Chapter VIII: The Empire of Akkad and Its Relation to Kish (2)

The fact that the stele was found at Susa has been employed as an argument in favour of regarding Elam as a dependency of Akkad during his reign. But, in addition to Narâm-Sin's own text, the stele bears a later inscription of the Elamite king Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, from which we may infer that it was captured in Northern Babylonia and carried off to Susa as a trophy of war. But it is not unlikely that Narâm-Sin, like Shar-Gani-sharri and the kings of Kish, achieved successes against Elam. Apirak, his conquest of which tradition records, was a country within the Elamite region, and its capture may well have taken place during a successful raid. Mention has been made of two early Elamite patesis, whose names have been recovered upon a tablet from Tello and an archaic text from Susa.[70] The patesi of Susa, whose name may be read as Ilishma, belongs to a period when that city acknowledged the suzerainty of Akkad. But this single name does not prove that Elam, however closely connected with Akkad by commercial ties, formed a regular province of the Akkadian empire. Ilishma may have been appointed to the throne of Susa by the king of Akkad during an invasion of that country, which reached its culmination in the deportation of the native king, as Shar-Gani-sharri deported the kings of Kutû and Amurru, and Manishtusu the king of Anshan. The available evidence suggests that, during the Dynasty of Akkad, Susa and Elam generally enjoyed their independence, subject to occasional periods of interruption.

Within the limits of Sumer and Akkad Narâm-Sin appears to have followed his father's policy of materially benefiting the provincial cities, while keeping their administration under his immediate control. Thus he continued the service of convoys, and at the same time devoted himself to the erection of temples to the gods. His rebuilding of the temples of Enlil at Nippur and of Shamash at Sippar has been already referred to, while his votive onyx vases found at Tello[71] prove that he did not neglect the shrines of Lagash. Another Sumerian city in which he undertook building operations was Ninni-esh, for there he rebuilt the temple dedicated to the goddess Ninni in the same year that he laid the foundation of the temple at Nippur.[72]

But by far the most interesting of his building records is the stele sculptured with the figure of himself,[73] which is usually known as the Diarbekr stele. When first brought to the Museum at Constantinople it was said to have been found at Mardin,[74] and later on, certainly with greater accuracy, to have come from Diarbekr.[75] As a matter of fact, it was discovered at Pir Hussein, a small village built beside a low tell, and situated about four and a half hours to the N.N.E. of Diarbekr, on the Ambar Su, a stream which rises in the lower slopes of the Taurus, and, after running parallel to the Sebene Su, joins the Tigris below Diarbekr. It was found by the villagers some nineteen years ago when they were digging for building materials

on the site of the ancient city below the tell.[76] There is no doubt that the stele was found in situ,[77] and it furnishes remarkable evidence of the extent of Narâm-Sin's influence northwards. The inscription upon the stone is broken, but it contains a reference to the defeat of the king's enemies by the god Enki, or Ea, within the four quarters of the world. That Narâm-Sin and his army should have penetrated to the upper reaches of the Tigris is remarkable enough in itself, but that he should have erected a stele of victory, and possibly a building, in at least one of the towns he subdued during the campaign, suggests that his occupation of this region was effective for some time.

Of Narâm-Sin's successors upon the throne of Akkad we know little. The name of Bin-Gani-sharri, one of his sons, has been recovered upon a seal,[78] and on a seal-impression from Tello,[79] but his name has not been found with the royal title, so that we do not know whether he succeeded his father upon the throne. Another son of Narâm-Sin, the reading of whose name is uncertain, held the post of patesi of Tutu, for his name and title have been preserved on a perforated plaque from Tello, engraved by Lipush-Iau, who describes herself as his daughter and lyre-player to the Moon-god, Sin.[80] The famous seal of Kalki, the scribe, who was in the service of Ubil-Ishtar, "the king's brother," is also to be assigned to this period, but to which reign we cannot tell. The scene engraved upon the seal[81] gives an interesting picture of one of these early Semitic princes attended by his suite. The central figure, who carries an axe over his left shoulder, is probably Ubil-Ishtar, and he is followed by a Sumerian servant, whom we may identify with the scribe Kalki, the holder of the seal. The other attendants, consisting of the prince's huntsman, his steward with his staff of office, and a soldier, are all bearded Semites. The shaven head and fringed garment of the Sumerians are here retained by the scribe, suggesting that, though the Sumerians were employed by their conquerors, little racial amalgamation had taken place.

