In warfare the rulers commanded their armies. Urnanshe of Lagash personally ‘went
to war against the leader of Ur and the leader of Umma’, and won.^36 The famous
‘Stele of Vultures’ shows Eannatum leading his troops.^37
The Fara (Shuruppak) texts (c. 2500 BC, ED IIIa) have preserved for us a unique
testimony of the efficiency of a Sumerian realm with respect to the logistical support
of its ‘State Department’ (E 2 -gal). Its four sections – transport and communication
(gal-nimgir), external economic relations (gal-damgar), religious matters (gala-mah)
and, finally, of provisions and supplies to this centre (e 2 -geme 2 ) – represented a body
well-suited for the execution of tasks of nationwide importance.^38 The unidentified
sovereign who steered this social machine, most probably one of the early kings of
Kish,^39 entrusted the tasks of provisioning his ‘State Department’ to another large
organization, the E 2 -uru, of a similar administrative complexity.^40
Sumerian kings understood well the ‘giving unto gods what belongeth to gods’.
In fact, sometimes the ‘support’ started with the very building of the temples concerned:
Uru’inimgina gave bread rations to employees of the brick-making establishment of
Nanshe.^41 Gifts and donations of every kind are known from sovereigns’ inscriptions
of ED III Lagash and other Sumerian cities.^42 In Gudea’s Statue B, we hear of the
complex arrangements made for the ritually appropriate inauguration of a temple.^43
Generous sponsoring of public institutions dedicated to divine cults, especially in the
form of jewellery, donated presumably to embellish statues of gods and goddesses,
took place during religious festivals, such as that of the goddess Nanshe.^44 Of course,
this form of piety worked both ways; in times of war, it made the temples welcome
targets for marauding troops.^45 Some sovereigns of early Sumer would have kept
personal ‘chaplains’ at their courts, such as Urnanshe’s ‘snake charmer’.^46 In some
instances, the sovereigns’ progeny served as priests and priestesses in temples. In
addition to the well-known EN office holders, a measure of continuity may be presumed
to have existed between the lyre-players of the ‘Royal graves’ of Ur, and princesses
of blood royal dedicated to this art under the Akkadian kings.^47 At ED III Lagash,
an institution called ‘Harp’ received regular offerings of oil and dates.^48 We may also
ask whether the ‘music conservatory’ at Akkadian Eshnunna^49 was established with
funds provided by the king.
Early Dynastic rulers were chief officiants of divine cults, one of their most important
functions. It has been observed, for instance, that the ideational structure underlying
the early state of Lagash, including the choice of the deities venerated, the ceremonies
held for this purpose, as well as the city’s cultic calendar, are inconceivable without
the activities undertaken by its founder Urnanshe.^50 In Shuruppak, the chief role of
the king’s (lugal) office seems to have fallen within the religious sphere.^51 Sovereigns
could perform religious ceremonies in person. Mesalim of Kish, for instance, carried
out the bur-gi 4 rite in the temple of Adab.^52 Another example of such activities is
represented by the ceremonial offerings on behalf of the rulers’ ancestors, known from
ED III Lagash.^53 Let us, however, notice that even public-benefit measures took on
a garb of serving the great gods.^54
Finally, kings provided for their own families. In addition to material upkeep, this
meant perpetuating the dynastic line through genealogies and various forms of ancestor
cults, clearly visible at ED III Lagash.^55 The oft-cited Urnanshe, for instance, took
particular care to leave for posterity many sculptures of himself and his family.^56 A
most curious Tello (Lagash) statue of a kneeling nude male, holding a pair of snakes
— Petr Charvát —