on, and he continued to exercise authority
in Gishkhu by means of officers appointed by himself. A record of his
victory over Gishkhu was inscribed by Entemena upon a number of clay
cones, that the fame of it might be preserved in future days to the
honour of Ningirsu and the goddess Nina. He ends this record with a
prayer for the preservation of the frontier. If ever in time to come the
men of Gishkhu should break out across the frontier-ditch of Ningirsu,
or the frontier-ditch of Nina, in order to seize or lay waste the lands
of Shirpurla, whether they be men of the city of Gishkhu itself or men
of the mountains, he prays that Enlil may destroy them and that Ningirsu
may lay his curse upon them; and if ever the warriors of his own city
should be called upon to defend it, he prays that they may be full of
courage and ardour for their task.

The greater part of this information with regard to the struggles
between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, between the period of Mesilim, King of
Kish, and that of Entemena, is supplied by the inscription of the latter
ruler which has been found written around a small cone of clay. There is
little doubt that the text was also engraved by the orders of Entemena
upon a stone stele which was set up, like those of Mesilim and Eannadu,
upon the frontier. Other copies of the inscription were probably
engraved and erected in the cities of Gishkhu and Shirpurla, and to
ensure the preservation of the record Entemena probably had numerous
copies of it made upon small cones of clay which were preserved and
possibly buried in the structure of the temples of Shirpurla. Entemena's
foresight in this matter has been justified by results, for, while his
great memorials of stone have perished, the preservation of one of his
small cones has sufficed to make known to later ages his own and his
forefathers' prowess in their continual contests with their ancient rival
Gishkhu.

After the reign of Entemena we have little information with regard to
the relations between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, though it is probable that
the effects of his decisive victory continued to exercise a moderating
influence on Gishkhu's desire for expansion and secured a period
of peaceful development for Shirpurla without the continual fear of
encroachments on the part of her turbulent neighbour. We may assume that
this period of tranquillity continued during the reigns of Enannadu II,
Enlitarzi, and Lugal-anda, but, when in the reign of U