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The Historians' History of the World 01 [Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia]
- Автор: Gutenberg
- Год: 1905
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: История
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KINGS OF KISH AND GISHBAN
[ca. 4200-4000 B.C.]
Various changes had befallen the land of Kish. When speaking of Enshagkushanna, we saw that Kish was defeated. It had, however, in course of time again increased in strength. Mesilim was able to establish himself as ruler over Shirpurla at the time of Lugalshuggur. His successors may have retained their glory for a considerable period. They were, however, not able to withstand the mighty weapons of Eannatum. This latter king not only shook off the old yoke which Kish had fastened upon Shirpurla, but even became “king of Kish.” He must have reduced Kish to total impotence. Hence it came about that Kish was vanquished by another power, of which we shall hear shortly.
Just as Gishban, after its defeat by Eannatum, felt strong enough to disregard the solemn promise never to invade the territory of Shirpurla, so Kish, after its overthrow by Eannatum, seems to have rapidly regained its old power. For we find a certain En-ne-ugun, “king of Kish,” who is also termed “king of the hordes of Gishban,” desirous with the help of this latter city to extend the power of his capital. He was, however, defeated by a certain king of a certain country (the names cannot be read on account of the mutilated condition of the tablets). “His statue”—this unknown victorious king records, while relating his victory over En-ne-ugun—“his shining silver, the utensils, his property, he carried away, and presented them to Bel at Nippur.”
In course of time, however, and probably not very long after this defeat, Kish seems to have recovered from this blow. A certain Urzaguddu must have been very successful in his wars, for, in addition to his title “king of Kish,” he calls himself also “king of …” Unfortunately here again we have a gap, so that we cannot determine of what city he became king.
Very little is known of the next king of Kish, Lugaltarsi. At what time subsequent to Urzaguddu he lived we cannot tell. So much only is certain, that he reigned some time before Alusharshid, about 3850 B.C. His inscription—the only one so far known to us—is preserved in the British Museum in which he records the building of Bad-kisal in honour of Bel and Ishtar. We can now place Manishtusu and Alusharshid also among the kings of Kish. Both flourished somewhere about 3850 B.C., before Sargon I.
When reading the inscriptions of these kings, it is as if a new race were speaking to us, so widely different is the language used by these rulers from that of their predecessors, or of any other kings we have so far met with. We here find for the first time the so-called Semitic-Babylonian inscriptions. It is the same language which is also employed in the inscriptions of Sharganisharali and his successors, in that of Lasirab, king of Guti, and of Annubanini, king of Lalubu, all of whom were more or less contemporary with these kings of Kish. Scholars who believe that we must postulate two different races among the inhabitants of early Babylonia call the kings who wrote in this style “Semitic kings,” while the others are referred to the Sumerian population. As a result of this they read the names of these kings in a Semitic way. Manishtusu becomes Ma-an-is-tu-iro (so Winckler). Urumush becomes Alu-usharshid (i.e. “He—some deity—founded the city”).
The inscription of Manishtusu, whom we place provisionally before Urumush, runs, “Manishtuirba, king of Kish, has presented (this) to Belit-Malkatu.”
Of more importance, from the historical point of view as well as from the linguistic, is the next ruler who followed soon after the former. This ruler is Alusharshid. From his inscriptions—to be found in fifty-one fragments of vases, which have been excavated by the expedition of the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Peters, and partly published by Hilprecht—we learn that he subdued Elam, on the eastern side of the Tigris, and the country of Bara’se (Para’se), from which lands he brought back these marble vases, and dedicated them to his gods at Nippur and Sippar.
For but a short period subsequent to Alusharshid does Kish seem to have enjoyed its old power. The might of Kish gave place to that of Agade, as we shall see shortly. Leaving, therefore, Kish for the present, we turn our attention to the other enemy of Old Shirpurla, viz. Gishban.
[ca. 4000 B.C.]
At about 4000 B.C., not long after the time of Eannatum, Gishban seems to have acquired new power and might. It directed its chief attention not so much towards Shirpurla as towards the south. Probably the rulers of Shirpurla had at this time been reduced to utter weakness by its old enemies (i.e. Kish and Gishban), of which enemies Gishban was destined to play the most important rôle in the development of ancient Babylonian history.
Lugalzaggisi, the son of Ukush, patesi of Gishban, we find at the head of the armies of Gishban, which he leads victoriously against the south. After Erech had opened its doors, the whole of Babylonia to the Persian Gulf fell an easy prey to the conquering hero. He, although originally only the son of a patesi, becomes king of Erech, nay, even king of the “whole world.” “Enlil, king of the lands, has given to Lugulzaggisi the kingship of the world; he has made him to prosper before the world; he it was that had placed the lands under his sceptre—the lands ‘from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same.’ He it also was that gave him the tribute of those lands, which he made to dwell in peace, notwithstanding that they had been brought under a new régime.” With these words Lugalzaggisi acknowledges, as the kings of Shirpurla did, that Enlil, and Enlil alone, had granted to him so unprecedented a dominion, extending from the lower sea of the Tigris and the Euphrates (i.e. the Persian Gulf) to the upper sea (i.e. the Mediterranean). Constituted thus “lord of the world,” he now becomes its “summus episcopus.” “In the sanctuaries of Kengi, as patesi of the lands, and in Erech, as high priest, they (the gods) established him.”
To quote Hilprecht: “Babylonia, as a whole, had no fault to find with this new and powerful régime. The Sumerian civilisation was directed into new channels from stagnation; the ancient cults between the lower Tigris and Euphrates began to revive and its temples to shine in new splendour.” Thus, endowed with the highest temporal and spiritual power, he “makes Erech to abound in rejoicing.” Nor does he forget the other representative cities of his domain: “Ur, like a steer, to the top of the heavens he raised.” “Over Larsa, the beloved city of Shamash, he poured out waters of joy.” His own native town and land receive chief attention: “Gishban, the beloved city of … to an unheard-of power he raised.” He, as wise ruler and statesman, not only shows his good will and favour towards the larger and more influential cities, but also protects the weaker ones: “Ki-Innanna-ab he kept in an enclosure, like a sheep that is to be shorn.”
Indeed, “Lugalzaggisi stands out from the dawn (?) of Babylonian history as a giant who deserves our full admiration for the work he accomplished.”
Seeing that Semitisms occur in almost all the earliest inscriptions so far known to us, and that the rulers themselves may have been and probably were Semites—let us confess this—then the other question arises: At what time did the Semites come into the country, so as to induce the original inhabitants to employ expressions foreign to their own language? Where did they come from? To the last question, which has been repeatedly discussed by scholars, different answers have been given. Some make Africa the original home of the Semites; others Arabia; and Hilprecht, who last spoke of this problem, assigns for this purpose Kish, or better, Kharran some distance north of Babylonia. According to his theory, Lugalzaggisi, the great conqueror from Gishban (Kharran), was the first Semite to occupy any territory in Babylonia, and thus opened the way for the Semitic population. But Lugalzaggisi does not antedate Ur-Nina. Ur-Nina is a Semite, as we have seen, consequently Semites were in the country before Lugalzaggisi.