Chapter IV

THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS IN SUMER; THE DAWN OF HISTORY
AND THE RISE OF LAGASH

Origin of the great cities--Local cult-centres
in the prehistoric period--The earliest Sumerian
settlements--Development of the city-god and evolution
of a pantheon--Lunar and solar cults--Gradual growth of
a city illustrated by the early history of Nippur and
its shrine--Buildings of the earliest Sumerian period at
Tello--Store-houses and washing-places of a primitive
agricultural community--The inhabitants of the country
as portrayed in archaic sculpture--Earliest written
records and the prehistoric system of land tenure--The
first rulers of Shuruppak and their office--Kings and
patesis of early city-states--The dawn of history in
Lagash and the suzerainty of Kish--Rivalry of Lagash
and Umma and the Treaty of Mesilim--The _rôle_ of the
city-god and the theocratic feeling of the time--Early
struggles of Kish for supremacy--Connotation of royal
titles in the early Sumerian period--Ur-Ninâ the founder
of a dynasty in Lagash--His reign and policy--His sons
and household--The position of Sumerian women in social
and official life--The status of Lagash under Akurgal