CHIEFLY FROM NIPPUR. 267 



East, and yet his very name had been forgotten by later generations. He lived long 

 before Sargon I founded his famous empire, and he called a kingdom his own which 

 in no way was inferior to that of his well-known successor, extending from the Persian 

 Gulf to the shores of the Mediterranean. I quote the king's own poetical language : 

 ""When Inlil, lord of the lands, invested Lugalzaggisi with the kingdom of the 

 world and granted him success before the world, when he filled the lands with his 

 renown (power) (and) subdued (the country) from the rise of the sun to the setting 

 of the sun — at that time he straightened his path from the lower sea of the Tigris and 

 Euphrates to the upper sea and granted him the dominion of everything (?) from the 

 rise of the sun to the setting of the sun and caused the countries to rest (dwell) in 

 peace." 1 It becomes evident from this passage, in which Lugalzaggisi declares him- 

 self to have been invested with the kingdom of the world by Inlil of Nippur, ' s lord 

 of the lands," that only Nippur can have been the ancient seat of the sharrut hibrai 

 arbaHm, which manifestly is but the later Semitic rendering of the ancient Sumerian 

 nam-lugal lalama. I have examined all the passages in the fresh light of this text 

 and find that Nippur fulfills by far better the required conditions than Kutha or any 

 other city which has been proposed in Northern Babylonia. But, be it remembered, to 

 the early kings of Babylonia this title meant more than a mere possession of the city 

 whose god claimed the right of granting the sharrut kibrat arbaHm. Down to the 

 time of Hammurabi only those 2 laid claim to this significant title who really owned 

 territory far beyond the north and south of Babylonia, who, in the Babylonian sense 

 of the word, had conquered a quasi worldwide dominion, defined by the four natural 

 boundaries (Part I, p. 25). The later Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions are of 

 value for the determination of the meaning of this title at their own time, but they 

 have little importance for the question as to its origin and earliest localization, if the 

 title must be localized at all hazards. 



According to the manner of usurpers, 3 Lugalzaggisi retained Ereeh, the old 

 metropolis of the country, as his own new capital of this first great Oriental state, of 

 which Kengi became now the chief province. Babylonia, as a whole, 4 had no fault 



1 Col. I, 36. Ud dingirEn-lil 37. lugal kur-kur-ra 38. Lugalzaggisi 39. nam-lugal 40. kalam-ma 41. mana-summa-a 

 42. igi kalam-ma-ge 43. sima-na-di-a 44. kur-kur(a)ne na 45. ma-ni-sig ga-a 46. Utu e(a)-ta. Col. II, 1. Utu shu(a)- 

 shu2. gu na-na-gar-ra-a 3. uda-ba 4. a-ab-ba 5. sig-ta-ta 6. Jdigna 7. Buranunu{ without determ. )-&»(= "and ") 8. a- 



abba 9. igi nim-ma-shu 10. gira-bi 11. si-mi-na-di 12. Utu e(a)-ia 13. Utu shu{a)-shu 14. [dingirE~\n-lilU 15 nin 



16 mu-ni-dug 17. kur kur(.a) u sal-la 18. mu-da-na. 



2 Of Dungi we know too little to call him an exception. Of the kings of the second dynasty of Ur, who assumed 

 the proud title, we know now from Pis. 55 and 58 (cf. above, p. 246 and note 4) that they had made conquests as far 

 as Syria and Elam. 



3 Well stated by Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen III, p. 234. 



4 Cf. col. II, 19. kalam-ma 20. a- ul-la mu-da-ga (— shakaim) 21. bar-bar Ki-en-gi 22. pa-le-si kur hurra, etc., etc. 



