king who ruled the sumerian citystate of lagash between 2140 and 2120 bc, has been the subject of many statues, but the statue pictured above is unique. The inscriptions and administrative documents from presargonic lagash have left us hun dreds of. King lugal or ensi urukaginas law code, lagash, sumeria, provides the. He was the last king of the first dynasty of lagash and he came to power divinely as he claimed when ningirsu, warrior of enlil, granted him the kingship of lagash.
The author, who researched painstakingly, was dealing with certain known facts. Sep 12, 2015 umma vs lagash a foundation cone of enmetena gives a summary to the longlasting border dispute between umma and lagash. Historians do not know exactly when the citystate of lagash was founded, but it was a large enough force in the region that by 2550 b. Jul 30, 2011 all of this relative success of legal documents formed the background of legal codes as between ruler and citizen and citizen and citizen, including urukaginas code and, still 600 years later, hammurabis glorious code of law.
The history and legacy of the ancient sumerian city kindle edition by charles river editors. Urukagina reigned for seven years in the city of lagash, sometime around 2375. A workshop on current research and future trajectories the ancient state of lagash was one of the major political powers in the sumerian world of the third millennium bce. He instituted some reforms of the governing methodology and created one of the earliest systems of laws that we have a record of. Lagash and umma were two sumerian cities located 18 miles apart. Inscriptions describing the reforms of king urukagina of. Umma, lagash, napata inscriptions from umma and lagash lagash and umma were two sumerian cities located 18 miles apart. Urukagina s law code details abuses of lugalanda, the previous lagash ruler, which. The akkadian empire, which had ruled sumer for 200 years, had been overrun by the gutians, nomadic tribesman from the north. For generations, lagash and umma contested the possession and agricultural usufruct of the fertile region of guedena.
A fragment of the victory stele of king eannutum of lagash over umma, called stele of vultures circa 2450 bc, sumerian archaic dynasties. Chiefly from the reigns of lugalanda and urukagina of lagash harvard semitic series, volume iii hussey, mary inda on. This statuette is the only complete specimen of a series of diorite representations of this prince, alternately standing and sitting. These documents were found on clay cylinders and date from about 2500 bc at the time of the events recorded here, entemena is king of lagash. Inscriptions from umma and lagash field of ningirsu on its. The first cities developed in the mesopotamian plain, specifically in the south at about 3500. Gudea, prince of lagash, seated statue dedicated to the. Dating from the rule of lugalanda and the rule of uruinimgina incorrectly called urukagina, 24th century b. Although it is known that earlier lawcodes existed, such as the code of urukagina, this represents the earliest legal text that has been discovered to date.
Civis libertas forum pleads that the document was the first known. First dynasty of lagash under king eannutum is the first empire in mesopotamia. The inscription reveals himself, his family, and his temples and achievements. The ancient site of surghulnina is around 6 miles 9. In addition to running her househol which like other oikoi included land, flocks, fishermen, craftsmen, oks, brewers, gardeners. The conflict lasted on and off for many generations starting around the. Urukgaina, in the same way that putin was the benevolent saviour of russia, was the benevolent saviour of lagash, the liberator of his people from corruption, the wise reformer. The man of umma, after lagash he had sacked, it is a sin against ningirsu that he has committed.
Jan 26, 2008 although it is known that earlier lawcodes existed, such as the code of urukagina, this represents the earliest legal text that has been discovered to date. Lagash modern alhiba was one of the oldest cities of the ancient near east. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the ancient near east. He no longer mentioned the names of deities in temple documents and he. Code of urukagina project gutenberg selfpublishing. Urukaginas law code, lagash, sumeria, provides the accepted structure. Urukagina, the leader of the sumerian citystate of girsulagash, led a popular movement that resulted in the reform of the oppressive legal and governmental. He urukagina freed the inhabitants of lagash from usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure of their property and persons. This tablet has not received a linebyline translation from a scholar, but it has been determined by scholars to be a ration list, a document that records the dispersal of rations. These documents were found on a clay cylinder and date from about 2500 bce. Urukagina, uruinimgina, or irikagina was king of the citystates of lagash and girsu in. Early civilization and political organization in babylonia the. They fought for possession of the fertile fields of the guedena.
Lagas, or shirpurla, was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the euphrates and tigris rivers and east of uruk, about 22 kilometres 14 mi east of the modern town of ash shatrah, iraq. Pdf this is the first part at a look at law codes in the ancient world with reference to moses and jesus. To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom. You are looking at what jerald starr, an american sumerologist and friend of all mesopotamia, believes is the first realistic, recognizable portrait of a man in all of history. From the earliest date of which there is any record, s mesopotamia was occupied by a people, known as sumerians, speaking a nonsemitic language. Ive seen a lot of pictures of gudea during my research in sumerian history, so i know what he looks like, starr writes in an article on his website. Gudea reigned during difficult and dangerous times. Wiseman, law and order in old testament times, vox evangelica 8 1973. Lagash, one of the most important capital cities in ancient sumer, located midway between the tigris and euphrates rivers in southeastern iraq. Pdf this is the first part at a look at law codes in the ancient world with. Urukagina more correctly, uruinimgina king of lagash in the second half of the 24th century b. P irikagina, king of lagash, has selected them the various people listed above lit. You know priests are douchebags when they can take away a poor mans source of food his orchard, simply to have firewood.
