Shulgi

(reigned ca. 2094-2047 b.c.)

   The second ruler of the Third Dynasty of Ur and son of the dynasty's founder, Ur-Nammu (reigned ca. 2113-2096 b.c.). The main accomplishments of Shulgi (or culgi) included setting up a strong central administration for the empire and creating an efficient standing army with which to defend it. The new king also concentrated on building up a core group of trained scribes to keep official state records, all of which were written in Sumerian. To help ensure that the individual Sumerian cities in the realm showed allegiance to the central government, Shulgi elevated the image of the king to semidivine status, calling himself the "brother" of Utu (later Shamash), the sun god, and the "husband" of Inanna, the widely popular goddess of love. Many hymns of praise were written to inflate his image, several of which have survived. Part of one reads:

   I am the king, a wild bull of acknowledged strength, a lion with wide-open jaws!IamShulgi. . . . Iamagreat storm let loose from heaven, sending its splendor far and wide! I am good stock, with brindled body, engendered [sired] by a breed-bull! I am a king born from a cow, resting amid butter and milk! I am the calf of a thick-necked white cow, reared in the cow-pen! Dressed in a . . . royal robe and holding out a scepter, I am perfect for ... I am also the good shepherd who takes joy in justice, the scourge and stick of all evil! Strength of lions, hero of battle - I have no rivals! ... I am a hero! Let them appropriately acknowledge my fame! . . . Let them repeatedly bless me in prayer according to the heavenly stars! Let them tell in song a perfect recital of all my praiseworthy deeds!

   Shulgi's foreign policy was accordingly vigorous. He conquered the region of An-shan in western Iran and negotiated several treaties, strengthening them with dynastic marriages. It appears that he died during a rebellion that broke out in his palace. Shulgi was succeeded by his son Amar-Sin.

   See also: Third Dynasty of Ur; Ur-Nammu