CHIEFLY FPOM NIPPUR. 271 



the Semites of Northern Mesopotamia, disappeared and was translated into the Sem- 

 itic sharrut Jcibrat arba'im. The later Sumerian nam-lugal a "ub-cla-tab-tab-ba is 

 nothing but a translation from the Semitic title back into the sacred Sumerian lan- 

 guage by Semitic scribes of the third millennium B. C . 



Not long after Lugalzaggisi's death a reaction seems to have set in. Sugir gen- 

 erally transliterated as Girsu, which Urukagina or one of his predecessors raised from 

 the obscurity of a provincial town to the leading position in the new kingdom of Shir- 

 purla, must be regarded as the centre of a national Sumerian movement against the 

 Semitic invaders. " The lord of Sugir," Nin-Sugir, became the principal god, and 

 his emblem —the lion-headed eagle with outspread wings, occasionally appearing in 

 connection with two lions, which are victoriously clutched in its powerful talons 1 — be- 

 came the coat-of-arms of the city and characterizes best the spirit of independence 

 which was fostered in its sanctuary. Urukagina's successors, especially Ur-Nina, 

 devoted their time to building temples and fortifying the city of Shirpurla and, as 

 faithful patesis, impressed the power and glory of their warlike deity upon their sub- 

 jects. The cult of Nin-Sugir cannot be separated from the national uprising which 

 started from his sanctuary. Edingiranagin at last felt strong enough to shake off the 

 obnoxious yoke of the Semitic oppressors of Kish and Harran. The decisive battle 

 which was fought must have been very bloody. The Sumerians won it, and they cel- 

 ebrated their victory, which restored a temporary power and influence over the greater 

 part of Kengi to them, in the famous stele of vultures set up by Edingiranagin. 

 Erech and Ur played a prominent part in this national war. The former retained its 

 place as the capital of the nam- en (of Kengi), but Ur seems to have furnished the 

 new dynasty, as I infer from No. 8 15. 



Although No. 86 of my published texts belongs doubtless to the same general 

 period as No. 87, a detailed examination of its palseographic peculiarities leads me to 

 place it somewhat later, and to regard it as about contemporary with the inscriptions of 

 the kings of Shirpurla, especially with those of Edingiranagin. We learn from it the 

 following :' 2 " When Inlil, the lord of the lands, announced life unto Lugal-kigub- 

 nidudu, when he added lordship to kingdom, establishing Erech as (the seat of) the 

 lordship (the empire) and Ur as (the seat of) the kingdom, Lugal-kigub-nidudu pre- 

 sented this for the great and joyful lot (which he received) unto Inlil, his beloved 



*Cf. Heuzey's treatise Les Armoiries Ohaldeennes. 



2 Five different legends have been found of this ruler: (1) A brief legend of three lines (cf. PI. 14), (2) one 

 of seven or eight lines (cf. PI. XVII No. 39), (3) one of nineteen lines, ( t) an even larger one of c. thirty lines, (5) 

 No. 83. Of the third class a fragment was excavated after the preparation of my plates, which contained the closing 

 lines 17-19. The precise connection between the upper and lower portions on PI. 37 cannot be given at present. 