To the time of the kings of Akkad must also be assigned the Stele of Victory, two fragments of which have been found at Tello, sculptured on both faces with bas-reliefs, arranged in registers, above an inscription.[82] The sculptor has represented his battle-scenes as a series of hand-to-hand conflicts, and here we see bearded Semitic warriors, armed with spear, axe, or bow and arrows, smiting their enemies. The inscription is very broken, but enough is preserved to indicate that it enumerates a number of estates or tracts of land, some, if not all of them, situated in the neighbourhood of Lagash, which have been assigned to different high officials. The summary at the end of the text is partly preserved, and states that the list comprised seventeen chief cities and eight chief places, and it ends with a record that may probably be restored to read: "Besides Akkad, the kingdom, which he had received, [was the patesiate of Lagash given to ...]." It would thus seem that the stele was set up in Lagash to commemorate its acquisition by a king of Akkad, who at the same time rewarded his own courtiers and officials by assigning them parts of the conquered territory. The name of the king is wanting in the text, and we must depend on conjecture to decide the reign or period to which it belongs.

A comparison of the monument with Narâm-Sin's Stele of Victory will show that, though the attitudes of the figures are natural and vigorous, the sculptor does not display quite the same high qualities of composition and artistic arrangement. This fact might conceivably be employed in favour of assigning the stele to a period of decadence when the dynasty of Shar-Gani-sharri may have fallen before the onset of some fresh wave of Semitic hordes. But the impression given by the monument is that of a vigorous art struggling towards perfection rather than the rude imitation of a more perfect style, and it is probable that we must date it in an early, rather than in a late, period during this epoch of Semitic domination.[83]

The reference to "Akkad, the kingdom," in the summary at the end of the text, renders it difficult to assign it to an early king of Kish such as Sharru-Gi, for we should then have to assume that Shar-Gani-sharri's dynasty was not the earliest one to rule in Akkad, and

that still earlier Semitic kings reigned in that city before the rise of Kish. But in view of the total absence of other evidence in support of such a conclusion, it is preferable to assign the Tello stele provisionally to Shar-Gani-sharri himself. It will have been noted that the foes sculptured upon the monument are Semites, not Sumerians, and, if our assumption is correct, we may see in them the men of Kish, on whose defeat by Shar-Gani-sharri the whole of Sumer, including the city of Lagash, would have fallen under the rule of Akkad.[84] In that case the stele may well have commemorated the decisive victory by which Shar-Gani-sharri put an end to the domination of Kish and founded his own empire.

The absence of Sumerians from the battle-scenes in the reliefs of the period that we possess is significant of their political annihilation before the Semitic onslaught.

In the scenes engraved upon the stele of Sharru-Gi[85] the king's enemies are Semites, so that even in his time we have the picture of different Semitic clans or tribes contending among themselves for the possession of the countries they had overrun. That the racial movement was not confined to Akkad and Sumer is proved by Semitic inscriptions of the rulers of other districts. Lasirab, King of Gutiu, has left us a ceremonial mace-head, which was found at Abû Habba.[86] Whether it was carried to Sippar as spoil of war, or deposited there by Lasirab himself, we cannot say; but its text proves that Gutiu was ruled by Semitic monarchs. The neighbouring district of Lulubu was similarly governed, and Anu-banini, one of its kings, has left us sculptured images of himself and his goddess Ninni, or Ishtar, upon the face of a cliff near Ser-i-Pul-i-Zohab.[87] Here the river Hulvan flows through a natural rift in a low range of limestone hills that rise abruptly from the plain. The track runs through the rift in the hills beside the stream, and on to the foot of the Zagros pass and through the mountains into Elam. Road, river, and cliff form a striking combination, and not only Anu-banini but other monarchs who passed that way have left their records on the rock. One of these, on the further bank of the stream, was set there by another early Semitic king, whose sculpture was influenced by that of Anu-banini.[88]

