Around 3000 BC, after more than 500 years of development, the Sumerian civilization has developed very maturely, cuneiform scripts began to exert a major impact in various fields of urban development, and the city-state began to enter the historical period of the city-state hegemony, which is known in history as the Sumerian city-state period of the Two Rivers Valley civilization, which can also be called the early Sumerian dynasty period. However, due to the relatively sparse mud plate materials unearthed from this period and with a certain mythological color, people's understanding of the history of this period is very vague. Among them, the "Sumerian King Table" is one of the important bases for us to understand this history, and some data are derived from the chronicle inscriptions of the kings of various city-states who participate in major activities and important events every day, usually the clay tablet documents preserved in important places of the country, and some clay tablet documents have been very systematic in the record of political history, and these precious physical materials restore the relatively real Sumerian city-states to us.
Ruins of a former Sumerian city-state
The peaceful transfer of royal power in the original five cities
In the Table of Sumerian Kings, it is recorded that the Great Flood is an important boundary for the development of cities and royal power, and before the Great Flood, five cities had already gained royal rule, namely Elidhu, Bad Tibila, Larak, Sipar, Shurupak, and the Sumerians also successively established the cities of Obeid, Uruk, Ur, Kish, Kud, Atab, and Nippur. In the Sumerian mind and cultural tradition, The Nippor is not only the dividing line between the Sumerian and Akkadian regions, occupying an important geographical position, based on the tradition that kingship was granted by the gods, it is also the center of power and domination of the gods on earth, and its guardian deity is Enriel, and the inscription describes him as generally titled "The Land of kings", "King of Heaven and Earth", and "Father of the Gods".
The original five strongest city-states
Among the five ancient cities, Elidu is known as the first city in human history, in the discovery of the Elidu ruins, people found that the diameter of the site reached more than 450 meters, piled up from the bottom up belonging to the Elidu culture, Haji Muhammad culture, typical Obeid culture, late Obeid culture, Uruk culture and Jemdeeneser culture, for the uppermost Jemdeitneser culture, it was born in about 3100 BC, replacing the Uruk culture and rise, It ended in 2900 BC when the early Sumerian dynasty was established. This is very obvious that the city has been gradually abandoned by the time of the city-state struggle, according to the study, due to the special geographical location of Elidus, the origin of the Sumerian civilization born on the mud plate after the "Great Flood" - the mystery of the origin of the Sumerian civilization At that time, the land was greatly affected by sea level rise and river water impact, and by about 2900 BC, the salinization of the land had been very serious, so the center of gravity of sumerian development began to shift north.
Elidu special location
For several other cities, although the history of Shulu park can be traced back to the Obeid cultural period, but the development and prosperity of the period from 2600 BC to 2500 BC, the inscription records that the kingship was passed down to this point "washed away by the flood", indicating that the city was later restored and rebuilt, the actual reign of the dynasty was 3714 BC - 3474 BC, and the kingship was taken from Sipar in 3483 BC; Sippal was a city located in the Akkad region, and it is recorded that the city believed in the sun god Utu, It was a mineral-rich land that ruled from about 3603 BC to 3483 BC and was replaced by Shurupak; the city of Larac was born around 3800 BC, was established by the arrival of the Sumerians and the local indigenous (Akkadian) integration (not the same as the city of Larsa that existed later), and was taken over from Bud Tibila in 3505 BC, ruling from 3572 to 3492 BC, and was eventually replaced by Sipar The city of Bad Tibila is the site of what is now Madineh, which is recorded to have taken over the throne from Elidus and was replaced by Lalac in 3505 BC after three dynasties, ruling from 3985 TO 3505 BC.
The first city-state to begin to become powerful was Kish
According to the Table of Sumerian Kings, "After the Great Flood, when the kingship fell from the sky, the kingship was in Kish. "The early Sumerian dynasty began after the Great Flood, and in the reconstruction of the city after the Great Flood, Kish may have been affected by the special geographical location of the time, and it was the first to achieve restoration, it was located in the northern part of the Sumerian region, where the Euphrates River and the Tigris River were very close, which allowed the Kish city-state to control the throat of the two river basins.
