Lagash

Lagash is an old city of the country of Sumer, capital of the State of the same name. This old city-State included/understood, in addition to the town of Lagash, located on the current Al-Hiba site, Girsu, Holy City where the sanctuary of the guardian divinity is lagashite, Ningirsu, and Nigin, located at the south of the territory, in a marshy area.

This State and its area are the best known basic Mésopotamie for second half of the 3rd millenium. That is above all due to the many artistic and epigraphic lucky finds carried out on the site of Tello, corresponding to the ruins of Girsu, which made it possible to redécouvrir civilization sumérienne at the end of the 19th century. The site of the city Lagash, the current Tel. of Al-Hiba, was excavated more tardily, and with delivered less sources.

The period covered by the discoveries carried out on these two sites thus corresponds to approximately five centuries, from 2500 to 2000 before J. - C. That recovers three periods of the history mésopotamienne: the antiquated Dynastic IIIB (DA IIIB, 2500-2340), the Period of Akkad (2340-2150), and the Period néo-sumérienne (2150-2000).

Geography of the State de Lagash

The State de Lagash is located at the south-east of the country of Sumer. Daurant the 3rd millenium, its territory is crossed by a branch of the Euphrate which will throw in the Persian Gulf, which constitutes the southernmost limit of the kingdom, the shore being then more advanced than today.

Along the course of the river the three principal cities of the kingdom are. Lagash (current Al-Hiba site), quoted éponyme, is approximately in the center. It is from it that the city-State was formed which bears its name. More in north, one finds Girsu (Tello), who is the place of residence of the local god Ningirsu, and thus to some extent the religious capital of the kingdom. It is probable that it became at the times which to us are documented the political capital of the kingdom instead of Lagash. In the south finally the town of Nigin is (Zurghul).

The limits north and south of the kingdom are two spaces which take a great importance during second half of the 3rd millenium by their dynamism. In the south, the GU.ABBA, the “edge of the sea”, is the maritime area. In north, the GU.EDEN.NA, the “edge of the steppe”, is a very prosperous irrigated space controlled by Girsu. It is frontier space with the territory of the State of Umma, bitterly disputed during the end of the period of the antiquated Dynasties.

The town of Lagash

The sources enabling us to know the old area of Lagash come in majority from the site from Tello, which delivered many royal inscriptions and registered clay shelves, as well as an significant amount from objects from Article On the other hand the architectural remainders from the site were destroyed by the diggers of the 19th century who could not recognize the raw brick structures (which were not their priority in any case). One identified a long time this site as being the town of Lagash itself, but it finally proved that it was about Girsu. Lagash was under the ruins of vast Such Al-Hiba (480 hectares), more in the south, already located at the end of the 19th century by the German archeologist Robert Koldewey. Part of this site was excavated as from 1968 and until the beginning of the year 1980 by an American team. The epigraphic and artistic discoveries were less profitable there than those of Tello, confirming the preeminence of Girsu lasting the times which are well documented to us. But on the other hand buildings of a certain interest were exhumed there.

Most remarkable is the temple dedicated to the goddess Inanna, l'IB.GAL, dating from the DA III, locked up in an oval enclosure, like the contemporary temple of Khafadje in the valley of the Diyala. The other large temple of the city was that of the local god Ningirsu, l'É.BA.GARÁ. Remainders of a vast brick platform indicate perhaps that a Ziggurat had been built on the site. The most recent levels of the site go back to the paléo-Babylonian Period (first half of the 2nd millenium).

History

The First dynasty of Lagash

The king Ur-Nanshe is towards 2520 the founder of a new “dynasty” with Lagash (in fact a series of kings which are not inevitably bound by family ties). It is with him and its successors that one is for the first time quite well informed on the history of the country of Sumer, thanks to the many found files with Girsu for this period. Lagash is then apparently (ours vision being perhaps skewed by the source of the sources) one of the city-State most powerful basic Mésopotamie, whereas Kish or Uruk enters a phase of decline.

