CHAPTER IX

THE LATER RULERS OF LAGASH

Sumerian reaction tempered by Semitic influence--Length of the intervening period between the Sargonic era and that of Ur--Evidence from Lagash of a sequence of rulers in that city who bridge the gap--Archaeological and epigraphic data--Political condition of Sumer and the semi-independent position enjoyed by Lagash--Ur-Bau representative of the earlier patesis of this epoch--Increase in the authority of Lagash under Gudea--His conquest of Anshan--His relations with Syria, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf--His influence of a commercial rather than of a political character--Development in the art of building which marked the later Sumerian period--Evolution of the Babylonian brick and evidence of new architectural ideas--The rebuilding of E-ninnû and the elaborate character of Sumerian ritual--The art of Gudea's period--His reign the golden age of Lagash--Gudea's posthumous deification and his cult--The relations of his son, Ur-Ningirsu, to the Dynasty of Ur