Nin-Girsu of Lagash. He was therefore one of the many developed forms
of Tammuz--a solar, corn, and military deity, and an interceder for
mankind. The goddess of Kish appears to have been a form of Bau, as is
testified by the name of Queen Azag-Bau, the legendary founder of the
city.

Unfortunately our knowledge of Sargon's reign is of meagre character.
It is undoubted that he was a distinguished general and able ruler. He
built up an empire which included Sumer and Akkad, and also Amurru,
"the western land", or "land of the Amorites". The Elamites gave him
an opportunity to extend his conquests eastward. They appear to have
attacked Opis, but he drove them back, and on more than one occasion
penetrated their country, over the western part of which, known as
Anshan, he ultimately imposed his rule. Thither went many Semitic
settlers who had absorbed the culture of Sumeria.

During Sargon's reign Akkad attained to a splendour which surpassed
that of Babylon. In an omen text the monarch is lauded as the "highly
exalted one without a peer". Tradition relates that when he was an old
man all the Babylonian states rose in revolt against him and besieged
Akkad. But the old warrior led forth his army against the combined
forces and achieved a shattering victory.

Manishtusu, who succeeded Sargon I, had similarly to subdue a great
confederacy of thirty-two city states, and must therefore have been a
distinguished general. But he is best known as the monarch who
purchased several large estates adjoining subject cities, his aim
having been probably to settle on these Semitic allies who would be
less liable to rebel against him than the workers they displaced. For
the latter, however, he found employment elsewhere. These
transactions, which were recorded on a monument subsequently carried
off with other spoils by the Elamites and discovered at Susa, show
that at this early period (about 2600 B.C.) even a conquering monarch
considered it advisable to observe existing land laws. Urumush,[148]
the next ruler, also achieved successes in Elam and elsewhere, but his
life was cut short by a palace revolution.

The prominent figure of Naram Sin, a later king of Akkad, bulks
largely in history and tradition. According to the Chronicle of Kish,
he was a son of Sargon. Whether he was or not, it is certain that he
inherited the military and administrative genius of that famous
ex-gardener. The arts flourished during his reign. One of the