Kings de Lagash are in quasi-permanent fight against its septentrional neighbor, Umma, another kingdom which is affirmed at that time, for the possession of a frontier territory. This length conflict lasts nearly three centuries, and Lagash knows sometimes victories, sometimes defeats. The largest sovereign of the period is Eannatum, which crushes the army of Umma and demolishes even a coalition gathering the majority of the sovereigns of Mésopotamie. Lagash reaches its apogee then. Its successor Enannatum as for him is overcome by king d' Umma, but his/her son Entemena avenges it and takes the enemy city. Lagash knows a phase of decline then, and towards 2350, a usurper goes up on the throne: Urukagina. It would have restored social peace in its country, but it however knows the defeat vis-a-vis the king Lugal-zagezi of Umma.

The last reigns of the kings of the First dynasty of Lagash are abundantly documented from the point of view of the administrative files found in Girsu. These files are primarily those of the temples of Ningirsu and its Parèdre Ba' U.

The Empire of Akkad

The domination of Lugal-zagesi is completed by its defeat against Sargon d' Akkad towards 2340. It is possible that Urukagina joined with this last, because a person of this name is mentioned in the obelisk of Manishtusu, grandson of Sargon, among the recipients of donations, therefore a close relation of the king.

Under the domination of Akkad, Lagash is the capital of a province whose limits were to correspond to the old kingdom.

The Second dynasty of Lagash

The Empire of Akkad crumbles towards 2200. Lagash finds its independence then, and a new dynasty is founded by Ur-Ningirsu I {{er}}. It is not however about a dynasty to the clean direction of the term, since the sovereigns do not seem to be members of the same family.

This period is dominated by the figure of the king Gudea, who reigns towards 2120. This sovereign is especially known by his patronage in the artistic field that by his military actions, only a victory against the Élam being to put at his credit. In Girsu, it restored the majority of the temples, and in built the new ones, of which the temple of the god Ningirsu, the Eninnu, which was destroyed by the awkwardness of the French archeologists having excavated Tello. It remains on the other hand of its reign of splendid statues the representative, which are currently with the Museum of the Louvre, and which constitutes the floret of the statuary sumérienne.

Lagash under the late Third dynasty of Ur and periods

The reign of Gudea precedes by little or is contemporary of that of Ur-Nammu, which founds the kingdom of Ur III. Lagash passes under its control, and the kingdom becomes again a province. One knows by the documentation of this period that the area which it dominates is one of most prosperous Empire, in particular by his important participation in the system of the BALA.

After the collapse of this one one century later, a new dynasty tries to make revive the size of Lagash, but it is quickly let subjugate by the close kingdoms. Consequently, Lagash does not occupy any more one important place in the history of Mésopotamie. The cities of the State are deserted with, before being repopulated later. Some constructions dated from were found in Girsu, but the city is a little later abandoned whereas Lagash is already deserted for a long time.

In spite of its importance for the period of the antiquated Dynasties, the kingdom of Lagash belongs to forgotten historiographic tradition mésopotamienne: none of its dynasties finds in the royal Liste sumérienne, and the memory of its sovereigns was lost.

Political organization

The political situation of Lagash varies of course largely according to if one is at one period of political independence or on the contrary at one period during which the area is built-in a great Empire. However, the territorial framework as the structures of framing remain relatively stable.

When Lagash is an independent kingdom, it is directed by a king, who carries the title sumérien d'ENSI, meaning “vicar”. This reflects the political ideology Mésopotamie: the capacity actually belongs to the gods, in this case, Ningirsu, regarded as the true Master of the kingdom, and the terrestrial sovereign is only his representative, he owes him his capacity. It also happens that the sovereigns carry the title of LUGAL, “great man”, who does not have any religious connotation to him. The kings have a principal wife, who occcupe an important place in the life of the kingdom. The remainder of the political structures of the kingdom of Lagash are badly known. The government is based on a bureaucracy concerned with the palate, but also of the temples, which are more or less controlled by the royal capacity.

The conquest of Lagash by Sargon d' Akkad returns this territory to the simple row of province of the Empire of Akkad, and this situation reproduces at the beginning of the Third dynasty of Ur. The territorial framework remains unchanged, and the capacity is always exerted since Girsu, which delivered files coming from the provincial governors of these two periods. Those carry the title d'ENSI, become in these empires an administrative station. These characters direct the administration of the province, and undertake the activities of the great organizations which manage the economic activities (before all the temples concerning Lagash). They make sure of the availability of the productions of the great fields and workshops for the central administration. The prosperity of the area of Lagash in fact indeed a pivot of each of the two Empires. The wives of the governors are also registered they in the continuity of the antiquated queens of the time, as well for the administrative offices as religious.

