262 OLD BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS 



features of a mixed race. 1 The capital of this early kingdom is likewise unknown. 2 

 In all probability it was Erech. 3 The religious centre of Kengi was the sanctuary of 

 Inlil at Nippur. 4 It stood under the especial care of every ruler who claimed supreme 

 authority over the country, and who called himself patesi gal Inlil? to define his posi- 

 tion as being obtained by divine authority. The chief local administrator of the tem- 

 ple in Nippur seems to have had the title damkar gal. 6 This I infer from my analysis 

 of the meaning of damhar and from the inscriptions of Nos. 94 and 95 in connection 

 with No. 96, where a certain Aba-Inlil (= Klsliit-Bel) who has the title of damkar, 

 presents a vase to Ninlil '' for the life of Ur-Inlil, patesi of Nippur." 7 Ur s and Larsam'' 

 and doubtless other places whose names are not yet known from inscriptions, were 

 prominent cities in this early Babylonian kingdom. They had their own sanctuaries, 

 which stood under the control of a pateai. This title characterizes its bearer, according 

 to his religious position, as sovereign lord of a temple and chief servant of the god 

 worshiped in it. The fact that a patesi, in addition, often occupied a political position 

 as king or governor, does not interfere with this view. He is first of all the highest 

 official of his god, representing him in his dealings with his subjects ; in other words, 



1 Prof. Cope 'wrote me on this subject : "The shortness of the jaws however is certainly not a Semitic character in 

 human faces, and this character renders the physiognomy very peculiar. The hooked nose and large eyes on the con- 

 trary are Semitic. As a result I should say the figures represent an Aryan race with some Semitic tendencies. The 

 identification of such a race is of much interest [indeed it is of vital importance for the whole Sumerian question ! 

 — H.]. The people evidently have no Mongolian tendencies." 



2 It may have stood in No. 90, 5, lugal . . . . , which is only preserved in part. The traces do not point to the ideo- 

 gram of TJnug, more to kalama. 



3 Cf. Nos. 86, 4-14 ; also the fact that Erech is the capital of Lugal kigub-nidudu and Lugalzaggisi and is promi- 

 nently mentioned in Edingiranagin's inscriptions. Cf. also Hommel, QescMchte, p. 206, and especially p. 800, observe 

 the important position which Erech holds in the titles of the kings of the dynasty of Isin en {shega) Unuga^i [N. B. 

 Winckler's reading of Pait I, No. 26, 3, as Sin-ga-mil, is an absolute palseographic impossibility. If anything, the 

 reading of this line as Unugkiga-ge is sure beyond question (against Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen III, p. 

 274)]. 



4 Cf. above, p. 236, and among other points, especially No. 87, col. I, 36-41. 



6 Cf. No. 87, col. I. A similar title occurs in the inscriptions of Tello, patesi gal Ningirsu (Entemena and his son 

 Enanatuma). Apparently at an early time the god Ninib received the title paled gal Inlil (PI. 55, Obv. 17), and the 

 kings and governors were satisfied with the title patesi Inlil. 



6 Cf. No. 94: 1. Dingir Mn-din-dug, 2. Ur -dingir En-lil, 3. damkar gal, 4. a-mu shvb, "To Ba'u Ur-Enlil the chief 

 agent (scil. of Inlil) devoted (il)-" The current translation of damkar, "merchant," is too narrow in many passages. 

 Cf also No. 95 : 1. [Dingir J\"\in-din-dugga 2. Ur- Ma-ma 3. [d]am-kar 4. [fl»JS]n-[Z(J] 5. \a-mu-na shub], "To Ba'u Ur- 

 Mama, agent of Enlil presented it." For dingir Ma-ma cf. the ideogram of Gula, dingir Me-me in later texts {e.g., 

 Strassmaier, Cambyses, 145, 3) and the goddess Mauri II B. 51, 55«, and in old Babylonian contracts (the last two 

 references I owe to Jensen). From the fragment of an inscribed stone in Bagdad I copied the phrase "damkar 

 dingir DUN-GI, preceded by the titles of a king of the secoud dynasty of Ur, and followed by dingir Uru^-ka. 



7 Cf No. 97, which seems to have been devoted by ibis very [TJrj-Enlil, patesi of Nippur, to B§1. 

 8 Of. Nos. 86 and 87, col. II, 30-32, mentioned also by Edingiranagin. 



9 Cf. No. 87, col. II, 33-37. 