Gudea, a sumerian king who ruled the sumerian citystate of lagash between 2140 and 2120 bc, has been the subject of many statues, but the statue. Lagash article about lagash by the free dictionary. This limestone stele from ancient sumer depicts the king of lagash, urnanshe, carrying a basket of bricks in the view of his family and also seated at a table. Wlanl koopmanrob gudea of lagash, rmo leiden, 2100 bc, diorite, lagash southern iraq. Urnanshe king of lagash relief bible history online. Ancient law codes law codes urukagina of lagashsumerian. Urukagina remarks on the reforms of urukagina king of lagash. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license.
Gudea, prince of the independent kingdom of lagash in the late 3rd millennium, is known for his piety and prolific building of temples. E person who created the oldest law code urnammu of ur iii. The history and legacy of the ancient sumerian city. Sutherland urukagina or uruinimgina, an illegitimate and controversial claimant to power, ruled only some years c. Lagash synonyms, lagash pronunciation, lagash translation, english dictionary definition of lagash. Note that the mesilims 2550 bc peace treaty is also featured in the lawgallery under documents. Sumerian hundred years war umma vs lagash sumer to sargon. In this video i explain the conflict between the citystates of lagash and umma c. C urningirsu was the son of gudea, the ensi ruler, governor of lagash. To begin with, some two generations before urnanshe, mesilim another king of kish had intervened as arbiter and possibly overlord in read more. The history of sumer, taken to include the prehistoric ubaid and uruk periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia bce, ending with the downfall of the third dynasty of ur around 2004 bce, followed by a transitional period of amorite states before the rise of babylonia in the 18th century bce. This volume belongs to the same general epoch as those presented by.
Urukagina considered by many, the first reformer in the history of humanity and the leader of the social movement ruled only for eight years in the late twentyfourth century bc, before he was thrown out of the throne by the umma king, lugalzagesi, who sacked lagash, burned down the citys holy temples and massacred his people. An inscription engraved on his robe indicates that it is dedicated to the. Urukagina appears as a social reformer, getting rid of gross abuses of power that had taken hold in lagash. At the time of the events recorded here, entemena was king of lagash. Urukagina was the last old sumerian ruler of lagash before its conquest by lugalzagesi of umma and the subsequent sargonic period. Though women were protected by late sumerian law and were able to achieve a higher status in sumer than in other contemporary. Ancient lagash a workshop on current research and future. Sumer, papers presented by the soviet dlgation at the xxiii international. There has been some speculation on whether or not urukagina enacted his reforms into law or if he was just paying lip service to social reform as a way to increase his popularity with his subjects many kings announce highminded reforms at the beginning of their reigns, only to proceed with business as usual. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading lagash. Urukagina article about urukagina by the free dictionary. The widow and orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful.
Urukagina remarks on the reforms of urukagina king of lagash sumer free download as pdf file. After entemena, a series of weak, corrupt priestkings is attested for lagash. Presently located in southern iraq, this state incorporated three main cities. He assumed the title of king, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor, lugalanda.
The hand he brought against him he ningirsu will cut off. A fragment of the victory stele of king eannutum of lagash over umma, called stele of vultures. The conflict lasted on and off for many generations starting around the time of 2500 bc through to the rise of lugalzagesi in 2340. Lagash is the name of a sumerian citystate located by the tigris river, in southeast mesopotamia. Lagash definition of lagash by the free dictionary. View notes ancient law codes from rels 11617 at loyola university new orleans. The ones used here to provide characteristic extracts praise urukagina uruinimagina, c 2350 and gudea 21412122, who ruled from lagash, and urnammu 21122095 and shulgi culgi, 20942047, who ruled from ur. This picture of a vanished time reveals dramatic parallels with some modern conditions. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The ancient name of the mound of telloh was actually girsu, while lagash originally denoted a site southeast of girsu, later becoming the name of the whole. Great was the king, the scion of urnanshe, rivaling for a time the great gilgamish, the legendary hero of all sumer. A foundation cone of enmetena gives a summary to the longlasting border dispute between umma and lagash.
364 355 651 700 1399 388 553 1098 43 42 1445 194 1407 1606 1215 370 694 1666 1372 1593 605 699 1090 815 1455 1059 1095 1181 947 215 973 1417 683 724 1408 1179 1157