Urukagina

In the later half of his reign, Lagash fought wars against its traditional rival city of Umma, under the rule of Lugal-Zage-Si. In the end, Lagash was destroyed and Urukagina retreated to rule at Girsu. The destruction of Lagash was described in a later lament: "the men of Umma ... committed a sin against Ningirsu. ... Offence there was none in Urukagina, king of Girsu, but as for Lugal-Zage-Si, governor of Umma, may his goddess Nisaba make his people carry his sin upon there neck". Lugal-Zage-Si himself was soon defeated and his kingdom was annexed by Sargon of Akkad.

History

It is known that Urukagina was part of the Lagash structure before assuming rulership based on several text from the reign of his predecessor. In those texts his title, under the name Uru-ka, is ugula-uku₃, a high military commander. It has been suggested that his father's name was Ur-Utu. Engilsa has also been proposed but this has been refuted. Urukagina had a son named Šubur-^dBa-ba₆. Based on textual sources, it is thought that Urukagina had another son and also two daughters, named Game₂-^dBa-ba₆ and Geme₂-tar-sir₂-sir₂.

In what is generally considered the first year of his reign, he had the title of ensi (governor). In a text following the 4th and 5th year of his predecessor as ruler Lugalanda.

"... A total of 21 1 /4 shekels of pure silver, silver of the bar duba-obligation, being of the fifth and sixth years, Eniggal, the temple steward, assumed. At the (time of) combing full-grown sheep he delivered it to Sasag, the wife of Urukagina, the governor of Lagash"

It is generally assumed that Lugalanda died very late in his 6th year or very early in his 7th year. In this early period, there was no term for a partial regnal year. In succeeding years, Urukagina took the title of lugal (king). Lugalanda appears to have had no male offspring. He is known to have had one brother, Ur-silasirsir, generally thought to have died in the first regnal year of Urukagina. The manner of Urukagina coming to rulership has been long debated. Earlier it was thought that he took power by overthrowing the prior administration. There is no indication of that and Urukagina regularly made offerings to the spirits of Lugalanda and his family including wife Barag-namtara, his father En-entarzi, his grandfather Dudu, and brother Ur-silasirsir and paid respects to MesanDU, who was the personal god of Lugalanda’s family.

Urukagina conducted a wide ranging civic and religious building program constructing a number of temples and other cultic sites.

"For Nanshe, (Uruinim-gina) dug her beloved canal, the Ninadua-canal, building the Eninnu at its inlet and the Esirara at its outlet"

as well as infrastructure projects "He built [the reservoir] of the Nimin-DU canal. He built it for him out of 432,000 fired bricks and 1,820 standard gur (2649.6 hl.) of bitumen".

The cites of Umma and Lagash had long been in conflict. Somewhere about the midpoint of the reign of Urukagina, Umma entered an expansionist phase and its ruler, Lugalzagesi, had himself declared King of all Sumer by the priests of Enlil in Nippur. After attempts at diplomacy a long war began with neither side gaining an upper hand. Finally, Lugalzagesi, prevailed apparently by changing to a strategy of destroying holy sites.

"From (the statue of) Amageshtinana (the leader of Umma) removed her precious metals and lapis lazuli, and threw them in a well. In the fields of Ningirsu, whichever were under cultivation, he crushed the barley"

Towards the end of his 10 or 11 year reign (Lagash I regnal years were marked by numbers rather than "year names" and "year 10" tablets have been found) Lagash, particularly its religious sites, was attacked and devastated by Lugalzagesi, ruler of Umma. Urukagina then changed his title to King of Girsu. A movement in population at the time to Girsu, 25 kilometers to the north, is reflected in the archaeology.

There has long been speculation that Urukagina is mentioned on the Manishtushu Obelisk four times as "Iri-ka-gina, son of Englisa, ensi of Lagash". Manishtushu is generally considered to be the 3rd ruler of the Akkad though one recension of the Sumerian King List has him as the 2nd, after Sargon of Akkad. The chronology of the period is uncertain and it is unclear how much overlap there was between the timeline of northern and southern Mesopotamia so this cannot be ruled out. It has been suggested that Urukagina allied himself with the northerner Sargon and later his sons against Lugal-Zage-Si.

The Sin of Lugalzagesi

A 10.2 by 9.9 by 2.3 centimetres (4.02 by 3.90 by 0.91 in) clay tablet (AO 4162) found at Girsu lists the outrages against the religious establishments of Lagash towards the end of the war by Lugal-Zage-Si. It has been considered a City Lament but lacks many of that types features. The text has been called by many names including "The Sin of Lugalzagesi" and "The Destruction of Lagash" and "Urukagina Lament" and "The Fall of Lagash" and also "Ukg 16".

The majority of the text is a list of the cultic sites despoiled:

"He set fire to the Antasur and bundled off its precious metals and lapis lazuli. He plundered(?) the “palace” of Tiraß, he plundered(?) the Abzu-banda he plundered the chapels of the gods Enlil1 and Utu. He plundered the Ahus and bundled off its precious metals and lapis lazuli he plundered the E-babbar ..."

followed by an indictment of Lugalzagesi:

"The leader of Gissa (Umma), hav[ing] sacked Lagash has committed a sin against the god Nissaba. The hand which he has raised against him will be cut off! It is not a sin of URU-KA-gina, king of Lagash. May Nissaba, the god of Lugal-zage-si ruler of Gissa (Umma), make them (the people of Gissa) bear this sin on their necks!"