's temple at Cuthah, and
dug canals.

The next monarch was Sin-muballit, son of Apil-Sin and father of
Hammurabi. He engaged himself in extending and strengthening the area
controlled by Babylon by building city fortifications and improving
the irrigation system. It is recorded that he honoured Shamash with
the gift of a shrine and a golden altar adorned with jewels. Like
Sumu-la-ilu, he was a great battle lord, and was specially concerned
in challenging the supremacy of Elam in Sumeria and in the western
land of the Amorites.

For a brief period a great conqueror, named Rim-Anum, had established
an empire which extended from Kish to Larsa, but little is known
regarding him. Then several kings flourished at Larsa who claimed to
have ruled over Ur. The first monarch with an Elamite name who became
connected with Larsa was Kudur-Mabug, son of Shimti-Shilkhak, the
father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin.

It was from one of these Elamite monarchs that Sin-muballit captured
Isin, and probably the Elamites were also the leaders of the army of
Ur which he had routed before that event took place. He was not
successful, however, in driving the Elamites from the land, and
possibly he arranged with them a treaty of peace or perhaps of
alliance.

Much controversy has been waged over the historical problems connected
with this disturbed age. The records are exceedingly scanty, because
the kings were not in the habit of commemorating battles which proved
disastrous to them, and their fragmentary references to successes are
not sufficient to indicate what permanent results accrued from their
various campaigns. All we know for certain is that for a considerable
period, extending perhaps over a century, a tremendous and disastrous
struggle was waged at intervals, which desolated middle Babylonia. At
least five great cities were destroyed by fire, as is testified by the
evidence accumulated by excavators. These were Lagash, Umma,
Shurruppak, Kisurra, and Adab. The ancient metropolis of Lagash, whose
glory had been revived by Gudea and his kinsmen, fell soon after the
rise of Larsa, and lay in ruins until the second century B.C., when,
during the Seleucid Period, it was again occupied for a time. From its
mound at Tello, and the buried ruins of the other cities, most of the
relics of ancient Sumerian civilization have been recovered.

It was probably during one of the intervals of this stormy period that
the rival kings in Babylonia joine