According to archaeological findings, the remains of Kish in the Neolithic period already show cultural characteristics, but have nothing in common with the early cultures in the south, showing a unique traditional feature, while in fact the northern part of this area is the area where the Sym-speaking Akkadians are active, and it is speculated that they should have come into contact with the Sumerians during the Period of the Gem deTemes; there is no historical evidence that there was a war in that period, and the Akkadians and the Sumerians engaged in a peaceful national integration, among the early rulers of the Kish Dynasty, Many kings had Symic and Sumerian names, which may be related to the traditional characteristics of the Kish Sumerians and Akkadians, who were also the dominant people of the Kish. Although peace remained internally, some king inscriptions have begun to record the war with Elam, according to historical records, around 2750 BC, the Kish king Maxim began to establish hegemony in the Sumerian city-state, once intervened to mediate the border dispute between Uma and Lagash, in 2700 BC king Enmebaragsi led the Sumerian city-state army to invade Elam, "captured the weapons of the Elamian state".
The tomb of King Kish unearthed the world's earliest four-wheeled chariot
Uruk initially realized the reunification of the North and the South
At the same time as Kish rose in the north, the southern city-state of Uruk also began to rise under the gradual prosperity of civilization, and in order to compete for hegemony in the Sumerian region, the two city-states inevitably went to war. The flourishing period of Uruk culture was from 3500 BC to 3100 BC, reaching its peak during the reign of gilgamesh, the fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk, and there was a hegemonic battle with Aga, the king of Kish, and finally Kish was defeated and surrendered to Uruk, around 2650 BC, Uruk established hegemony in the battle for supremacy in the city-state; in the following century, gilgamesh's seven successors enjoyed the right to rule uruk and Kish, The Northern and Southern Sumerian regions and parts of the Akkad region were initially unified. The title of King of Kish was of great significance in this region, because it was equivalent to the king of Sumer and Akkad, so that it was always spied on by other city-states, so that the king of Uruk, while obtaining the king of Kish, was equivalent to "unifying the north and south regions".
The right to be sacrificed by King Kish
The First Dynasty of your is established
Your is very close to Elidu, so it has been the center of Sumerian culture and religion since prehistoric times, because of its excellent transportation location, so that the city of your, although it recovered later after the Flood, was able to prosper rapidly on foreign trade. By around 2600 BC, you were already rich and strong by trade with the East, as evidenced by the treasures buried in the tombs; in 2560 BC, Maisanipa defeated the Uruk and the regained king of Kish, establishing the First Dynasty of your and gaining control of Nippur. During the reign of his successor, Myshkiagnuna, the Temple of Tumar in Nipur was rebuilt, the site of the shrine of Nellir, the wife of Enriel, and according to the relevant inscriptions, the temple was destroyed many times and rebuilt many times.
Lapis lazuli seal unearthed from your first dynasty
Ragash vs Uma
Archaeological findings show that Lagash and Uma were both ancient city-states in the Sumerian region, but the Table of Sumerian Kings rarely mentions their history of domination and the process of obtaining royal power, which is most likely related to their rare sacrifice to Nellier in Nippuri. Lagash controlled the city and the eastern religious center of Gilsu, there was another city of Nina, and between Uma and Lagash there were two cities, Adabo and Kesh, Adapo because of its proximity to Neeppur, so one king was written in the Sumerian King Table, and the information of Lagash and Uma came from the recorded inscription. According to excavations and studies of the ruins of Lagash, the current Tro is the religious center of Gilsu Andi, and Alhibachu is the city of Lagash. Affected by the special geographical location, the land of Lagash is very fertile, well-irrigated, and there are two canals inside, The Saudi-El-Hay and Ruma-Guirnurn canals, so the grain is very rich, the trade is also very developed, and it has always taken advantage of the temporary relations with Uma to actively develop economic construction and foreign trade, and maintained peaceful coexistence for a long time under the auspices of the northern hegemon Kish and the southern hegemon Youhr.
Sumerian city-states
Around 2500 BC, the hegemony of the south Ur began to weaken under the invasion of Elam, entering the second dynasty of your, the hegemony of the north Kish also began to weaken, at this time Uruk regained hegemony again, established the second dynasty of Uruk, the leader of Lagash Urnanse also took the opportunity to start the king, large-scale expansion of the city temples and walls, after the strength of the rapid victory over the former overlord Ur, a great victory over the army of Umma; in 2480 BC, during the reign of his son Akurgar, Ragsh and Uma fell into a land war, But by this time Umah had the upper hand; in 2470 the central city-state of Adabo rose, and the ruler Lugar Animon conquered most of the eastern Sumerian city-states.