Among the various Semitic kingdoms and small principalities which were founded and endured for a time in this portion of Western Asia, that of Akkad won the pre-eminent place. In the mountainous regions to the east and north of Elam the immigrants doubtless dominated the country, but they found a population in a state of culture little more advanced than their own, and, if subject to no other influence, they must have remained in a condition of semi-barbarity. But in Babylonia the case was different. Here the vigorous nature of the nomad found a rich soil to support its growth and development. The ancient culture of the Sumerians was adopted by their conquerors, at whose hands it underwent a gradual change. The sculptor slowly freed himself from the stiff conventions of his Sumerian teachers, and, while borrowing their technical skill, he transformed the work of their hands. Such a cylinder-seal as that of Ibni-sharru, Shar-Ganni-sharri's scribe, with its design of kneeling heroes watering oxen,[89] is a marvellous product of the engraver's art; while the delicate modelling of the figures upon Narâm-Sin's stele, their natural attitudes, and the decorative arrangement of the composition as a whole, are not approached on any earlier monument. The later sculptures of Lagash owe much to the influence of Akkadian work.

In the political sphere the Dynasty of Akkad attained a similar position. Not only did her kings secure the hegemony in Akkad and Sumer, but they pushed their influence beyond the limits of Babylonia, and consolidated an empire in the strict sense of the term. His rule over the four quarters of the world may have led Narâm-Sin to add to his titles, and the growth of their power probably increased the tendency of these early monarchs to assume the attributes and privileges of gods. Of the kings of Kish we have evidence that some were deified, and the divine determinative is set before the name of Shar-Gani-sharri in two inscriptions that have come down to us. In nearly every text of Narâm-Sin the determinative for deity precedes his name, and in some of the contemporary seal-inscriptions he is even termed "the god of Akkad." Under the later kings of Ur the cult of the reigning monarch was diligently practised, and his worship was continued after death. There is no evidence that this custom obtained among the earlier Sumerian kings and patesis, and we may with some confidence set its origin in this period of Semitic supremacy. That the kings of Akkad should have claimed divine honours during their own lifetime may probably be connected with the increase in their dominion, based upon conquests which extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, and from Arabia to the mountains of Kurdistan.

[1] Written both as _Sharru_-GI-NA and as _Sharru_-DU.

[2] Cf. "Cuneiform Inscriptions from Western Asia," Vol. II. (1866), pl. 39, No. 5, l. 41, where Sargon's name occurs in conjunction with his title "King of Agade," or pl. 48, l. 40, where he is credited with such descriptions as "king of justice" (_shar kitti_), "proclaimer of justice" (_dabib kitti_), "proclaimer of favours" (_dabib damkâti_); the passage in pl. 50, l. 64, which mentions the old Babylonian city of Dûr-Sharrukîn, "Sargon's Fortress," was also referred to him.

[3] Rawlinson announced his discovery of the Legend of Sargon in the _Athenæum_, No. 2080, Sept. 7, 1867, p. 305, where he made the acute suggestion that Sargon of Assyria, the father of Sennacherib, may have been called "the later Sargon" (_Sharru-ukîn arkû_) "to distinguish him from the hero of romance whose adventures were better known among the Assyrian people."

[4] "Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. III. (1870), pl. 4, No. VII.

[5] "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. I. (1872), p. 46 f.

[6] See "Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. I. (1861), pl. 69, Col. II., ll. 29-32; Oppert had restored the name of Narâm-Sin's father as Sagaraktiyas (cf. "Expédition scientifique en Mésopotamie," Vol. I. (1863), p. 273, and "Histoire des Empires de Chaldée et d'Assyrie" (1865), pp. 22 ff.).

[7] See "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres," Ser. IV., Tome V. (Oct., 1877), pp. 330 ff. An impression of the seal had been sent from Baghdad to Constantinople, whence M. Ménant had received it from M. Barré de Lancy in 1865. It was later acquired by M. de Clercq (cf. "Collection de Clercq," Tome I., 1888, No. 46, pl. V., p. 49 f.).

[8] "Recherches sur la glyptique orientale," I. (1883), p. 73 f.

