ion and settled government in
that direction.

A king, who disputes the palm of antiquity with Naram-Sin, has left
various records at Erech or Warka, which appears to have been his
capital city. It is proposed to call him Sin-Shada. He constructed, or
rather re-built, the upper terrace of the Bowariyeh ruin, or great
temple, which Urukh raised at Warka to Beltis; and his bricks are found
in the doorway of another large ruin (the _Wuswas_) at the same place;
it is believed, however, that in this latter building they are not in
situ, but have been transferred from some earlier edifice. His reign
fell probably in the latter part of the 18th, century B. C.

Several monarchs of the Sin series--i.e. monarchs into whose names the
word Sin, the name of the Moon-god, enters as an element--now present
themselves. The most important of them has been called Zur-Sin. This
king erected some buildings at Mugheir; but he is best known as the
founder of the very curious town whose ruins bear at the present day the
name of Abu-Shahrein. A description of the principal buildings at this
site has been already given. They exhibit certain improvements on the
architecture of the earlier times, and appear to have been very richly
ornamented, at least in parts. At the same time they contain among
their debris remarkable proofs of the small advance which had as yet
been made in some of the simplest arts. Flint knives and other
implements, stone hatchets, chisels, and nails, are abundant in the
ruins; and though the use of metal is not unknown, it seems to have been
comparatively rare. When a metal is found, it is either gold or bronze,
no trace of iron (except in ornaments of the person) appearing in any of
the Chaldaean remains. Zur-Sin, Rim-Sin, and three or four other
monarchs of the Sin series, whose names are imperfect or uncertain, may
be assigned to the period included between B.C. 1700 and B.C. 1546.

Another monarch, and the only other monumental name that we can assign to
Berosus's fourth dynasty, is a certain Nur-Vul, who appears by the
Chaldaean sale-tablets to have been the immediate predecessor of Rim-Sin,
the last king of the _Sin_ series. Nur-Vul has left no buildings or
inscriptions; and we seem to see in the absence of all important
monuments at this time a period of depression, such as commonly in the
history of nations precedes and prepares the way for a new dynasty or a
conquest.

The remaining monumental kings