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For someone who hated the city of Lagos, Ornama pulled a lot from Gudea's playbook.

Both men emphasized their role as builders, of city walls, temples, and canals.

In contrast to the Acadians, and similar to the no marks of contemporary Egypt, both cast themselves as protectors and good shepherds,

who kept their people safe and prosperous and promoted harmony and justice.

And while both men boasted of their strength, neither chose to highlight their military exploits.

And here's where the two may have differed. While Gudea likely fought a single campaign

against Elamite-on-Shan, Ornama's path to Sumerian conquest was likely a bit more bloody.

If you remember, the Sumerian norm before the Acadians was independent city states that occasionally formed alliances, much like classical Greece.

Lugolzagasy had tried to unify the Sumerians through conquest, which had just paved the way for King Sargon,

whom you're welcome to think of as Philip II. After centuries of domination by Akkad and the

Gootty, it seems unlikely that major cities had just surrendered their independence, even to a fellow Sumerian.

King of Kish, Pegemon, first among equals, sure, but not complete and total subordination.

Ornama started with a few legs up. He'd been the right-hand man of the legendary freedom fighter Utu He-Gal, and his rapid

seizure of Uruk and Lagos showed strength and possibly divine favor. He'd built on this by getting

himself crowned in the religious capital of Nipur, and he may have argued, with some justification,

...