King gudea of lagash biography

Inscription; "To the god Ningiszida, his god, Gudea, Ensi governor of Lagash, for the prolongation of his life, has dedicated this". Gudea tablet: "For Hendursaga, his master, Gudea, ruler of Lagash, built his house. Mudbrick stamped with a cuneiform text mentioning the name of Gudea, ruler of Lagash. From Girsu, Iraq, c. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin.

Gudea facts for kids Kids Encyclopedia Facts. Quick facts for kids. Main article: Indus-Mesopotamia relations. Foundation nail for the temple of Ningirsu in Lagash. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Ruler of Lagash.

Inscriptions [ edit ]. Statues of Gudea [ edit ]. Main article: Statues of Gudea. Religion [ edit ]. International relations [ edit ]. Main article: Indus-Mesopotamia relations. Important artifacts [ edit ]. The caduceus right is interpreted as depicting god Ningishzida. Inscription; "To the god Ningiszida, his god, Gudea, Ensi governor of Lagash, for the prolongation of his life, has dedicated this".

Lion macehead of Gudea, Girsu. Gudea tablet: "For Hendursagahis master, Gudea, ruler of Lagash, built his house. The Gudea cylinders. Mudbrick stamped with a cuneiform text mentioning the name of Gudea, ruler of Lagash. From Girsu, Iraq, c. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. Seal of Gudea, led by Ningishzida. References [ edit ]. Marshall Cavendish.

ISBN The seal cylinders of western Asia. Religion Compass. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. ISSN JSTOR Archived from the original on Retrieved De Goa Through the Ages: An economic history. Concept Publishing Company. Edzard, The Royal inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Early periods, vol. Sources [ edit ]. The date-formula for one of his years of rule takes its title from the cutting of a new canal which he named Ningirsu-ushumgal, and there is no doubt that he kept the elaborate system of irrigation, by which Lagash and her territories were supplied with water, in a perfect state of repair.

Evidence of the plentiful supplies which the temple-lands produced may be seen in the increase of the regular offerings decreed by Gudea. On New Year's day, for instance, at the feast of Bau, after he had rebuilt her temple, he added to the marriage-gifts which were her due, consisting of oxen, sheep, lambs, baskets of dates, pots of butter, figs, cakes, birds, fish, and precious woods, etc.

He also records special offerings of clothing and wool which he made to her, and of sacrificial beasts to Ningirsu and the goddess Nina. For the new temple of Gatumdug he mentions the gift of herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, together with their herdsmen and shepherds, and of irrigation-oxen and their keepers for the sacred lands of E-ninnu.

Such refer-ences point to an increase in the revenues of the state, and we may infer that the people of Lagash shared the prosperity of their patesi and his priesthood. While Gudea devoted himself to the service of his gods, he does not appear to have enriched the temples at the expense of the common people. He was a strict upholder of traditional privileges, such as the freedom from taxation enjoyed by Gu-edin, Ningirsu's sacred plain; but he did not countenance any acts of extortion on the part of his secular or sacred officials.

That Gudea's ideal of government was one of order, law, and justice, and the protection of the weak, is shown by his description of the state of Lagash during the seven days he feasted with his people after the consecration of E-ninnu. He tells us that during this privileged time the maid was the equal of her mistress, and master and slave consorted together as friends; the powerful and the humble man lay down side by side, and in place of evil speech only propitious words were heard; the laws of Nina and Ningirsu were observed, and the rich man did not wrong the orphan, nor did the strong man oppress the widow.

This reference to what was ap-parently a legal code, sanctioned by the authority of the city-god and of a goddess connected with the ancient shrine of Eridu, is of considerable interest. It recalls the reforms of the ill-fated Urukagina, who attempted to stamp out the abuses of his time by the introduction of similar legislation. Gudea lived in a happier age, and he appears to us, not as a reformer, but as the strong upholder of the laws in force.

That the reign of Gudea was regarded by the succeeding generations in Lagash as the golden age of their king gudea of lagash biography may perhaps be inferred from his deification under the last kings of the Dynasty of Ur. There is no evidence that, like Sargon and Naram-Sin, he assumed divine honours during his own lifetime, for in his inscriptions his name is never preceded by the determinative of divinity, and it also occurs without the divine prefix upon the seals of Gimdunpae, his wife, and of Lugal-me, his scribe.