[9] See Pinches, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. V. (Nov. 7, 1882), pp. 8 f., 12. For a discussion of the date, see above, Chap. III., p. 60 f.

[10] See Pinches, _op. cit._, Vol. VI. (Nov. 6, 1883), pp. 11 ff. The identification was opposed by Ménant, who pointed out that the two final syllables of the name could not be treated as a title (_op. cit._, Feb. 5, 1884, pp. 88 ff., and "Collection de Clercq," p. 49 f.). Ménant adhered to his former opinion that Shargani-shar-lukh (as he now read the name) was an earlier king of Agade.

[11] See Oppert, "Expedition scientifique," II. (1859), p. 62, and "Cun. Inscr. West. Asia," Vol. I., pl. 3, No. VII.

[12] See George Smith, "Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. I., p. 52.

[13] Cf. Winckler, "Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens" (1892), pp. 30, 39, and "Altorientalische Forschungen," I., p. 238 (1895); and Niebuhr, "Chronologie" (1896), p. 75.

[14] Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," I. (1893), pll. 1-3, p. 15.

[15] _Op. cit._, II. (1896), p. 19 f.

[16] Cf. Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres," Ser. IV., Tome XXIV., 1896, pp. 355 ff.; and Heuzey, "Revue d'Assyr.," IV. (1897), p. 2.

[17] See King, "Chronicles concerning early Babylonian Kings" (1907), Vol. I., pp. 27 ff.

[18] _Shargani_, the first part of the name Shar-Gani-sharri, was equated with _Sharru_-GI-NA (=ukîn), and the second part of the name, read as _shar-ali_, "king of the city" was regarded as having been dropped by a process of abbreviation.

[19] See Gautier, "Recueil de travaux," Vol. XXVII., pp. 176 ff., and Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," IV., pp. 4 ff.

[20] See above, Chap. V., pp. 125, 130 ff.

[21] See above, p. 217, n. 1.

[22] See Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit," IV., pp. 4 ff.

[23] See Thureau-Dangin, "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," 1908, col. 313 ff.; cf. also King, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Vol. XXX. (1908), pp. 239 ff.

[24] See above, p. 203.

[25] See above, p. 203 f.

[26] See King, _op. cit._, p. 240 f. M. Thureau-Dangin has since examined the text at Constantinople, and he confirms the restoration.

[27] Cf. Scheil, "Une saison de fouilles à Sippar," p. 96.

[28] See above, pp. 206, 212

[29] King, "Chronicles," Vol. II., pp. 27 ff., Sections II, IV., V., and VII.

[30] Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions," 1896, p. 358, No. 2 and n. 1, "Recueil de tablettes chaldéennes," p. 57, No. 124 (cf. p. 46, No. 85); see also "Königsinschriften," p. 225.

[31] "Chronicles," Vol. II., p. 25 f., Section I.

[32] "Comptes rendus," 1896, p. 357, No. 1; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 60, No. 130.

[33] The warlike expedition to Dêr (Dûr-ilu), which is referred to in the Legend of Sargon (see "Chronicles," Vol. II., p. 92), may possibly be connected with this campaign of Shar-Gani-sharri.

[34] See above, p. 205, and below, pp. 231, 243 f.

[35] "Comptes rendus," 1896, p. 359, No. 6; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 56, No. 118.

[36] "Chronicles," II., p. 8, l. 18.

[37] _Op. cit._, II., p. 27. The passage has no reference to Kish, as suggested by Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," II., p. 26.

[38] "Chronicles," II., pp. 3, 30 f., 90 f.

[39] See below, p. 241.

[40] Though we have no direct evidence in his case, Sharru-Gi may well have been the founder of his dynasty; the absence of his father's name from the genealogy in the Constantinople text and the cruciform monument accords with this suggestion. Shar-Gani-sharri ascribes no title to his father Dâti-Enlil (see further, p. 232).

[41] Cf. Scheil, "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," I., pp. 16, 26.

