BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAI, SCIENCES 113 



on the seal reads: (to) Eanisha, priestess, beloved of the king, 

 Nadi, son of [....], thy servant. On No. 8 there are twenty- 

 three impressions of the notary's seal. Some of the wedges have 

 been obliterated by the pressure of the seal upon the soft clay, 

 making it very difficult to read. The seal on No. 1G is that of a 

 royal scribe. It reads: (To) Dungi, the mighty hero, king of 

 Ur, king of the four quarters, Ludugga, the scribe, son of Nigin- 

 gardugga, thy servant. Before the turbaned god seated on the 

 throne there stands a worshipper for whom the goddess is making 

 intercession. 



Eighteen of the tablets here published come from the time 

 of the dynasty of Ur (2300-2200 B. C), most of them being 

 dated in the reign of three of the five kings of that dynasty, 

 namely, Dungi, Bur-Sin and Gimil-Sin. The form of the writing 

 of two of the undated tablets (Nos. 18 and 20) is that of the 

 first dynasty of Babylon (20(30-1761 B. C). No. 21 is from the 

 reign of Sin-gashid, king of Uruk (the Biblical Erech), who was 

 probably a contemporary o£ one of the earlier kings of the first 

 dynasty of Babylon. It records his building of a palace. The 

 religious character of the time is illustrated by one of the royal 

 titles, "he who cares for Eanna," the temple of the goddess 

 Ishtar in Uruk. 



At the time of the dynasty of Ur it was customary to name 

 the year after some event of public interest. From the reign of 

 Dungi we have the following years : No. 8, "The year after 

 Simuru was devastated for the third time" ; No. 21, "The year 

 when (the temple named) Ebashaishdagan was built"; No. 22, 

 "The year when Shashru was devastated." Nos. 3, 7, and 11 are 

 from the seventh and eighth years of the reign of Bur-Sin, 

 which years were named, "The year when Huhunuri was devas- 

 tated," "The year when the high priest of Eridu was installed." 

 No. 13 is dated in "The year after the devastation of Simamv" 

 and No. 5 in "The year when Gimil-Sin the king devastated the 

 land of Zabshali." These are from the fourth and seventh years, 

 respectively of the reign of Gimil-Sin. It will readily be seen 

 what a valuable source of information for the history of the 

 period such date-formulas are in the record they give of foreign 

 campaigns and internal improvements. From the dates mentioned 

 above one may see the expansion of the empire under King 

 Dungi to the districts east of the Tigris river in his conquest of 