In the later period his statues were doubtless worshipped, and it has been suggested that the perpetual offerings of drink and food and grain, which he decreed in connection with one of them, prove that it was assimilated from the first to that of a god. But the names of his statues suggest that they were purely votive in character, and were not placed in the temples in consequence of any claim to divinity on Gudea's part.

It was the custom of the Sumerian patesis to give long and symbolical names to statues, stelae and other sacred objects which they dedicated to the gods, and Gudea's statues do not form an exception to this rule. Thus, before he introduced the statue with the offerings into E-ninnu, he solemnly named it "For-my-king-have-I-built-this-temple-may-life-be-my-reward!

King gudea of lagash biography

A smaller statue for E-ninnu was named "[The-Shepherd] who loveth his king am I may my life be prolonged! Ninkharsag the mother of the gods the arbiter of destinies in heaven and upon earth prolon the life of Gudea who hath built the temple! It will be seen that these names either assert that life and happiness have been granted to Gudea, or they invoke the deity addressed to prolong his life.

In king gudea of lagash biography, they prove that the statues were originally placed in the temples like other votive objects, either in gratitude for past help, or to ensure a continuance of the divine favour. Such evidence as we possess would seem to show that at the time of Gudea no Sumerian ruler had ever laid claim to divine rank.

It is true that offerings were made in connection with the statue of Ur-Nina during Lugal-anda's reign, but Ur-Nina had never laid claim to divinity himself. Moreover, other high personages treated their own statues in the same way. Thus Shagshag, the wife of Urukagina, made offerings in connection with her own statue, but there is no evidence that she was deified.

In fact, during the earlier periods, and also in Gudea's own reign, the statue was probably intended to represent the worshipper vicariously before his god. Not only in his lifetime, but also after death, the statue continued to plead for him. The offerings were not originally made to the statue itself, but were probably placed near it to represent symbolically the owner's offerings to his god.

This custom may have prepared the way for the practice of deification, but it did not originate in it. Indeed, the later development is first found among the Semitic kings of Akkad, and probably of Kish, but it did not travel southward until after the Dynasty of Ur had been established for more than a generation. Ur-Engur, like Gudea, was not deified in his own lifetime, and the innovation was only introduced by Dungi.

During the reigns of the last kings of that dynasty the practice had been regularly adopted, and it was in this period that Gudea was deified and his cult established in Lagash along with those of Dungi and his con- temporary Ur-Lama I. By decreeing that offerings should be made to one of his statues, Gudea no doubt prepared the way for his posthumous deification, but he does not appear to have advanced the claim himself.

That he should have been accorded this honor after death may be regarded as an indication that the splendour of his reign had not been forgotten. Gudea was succeeded upon the throne of Lagash by his son Ur-Ningirsu, and with this patesi we may probably establish a point of contact between the rulers of Lagash and those of Ur. That he succeeded his father there can be no doubt, for on a ceremonial mace-head, which he dedicated to Ningirsu, and in other inscriptions we possess, he styles himself the son of Gudea and also patesi of Lagash.

During his reign he repaired and rebuilt at least a portion of E-ninnu, for the British Museum possesses a gate-socket from this temple, and a few of his bricks have been found at Tello recording that he rebuilt in cedar-wood the Gigunu, a portion of the temple of Ningirsu, which Gudea had erected as symbolical of the Lower World. Moreover, tablets have been found at Tello which are dated in his reign, and from these we gather that he was patesi for at least three years, and probably longer.

From other monuments we learn that a highly placed religious official of Lagash, who was a contemporary of Dungi, also bore the name of Ur-Ningirsu, and the point to be decided is whether we may identify this personage with Gudea's son. Ur-Ningirsu, the official, was high-priest of the goddess Nina, and he also held the offices of priest of Enki and high-priest of Anu.

Moreover, he was a man of sufficient importance to stamp his name upon bricks which were probably used in the construction of a temple at Lagash. That he was Dungi's contemporary Shulgi, Ur Dynasty III is known from an inscription upon a votive wig and head-dress in the British Museum, which is made of diorite and was intended for a female statuette.

