Accad--Uru, Larsa, Uruk, and Nippur, He acquitted himself as a good
sovereign in the sight of gods and men: he repaired the brickwork in the
temple of Nannar at Uru; he embellished the temple of Shamash at Larsa,
and caused two statues of copper to be cast in honour of the god; he
also rebuilt Lagash and Grirsu. The city of Uruk had been left a heap of
ruins after the withdrawal of Kudur-nakhunta: he set about the work of
restoration, constructed a sanctuary to Papsukal, raised the ziggurat of
Nana, and consecrated to the goddess an entire set of temple furniture
to replace that carried off by the Elamites. He won the adhesion of the
priests by piously augmenting their revenues, and throughout his reign
displayed remarkable energy. Documents exist which attribute to him the
reduction of Durilu, on the borders of Elam and the Chaldaean states;
others contain discreet allusions to a perverse enemy who disturbed
his peace in the north, and whom he successfully repulsed. He drove
Sinmuballit out of Ishin, and this victory so forcibly impressed
his contemporaries, that they made it the starting-point of a new
semi-official era; twenty-eight years after the event, private contracts
still continued to be dated by reference to the taking of Ishin.
Sinmuballit's son, Khammurabi, was more fortunate. Eimsin vainly
appealed for help against him to his relative and suzerain
Kudur-lagamar, who had succeeded Simtishilkhak at Susa. Eimsin was
defeated, and disappeared from the scene of action, leaving no trace
behind him, though we may infer that he took refuge in his fief of
Yamutbal. The conquest by Khammurabi was by no means achieved at one
blow, the enemy offering an obstinate resistance. He was forced to
destroy several fortresses, the inhabitants of which had either risen
against him or had refused to do him homage, among them being those
of Meir* and Malgu. When the last revolt had been put down, all the
countries speaking the language of Chaldaea and sharing its civilization
were finally united into a single kingdom, of which Khammurabi
proclaimed himself the head. Other princes who had preceded him had
enjoyed the same opportunities, but their efforts had never been
successful in establishing an empire of any duration; the various
elements had been bound together for a moment, merely to be dispersed
again after a short interval. The work of Khammurabi, on the contrary,
was placed on a solid foundation, and remained unimpaired u