Magan or the Sinaitic
peninsula.

[Sidenote: Naram-Sin.]

Sargon's son and successor, Naram-Sin, followed up the successes of his
father by marching into Magan, whose king he took captive. He assumed the
imperial title of "king of the four zones," and, like his father, was
addressed as a god. He is even called "the god of Agad[=e]" (Akkad),
reminding us of the divine honours claimed by the Pharaohs of Egypt, whose
territory now adjoined that of Babylonia. A finely executed bas-relief,
representing Naram-Sin, and bearing a striking resemblance to early
Egyptian art in many of its features, has been found at Diarbekr.
Babylonian art, however, had already attained a high degree of excellence;
two seal cylinders of the time of Sargon are among the most beautiful
specimens of the gem-cutter's art ever discovered. The empire was bound
together by roads, along which there was a regular postal service; and clay
seals, which took the place of stamps, are now in the Louvre bearing the
names of Sargon and his son. A cadastral survey seems also to have been
instituted, and one of the documents relating to it states that a certain
Uru-Malik, whose name appears to indicate his Canaanitish origin, was
governor of the land of the Amorites, as Syria and Palestine were called by
the Babylonians. It is probable that the first collection of astronomical
observations and terrestrial omens was made for a library established by
Sargon.

[Sidenote: Ur dynasty.]

Bingani-sar-ali was the son of Naram-Sin, but we do not yet know whether he
followed his father on the throne. Another son was high-priest of the city
of Tutu, and in the name of his daughter, Lipus-Eaum, a priestess of Sin,
some scholars have seen that of the Hebrew deity Yahweh. The Babylonian god
Ea, however, is more likely to be meant. The fall of Sargon's empire seems
to have been as sudden as its rise. The seat of supreme power in Babylonia
was shifted southwards to Isin and Ur. It is generally assumed that two
dynasties reigned at Ur and claimed suzerainty over the other Babylonian
states, though there is as yet no clear proof that there was more than one.
It was probably Gungunu who succeeded in transferring the capital of
Babylonia from Isin to Ur, but his place in the dynasty (or dynasties) is
still uncertain. One of his successors was Ur-Gur, a great builder, who
built or restored the temples of the Moon-god at Ur, of the Sun-god at
Larsa, of Ishtar at Erech and of Bel