[42] Dhorme's suggestion that GI was an ideographic writing for _Gani_ in the early period (cf. "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," 1909, col. 53 f.) is scarcely probable, though the fact that the commonest ideographic value for GI was _kanû_ or _ganû_ ("a reed") may possibly have contributed in some way to the later confusion. It should also be noted that Clay has recently pointed out the occurrence of the name _Sha-ru-ki-in_, on a fragment of an early text (see "Amurru," p. 194), as apparently that of a ruler of "the four quarters." Since the final _n_ can hardly be treated as the nunnation (as in the word _ir-bi-ti-in_ in the fifth line of the text), we may probably regard the passage as proving the early existence of the name _Sharrukîn_, Sargon, which would be the natural rendering of the name Sharru-GI (see above, p. 221). But the title of the king in the new text, and his description as "the beloved of Ishtar," would suit a king of Akkad rather than a king of Kish, thus affording additional excuse for a confusion by the later scribes.

[43] I is therefore still permissible to employ the name "Sargon" as a synonym of Shar-Gani-sharri, the predecessor of Narâm-Sin upon the throne of Akkad. Similarly the terms "Pre-Sargonic" and "Post-Sargonic" need not be given up. In the text, however, the forms Sharru-Gi and Shar-Gani-sharri have been employed for the sake of clearness.

[44] See above, p. 210 f.

[45] See the frontispiece; and cf. p. 242 f.

[46] See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., p. 111.

[47] See above, p. 211 f.

[48] It should be noted that on a tablet from Tello of the time of the Dynasty of Akkad mention is made of a patesi of Susa who must have been the dependent of the reigning king. His name should probably be read as Ilishma, but as the end of the line is broken, it is also possible that the personage referred to was Ilish, an official in the service of the patesi of Susa (cf. "Rec. de tabl.," p. 57, No. 122, Rev., 1. 2 f.). It is possible that to this period also should be assigned a patesi, whose name, occurring upon the fragment of an archaic inscription from Susa, has been provisionally read as Ur-ilim (see Scheil, "Textes Elam.-Sémit.", III., p. 1); see further, p. 243 f.

[49] Cf. "Old Bab. Inscr.," Pt. II., pl. 2, No. 2; and see further, p. 248 f.

[50] See Thureau-Dangin, "Comptes rendus," 1890, p. 359, No. 6; "Recueil de tablettes," p. 56, No. 118; and "Königsinschriften," p. 225.

[51] See King, "Chronicles," Vol. I., p. 38 f.

[52] See above, p. 197 f.

[53] For a discussion of the archaeological evidence adduced in favour of the theory, see further, Chap. XII., p. 343 f.

[54] The phrase "the Sea in the East," opposed to the Country of the West, can only mean the Eastern Sea, _i.e._ the Persian Gulf. It would be more than a fanciful interpretation to take it as implying a maritime expedition in the eastern portion of the Western Sea, as Winckler suggests (see "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," Nov. 1907, col. 580). The Neo-Babylonian Chronicle, though the tablet on which it is written is later in point of time than the Omen-tablet from Ashur-bani-pal's Library, clearly represents the more original version. There would be no object in amending the Chronicle's text, while its mutilation to fit the Liver-omens would naturally introduce inconsistencies, which it would be tempting to a copyist to correct.

[55] In the commercial tablets of the period of Shar-Gani-sharri and Narâm-Sin, reference is frequently made to transport by water. Thus the arrival of grain-boats at Lagash is often noted, or arrangements are made for the despatch of cattle and asses by boat to other places.

[56] See above, p. 219.

[57] See above, p. 218.

[58] See above, p. 226.

[59] See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., pp. 2 ff.

[60] See Thureau-Dangin, "Rec. de tabl.," pp. 44 ff., Nos. 77 ff.; "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., pp. 71 ff.

[61] See above, pp. 206 ff.

[62] See "Chronicles," I., p. 40 f.; II., pp. 5, 32.

[63] See above, p. 205.

[64] See Thureau-Dangin, "Recueil de tablettes," Nos. 99, 136, 176. The possibility may also be noted that the expedition represents one of Narâm-Sin's successful efforts, at the beginning of his reign, to recover his predecessor's empire which had dwindled during his later years.

[65] In addition to Lugal-ushumgal's seal-impression with its address to Shar-Gani-sharri, another has been recovered with a similar address to Narâm-Sin, which he evidently employed after the latter's ascension of the throne; see Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. IV., p. 11.

