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INTERNATIONAL LAWINTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
Jerrold Cooper
- S I L
1.1 Sources for the relations between states are entirely lacking
prior to ca. 2500. Thereafter our main source of information is royal
inscriptions, which refer not only to war and conquest but also to
diplomatic relations and treaties. The text of two or possibly three
treaties is preserved. The abundant administrative archives provide
indirect evidence.1.2 The vast majority of royal inscriptions come from Girsu, the
capital of the state of Lagash. The most significant for our purposes
are Eanatum’s Stela of the Vultures,^1 which provides the procedure
and terms of a treaty between Lagash and Umma, its neighbor to
the north,^2 and an inscription of Eanatum’s nephew Enmetena, allud-
ing to a treaty with the ruler of Uruk.^3 The sanctity of international
borders is proclaimed throughout the corpus.1.2.1 Few of the royal inscriptions from other contemporary polities
are relevant for our subject. The sanctity of borders is reiterated
in a boundary demarcation from Umma,^4 and texts from Uruk de-
pict the merger of two previously independent city-states as divinely
ordained.^5 The smaller text finds from the contemporary Syrian sites
of Mari and Beydar contribute little.(^1) SARI La 3.1; ABW Ean. 1; RIM E1.9.3.1.
(^2) See the extensive discussion and bibliography in Cooper, Reconstructing History...,
and Bauer, in Bauer et al., Mesopotamien.. ., 431–574.
(^3) SARI La 5.3; ABW Ent. 2; RIM E1.9.5.3; cf. Cooper, Reconstructing History...,
31f.
(^4) SARI Um 7.2; ABW Luzag. 2; RIM E1.12.5.2. Note that this inscription is
now ascribed to G/Kishakidu, not Lugalzagesi.
(^5) SARI Uk 1.1–2; ABW Lukin. v. Uruk 2 and 4; RIM E1.14,13,1–2.
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