MIDDLE EAST HISTORY POLITICS CULTURE XIII MIDDLE EAST XIII | Page 30

dominance in the ED period. 2 In the 25 th century BCE, a series of border
disputes between the city-states of Umma and Lagash saw the brief rise of the
Lagashite ruler, Eannatum, to become a regional potentate in approximately
2450. 3 After defeating Umma soundly, Eannatum repelled several attacks and
pushed into territories of other city-states that opposed him, even going so far
as to campaign in Elam and style himself a “king of Kish” in one inscription. 4
It was during this period when Eannatum set up the “Stele of the Vultures” to
commemorate his initial victory over his greatest rival, Umma, during the
prolonged Umma versus Lagash border dispute 5 .
The Vulture Stele contains the first use of the Shushgal Net motif, both
in the text and in the depiction. The king
can be seen leading his army into battle. In
the upper register, Eannatum is on foot,
while in the second register he is in a
chariot. In this depiction, the Lagashite
army is arrayed in a shield-wall-like
formation behind the king. Eannatum’s
head is clean shaven, as are all the other
troops. On the other side of the stele,
vultures are picking at the corpses of the
Ummaite soldiers – a display of what Figure 1. The Shushgal Net on the
Vulture Stele, showing Ningirsu
happens to those who oppose the king. smiting the king of Umma. Image
Also pictured is the patron deity of Lagash, courtesy of
Ningirsu, holding the captured Ummaite http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe
forces in a “Shushgal Net,” bashing the king dia/commons/4/4d/Stele_of_Vulture
s_2.jpg
of Umma (also clean shaven) on the head
with a mace (Figure 1). The Ummaite king is indistinguishable from the rest
of his soldiers here. Though much of the stele is missing, it is clear from what
2 Magid G., Sumerian Early Dynastic Royal Inscriptions, in The Ancient Near East:
Historical Sources in Translation, edited by Chavalas M. W., 4-16. Oxford, 2006, p. 7.
3 Van de Mieroop M., A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323, Oxford, 2007,
p. 41.
4 Magid G., Sumerian Early Dynastic Royal Inscriptions, p. 8.
5 For an in depth look at the importance of the Vulture Stele in the development of
Mesopotamian depictions of historical events, see WinterI., After the Battle is Over:
The “Stele of the Vultures” and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the
Ancient Near East, Washington,1985.
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