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