Episode A3 - Kings of Kish

The Ancient World

Scott C.

History

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Synopsis: This episode covers the Early Dynastic Period in Sumer and northern Syria. “Eannatum gave the great battle net of Enlil to the leader of Umma and made him swear to him by it. The leader of Umma swore to Eannatum: ‘By the life of Enlil, king of heaven and earth! I may exploit the field of Ningirsu as an interest-bearing loan. I shall not destroy the irrigation channel! Forever and evermore, I shall not transgress the territory of Ningirsu! I shall not shift the course of its irrigation channels and canals! I shall not smash its monuments! Whenever I do transgress, may the great battle net of Enlil, king of heaven and earth, by which I have sworn, descend upon Umma’.” – The Stele of the Vultures Original Episode Art by Mike Oeming: https://michaelavonoeming.com Map of SW Eurasia: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/A3_Map.png Map of Sumer and Northern Syria (c. 2380 BC): https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/A3_Sumer.png Kings List: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/A3_Kings.pdf Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/75506172@N07/albums/72177720326251557/ References and Further Reading: https://audio.ancientworldpodcast.com/A3_References.pdf Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, this is Scott.
0:02.3	For maps, references, and images for each episode,
0:06.2	as well as links to all my social media,
0:08.9	please go to ancientworldpodcast.com.
0:12.5	And if you'd like to support the show,
0:14.8	please go to patreon.com forward slash the ancient world.
0:19.8	Thanks again for listening.
0:36.3	The Macehead tells us quite a bit. First, there's the fact that it's a mace head,
0:42.8	a symbol of domination which, unlike an axe, really only has one purpose, cracking the skulls
0:50.1	of one's enemies. So we've entered a period marked by violent conflict. Second is the imagery,
0:57.9	the lion-headed eagle of Ningirsu. The deity whose name means Lord of Girsu was a god of agriculture
1:05.8	and healing, but in line with the times, he was now also a god of war.
1:12.5	Third was the Macehead setting, a shrine dedicated to Ningirsu in his city of Girsu,
1:19.4	which, together with the cities of Lagosch and Nina, made up the Sumerian city state of Lagosch.
1:26.8	Lastly, there's the text, which records that Messilim king of Kish, builder of the temple of
1:34.2	Nengirsu, brought this macehead for Nengirsu, Lugal Shah Engur, being ruler of Lagos.
1:42.9	The fact that a macehead of a king of Kish was placed in a shrine in
1:47.4	Lagosch, a shrine which he'd apparently constructed, tells us something else, that the kings of
1:54.3	Kish exercised a special authority throughout Mesopotamia. The Sumerian king list bears this out, describing how after the flood
2:04.9	had swept over the land and kingship descended from heaven a second time, Kish became the seed of
2:12.3	kingship. It also records that, in a case of extremely precise Sumerian accounting, the 23 kings of
2:21.1	Kish's first dynasty ruled Mesopotamia for the next, quote, 24,510 years, three months,
	...

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