[66] On the monument the end of the name is wanting. Scheil suggested the restoration Mani[um] (see "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," III., p. 5), a reading that would not be inconsistent with the traces on the Omen-tablet (see King, "Chronicles," II., p. 39, n. 1). But M. Thureau-Dangin informs me that the traces upon the statue are not those of the sign UM, but possibly of DAN, so that the form Mannu-dannu may be a fairly accurate transcription of the original name.

[67] See "Comptes rendus," 1899, p. 348.

[68] See "Textes Élam.-Sémit.," I., pp. 53 ff.

[69] See the frontispiece to this volume.

[70] See above, p. 231, n. 2

[71] See Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., p. 1. He also built in Lagash a temple to Sin, the Moon-god; see King, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," Nov. 1909.

[72] See the date-formulæ on tablets Nos. 86, 106, and 144 in "Rec. de tabl.," pp. 46, 53, 65; "Königsinschriften," p 226.

[73] See p. 245, Fig. 59.

[74] See Scheil, "Rec. de trav.," Vol. XV., p. 62.

[75] See Hilprecht, "Old Bab. Inscr.," II., p. 63, No. 120; and Meyer, "Geschichte des Altertums," Bd. I., Hft. II., p. 473.

[76] I visited the site in the summer of 1904, when on my way from Persia to Samsun, and the exact spot was pointed out to me where the stele was found. Narâm-Sin's building, or platform, was on lower ground below the tell, on which probably stood the citadel. The stele was found only about five feet below the surface, and it is clear that no considerable accumulation of debris covers the remains of the city of Narâm-Sin's time, and that its excavation would be a comparatively simple matter.

[77] On being discovered by the villagers no particular value was attached to it, and, as it was too large for them to use, it was left lying for three years on the spot where it was found. It was then brought to Diarbekr by the owner of the village, Chialy Effendi, who built it into the edging of a fountain in the court of his house on the left bank of the Tigris outside the city. On his death, about fourteen years ago, Natik Effendi sent it to the Museum at Constantinople.

[78] See Ménant, "Recherches sur la glyptique orientale," p. 76, pl. 1, No. 1. The seal is that of Izinum, the scribe, who was evidently in Bin-Gani-sharri's service.

[79] The seal of Abi-ishar, the scribe, bore the names of both Narâm-Sin and Bin-Gani-sharri; see Thureau-Dangin, "Rec. de tabl.," p. 70, No. 169. Erinda is mentioned on a commercial tablet of the period as the slave of a certain Bi-Gani-sharri (_op. cit._, p. 48, No. 94, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., p. 76), who may possibly be identified with Narâm-Sin's son.

[80] "Comptes rendus," 1899, p. 348.

[81] See the opposite plate.

[82] See Heuzey, "Comptes rendus," 1895, pp. 22 ff.; "Rev. d'Assyr.," Vol. III., pp. 113 ff.; and Thureau-Dangin, "Revue Sémitique," 1897, pp. 166 ff. For the sculptures, see p. 248 f., Figs. 60 and 61.

[83] Certain epigraphic peculiarities in the inscription, which are not characteristic of the Sargonic period, may perhaps be explained as due to the influence of Lagash: the inscription may have been engraved by a scribe of that city, who has reproduced the local forms of the characters with which he was familiar (cf. "Rev. Sémit.," 1897, p. 169).

[84] As the stele was set up in Lagash, the section dealing with the distribution of that city's land would naturally be added to the historical record.

[85] See above, p. 220.

[86] See the plate facing p. 206.

[87] See De Morgan, "Mission scientifique en Perse," Vol. IV., p. 161, pl. ix.

[88] When passing by this route into Persia from Turkey, in the spring of 1904, I made a careful study of all the sculptured panels on both sides of the Hulvan. The second largest panel is that of this early Semitic king; on the ledge below the sculpture are traces of an inscription, of which sufficient is preserved to prove that it is written in Semitic Babylonian. The sculptured panel at Sheikh-Khân, with its fragmentary Semitic inscription (De Morgan, op. city pl. x.), is a very much ruder production, and is probably of a considerably later date.

[89] See the panel on the cover of this volume; and cf. p. 217 f.