Economy and company

The found files with Girsu give to us an indication of the economic properity of the area of Lagash during second half of the 3rd millenium. The three principal cities are located on a branch of the Euphrate, which is used as source for an important network of Irrigation which gives rise to one of the richest agricultural areas of the country of Sumer. One knows by their inscriptions which the sovereigns took an active part in the maintenance of this so vital system for their kingdom, and it is besides around an irrigated soil that the intrigue of the conflicts is tied opposing the antiquated sovereigns of Lagash to those of Umma.

The structures and the economic activities are documented for the period of the antiquated Dynasties by the files of the temple of the goddess Ba' U. It is acted in fact of a pertaining field for the period which is documented to us with the queen of Lagash, comparable with the guardian goddess of the kingdom. Same manner the king was to have at his disposal the field of Ningirsu. The temple had at that time more than 4.400 hectares of grounds, and employed 1.200 workers. The latter were paid in food intakes, containing grain. The activities relate to the cereal culture, the breeding, fishing in the marshes surrounding Girsu, and also the craft industry.

The prosperity of the area of Lagash and Girsu also sees in the files of the temple of Ningirsu at the period of Ur III (21e century). They also document the agriculture and the breeding. The province of Lagash is the largest contributrice in the system of the BALA set up at the end of the reign of Shulgi, and this for a few years, which organizes the contributions in kind various provinces of the Empire. One is thus each time in a case of economy and company framed by great institutions, in fact of the temples, but on which the royal capacity exerts a strong power: they are used as a basis for the organization of the Empire of Ur. Their personnel seems more turned besides towards management of the field than the religious worship, under the direction of an administrator, the ŠABRA. The private property is not documented.

The arable lands of the temples are managed in a tripartite way:

fields in direct control, worked by the dependant ones paid only in food intakes, evaluated according to the needs for the people (in grain, oil and wool, therefore to nourish themselves, wash themselves and dress themselves);
fields entrusted to people against the performance of a duty, as a remuneration;
fields rented with sharecroppers against royalty, from on average 1/3 of harvest under the period of Ur III.

The dependant ones can be requisitioned for drudgeries, just as the sharecroppers. They all are then remunerated by rations, but the system is more generous for the seconds than for the first.

The breeding is well documented also, in particular for the period of the Third dynasty of Ur. The breeding dominating is that of the sheep, but one is well documented on the bovines, a little on the porcine ones, and the poultry. The shelves of the period of Ur III show us very near in detail the organization of the fattening of calves, supervised by an army of scribe S entering the distributed rations, the entries and exits of cattle, demolition and accidental deaths.

The artisanal activities are documented little by the files of the temple of Beam: one sees there all the same the activities of a group of a score of tisserandes, directed by a foreman, and they also paid in rations. The files of the period of Ur III show us a constituent whole of workshops gathering for most important of the thousands of workers. The whole was coordinated by a very hierarchical and bureaucratized administration, characteristic of the Empire of Ur. The most important workshops are those devoted to the textile activity. They function there too primarily with a female personnel, evaluated with more than 5.000 people, gathered in 26 workshops, directed by foremen. Like their remote ancestors, they are paid in food intakes. They can also be requisitioned for other work: flour mill, harvest, maintenance of the channels, towing of boats on the channels.

One thus sees taking shape over all the period a group of people in narrow dependence with respect to the great organizations, which ensure their daily maintenance, and can subject them to kinds of drudgeries. Other people are on the other hand less dependant, and the easiest class is that which occupies a function in the administration of the institution, guaranteeing desrevenus to him more consequent. All this system is based indeed on a bureaucracy which must be effective. Besides the inscriptions of Urukagina mentioning the work of this last for the re-establishment of social peace in its kingdom show the abuses which could exert the members of the administration of the temples and the palate against weakest.

The local Pantheon

If the religion practiced in the area of Lagash lies within the religious scope sumérien and southern Mésopotamie N, the gods venerated there are rather those of a kind of the local Pantheon, made up gods suitable for Lagash. They are however bound, in particular by family ties, with the other gods sumériens.