The text engraved upon this object states that it was made by a certain Bau-ninam for his lady and divine protectress, who was probably the goddess Bau, as an adornment for her gracious person, and his object in presenting the offering was to induce her to prolong the life of Dungi, "the mighty man, the King of Ur". The important part of the text concerns Bau-ninam's description of himself as a craftsman, or subordinate official, in the service of Ur-Ningirsu, "the beloved high-priest of Nina.

If therefore we are to identify him with Gudea's son and successor, we must conclude that he had meanwhile been deposed from the patesiate of Lagash, and appointed to the priestly offices which we find him holding during Dungi's reign. The alternative suggestion that Ur-Ningirsu may have fulfilled his sacerdotal duties during the lifetime of Gudea while he himself was still crown-prince, is negatived by the subsequent discovery that during the reign of Dungi's father, Ur-Engur, another patesi, named Ur-abba, was on the throne of Lagash; for tablets have been found at Tello which are dated in the reign of Ur-Engur and also in the patesiate of Urabba.

To reconcile this new factor with the preceding identification, we must suppose that Ur-Ningirsu's deposition occurred in the reign of Ur-Engur, who appointed Ur-abba as patesi in his place. According to this view, Ur-Ningirsu was not completely stripped of honours, but his authority was restricted to the purely rehgious sphere, and he continued to enjoy his priestly appointments during the early part of Dungi's reign.

There is nothing impossible in this arrangement, and it finds support in account-tablets from Tello, which belong to the period of Ur-Ningirsu's reign. Some of the tablets mention supplies and give lists of precious objects, which were destined for "the king", "the queen", "the king's son", or " the king's daughter", and were received on their behalf by the palace-chamberlain.

Although none of these tablets expressly mention Ur-Ningirsu, one of the same group of documents was drawn up in the year which followed his accession as patesi, another is dated in a later year of his patesiate, and all may be assigned with some confidence to his period. The references to a "king" in the official account-lists point to the existence of a royal dynasty, whose authority was recognized at this time in Lagash.

In view of the evidence afforded by Bau-ninam's dedication we may identify the dynasty with that of Ur. You never hear about Egyptian pharaohs or Chinese emperors being solicitous about the welfare of the common people. See The Shepherd Kings. Gudea: His crown is a stylized shepherd's king gudea of lagash biography. Most Sumerian statues have been decapitated, had their faces disfigured, or were otherwise vandalized during the many wars that occurred in the region.

The seal of Gudea: Gudea, with shaven head, is accompanied by a minor female deity lamma, guardian spirit. He is led by his personal god, Ningishzida, into the presence of Enlil, the chief Sumerian god. Wind pours forth from of the jars held by Enlil, signifying that he is the god of the winds that bring life giving rains. The winged leopard dragon?

The writing in the background translates as: "Gudea, Ensi [ruler], of Lagash. Gudea did not represent himself to be a god, but only as a man who was divinely favored, so it's significant that Gudea is shown bareheaded, without his crown, and with his hands raised in the "reverence position," as was required of a mortal man when in the presence of a god.

A king like Ur-Namma was shown standing before the god Enlil with his hat on, signifying that he too is a god see Ur-Namma Translation. Gudea foundation cone. Clay cones nails, pegs were inscribed with dedications and driven into the foundations of a temple. This cone is from the temple of Ningirsu, the god of war and the patron diety of Lagash.

The building of this massive temple complex was the central event of Gudea's reign. In The Building of Ningirsu's Temple the E-NinnuGudea recounts the vast amount of labor and the many exotic materials from distant lands that were used in its construction. It may seem like a contradiction that Gudea, who usually portrayed himself as a man of peace, was building a temple to the god of war.

Unlike other ancient kings, Gudea did not routinely boast of his military prowess. He was not the kind of king, like Naram-Sin or Eannatum, who would portray himself marching to victory over the bodies of his enemies. Surviving records show that he led only one minor military campaign. There is no mention of the exotic materials from faraway lands being brought in as tribute from conquered people; rather the materials seem to have been obtained through trade and commerce.

More than any other Sumerian king, Gudea emphasized his role as "shepherd," rather than "conqueror. The answer to this question is best seen in the map below:. The Gutians north, yellow had already taken over Akkad west and during the reign of Gudea's son, Ur-Ningirsu, they had reached as far south as the Sumerian city of Uruk, which they destroyed.