Adabo, who rose for a while
In 2460 BC, with the death of Lugar Animondu, Adabo began to weaken, many city-states returned to rule, Lagash and Uma rose again, at this time, Lagash was ruled by Eianatum, Lagash had a clear advantage in the struggle with Uma, he redrawn the border with the defeated Uma, dug ditches on the border, erected boundary stone tablets and his own inscriptions, and leased land to the people and rulers of Uma. In order to consolidate his rule, Eianatum began to fight for hegemony, defeating your, Uruk (temporary truce), Larsa, Akshak, Kish, and also using troops against Elam, conquering the Persian Gulf coast, he boasted that he was the king of Kish, but Kish and Akshak did not accept defeat, they united with the Elamites and the Akkadians to rebel against Lagash, but in the end Eheanaturm still won a great victory.
Lagash rises
In 2430 BC, Eianatum died, his brother Ennatum I succeeded to the throne, Kish and Umah regained independence, the king of Umah Urluma refused to recognize the treaty signed by his fathers, burned the boundary monument with fire, demolished the buildings built by Lagash, he personally led an army to attack the ancient Edina region, and also united the armies of other countries, the elderly King of Lagash Ennaturm could only appoint his son Ntaimena to lead the army to meet the battle. Entemina crushed the Uma army (by this time it had formed an alliance with the powerful Uruk), and Urluma saw that the general trend had gone to lead the rest of the army to escape, but lagash's army pursued it until it penetrated deep into Uma territory, and the enemy army was piled up. After Ntaimena returned to lagash, within a few days Ulluma's nephew Iller seized the city of Uma and became the new king, he did not want to give up the fertile land, once again marched on the border, and diverted the canal water to Uma, and also refused to pay all the taxes, wanted to obtain the right to manage the ancient Edina plain, at this time, Lagash because of the previous years of conquest of the warring states, the people were already unable to fight again, so Uma asked the northern Kish and Aksak to arbitrate the dispute between the two countries, and under the third-party arbitration, the border between the two countries could be demarcated again. The regulations were rewritten and the fighting came to an end.
Pottery records the border war between Lagash and Uma
In 2410 BC, the successor King of Lagash, Ennantum II, defeated the Uma king Eile and re-maintained the hegemony of Lagash, in 2400 BC, after the death of N'Annatum II, Lagash began to enter a series of weak periods of rule, the temple priesthood began to rise, using religious activities to gather wealth, they launched a fierce struggle with secular forces, Lagash's economic and social order began to be destroyed, social conflicts continued, the economy regressed, the people were not happy, Lagash began to lose its hegemony The land to the north was controlled by Kish and Larac.
By 2378 BC, Ragash finally had a strong ruler, Urukakina, who underwent a series of reforms that weakened the priesthood, actively implemented policies that promoted social equity, economic development, and social contradictions, expanded the number of citizens, banned personally guaranteed lending conditions, and released civilians enslaved and interned for debt. However, urukakina's reforms were ultimately unable to save Lagash's demise, when a more powerful king appeared in Uma, Lugar Zaghi, and in revenge for the defeat of Uma, in 2371 BC, he led an army to conquer and destroy Gilsu, and soon conquered Lagash.
Urukakina Reforms
After the conquest of Lagash, Uma became more powerful than ever, in 2359 BC, Lugar Zagsi led an army to conquer the Second Dynasty of Uruk, and used the city of Uruk as the capital, calling himself the King of Uruk, the King of the Land, and establishing the Third Dynasty of Uma-Uruk, and by 2350 BC, Lugar Zaghi had unified the Sumerian region in southern Babylonia outside Kish. In the inscription he claimed that "from east to west he had no rivals, and all the city-states submitted to him, recognizing his dominion over Uruk." The inscription also lists the city-states that lived and worked in peace and contentment under his rule. In 2340 BC, Lugar Zagsi marched north to conquer the city-state of Kish, but at this time he also encountered sargon of Akkad, the last true enemy.
Lugar Zagsi unified the Sumerian region
In 2334 BC, the Umma-Uruk dynasty came to an end, and the powerful Akkadian monarch Sargon gave him a fatal blow, they faced the larger Akkadians in the north, and finally the "Sumerian Empire" established by Lugar Zaghis by military conquest was also conquered by another more "empire" empire, the Akkadian Empire, and the end of the early Sumerian dynasty, which was about to enter the era of the establishment of the Akkadian Empire and the rise of Babylon.