The Elamite threats and their negative effects on the political stability of the Sumerian city-states

Abstract

The Elamites were waiting for opportunities to attack, plunder and destroy the civilized centers of Iraq. There is a clear indication through the course of historical events that any weakness or dislocation of internal authority in Mesopotamia was accompanied by an attack by the Elamites, who worked to create strife and support rebellion movements among the Sumerian city-states. The Elamites exploited the alluvial region in the south of ancient Iraq adjacent to their borders and used it as an easy military route to attack the Sumerian cities. This region witnessed fierce battles in ancient times. The Elamite military campaigns against the lands of ancient Iraq were characterized by excessive brutality and destructive instinct, and this fact was proven by the ancient Iraqis in their cuneiform writings and the annals. Their kings: the Elamites were intent on killing the inhabitants of the Sumerian cities, burning houses, entering the temples, and plundering everything in them. The oldest indication of relations with Elam has reached us from the era of the dawn of the second dynasties (2750 - 2600 BC), as it was stated in the evidence of the Sumerian kings that King Enmepragisi (Enmbaragesi) He invaded Elam and took its weapons as spoils, and that was around 2700 BC. About 150 years after this reference, we read in the same Sumerian king list that kingship transferred from the first dynasty of Ur to the Elamite city of Awan, to which the list attributes three Elamite kings whose names are unclear. According to what was stated in the Sumerian king list, kingship transferred after that. By force of arms from Awan to the city of Kish, where a dynasty known as the Second Dynasty of Kish was established. It seems that a weakness befell the Kish dynasty in the end, which encouraged Elam to lead an attack that led to the end of its rule and its transfer to the Elamite city of Khumazi, to which the list attributes only one king called Khadanesh (ḪADANS). Eannatum I, the ruler of Lagash, was mentioned to us (he ruled around 2460 BC). In one of his texts, there is a statement in which he describes the Elamites as: (mountains that spread terror), which clearly indicates the ongoing Elamite attacks against the Sumerian cities.