The principal god of the area of Lagash is Ningirsu, the “Lord of Girsu”, which has its principal temple (l'É.NINNU, “House of the fifty ME”) in this last city, but also had some in Lagash. He is regarded as being the son of Enlil and Ninhursag. Ningirsu is perceived as being the true Master of the State de Lagash, whose sovereigns are only the “vicars” (ENSI). It maintains a privileged relation with them however, and can appear to them in dream to dictate its wills to them, as it is the case for Gudea. The king was the first provider of the worship of the local gods: he made them rich person offerings, and restored their temples.

The parèdre of Ningirsu is the goddess Ba' U, whose large temple, l'É.TAR.SIR.SIR, were also in Girsu. Other texts allot to him sometimes like parèdre another goddess, Gatumdug. Ningirsu and Ba' U have at least two wire, Shul-Shagana and Ig-alima. The royal family as a whole seems to recognize itself in this divine family, as under the reign of Urukagina the fact shows it that the king allots the field of the temple of the large god, the queen that of the goddess Ba' U, and probably that of a son of the divine couple for the prince of the kingdom.

The other important local divinities are the sisters of Ningirsu, Nanshe, venerated with Nigin, and Nisaba, which is not specific to Lagash and is venerated in particular with Umma.

A group of mythological characters who would have been overcome by Ningirsu appears in certain texts, especially anthems of the reign of Gudea. Among them are the King-palm tree, the Saman Lord, perhaps of former minor divinities of the country of Lagash, and the mythological animals like the ram with six heads, the snake with seven heads, and the bird Imdugud. Another myth also existed on the confrontation between this last and Ningirsu, aprèsque the mythical bird concealed the Shelves of intended for Enlil (old version of the myth of the combat of Ninurta against Anzu). Imdugud became an animal-attribute of Ningirsu besides, and it is in its form that the god appears in dream with Gudea.

Same manner that the posterior tradition mésopotamienne forgot kings de Lagash, the gods of the city did not have a posterity: Ningirsu is compared to Ninurta, him also wire of Enlil, originating in Nippur.

Royal art of Lagash

The excavations of Girsu were prolific in works of Article Because they concentrated in the zones of the official buildings, they delivered artistic achievements for the majority exits of royal orders or of the entourage of the sovereign.

The sculpture is the field best represented. Large the Stèle of the Vultures of Eannatum commemorates the victory of this one over Umma, and represents the god Ningirsu capturing enemies, illustrating the fact that he is regarded as the true Master of the kingdom, and of this fact like the principal craftsman of his victory.

Other low-reliefs moreover small size were put at the day: they are bored votive objects of a hole in their center, very running in the antiquated Sumerian art. One of most remarkable is that carried out following the construction of a temple by the king Ur-Nanshe, who is represented itself taking part in the work, with the assistance of its family. Others of these objects were carried out for members of the high society of Lagash, like Dudu, priest of Ningirsu under Entemena.

The most famous sculptures of Lagash are the many statues in sculpture in the round carried out under the reign of Gudea, commemorating its pious acts: the construction of temples. They are cut for the majority in Diorite, probably imported Arabic Péninsule. They are parts among most remarkable of the statuary mésopotamienne, which one often praised the precision, testimony of the great control reached by the sculptors of Lagash.

Sumériens were also of brilliances metallurgists, and that is seen in the votive deposits of the temples of Lagash. One thus found there a massive Lance in Cuivre dedicated by king Ur-Lugal of Kish, showing that the kings of other friendly cities also made present at the gods of Lagash. A vase in Money of rgande quality, hammered in only one sheeting metal, and finely engraved, was dedicated to Ningirsu by the king Entemena. It is one of the works of art most led of the period of the antiquated Dynasties, competing with those of the royal Tombes of Ur.

These works thus reflect well the royal ideology mésopotamienne 3rd millenium: a warlike king, but especially a pious king, first of faithful of its gods, of which it builds the temples and to which it makes most beautiful offering. More largely, the religious feeling sumérien and the relations God-men appear to us through the achievements of the artists of Lagash.

See too

Random links: