Uru-ka-gina, Uru-inim-gina, or Iri-ka-gina ( sux, ;

24th century BC The 24th century BC was a century that lasted from the year 2400 BC to 2301 BC. Events *c. 2900 BC–2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue. *c. 2400 BC–2000 BC: large painted jar with birds in the border made in ...

, middle chronology) was King of the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

s of

Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...

and

Girsu Girsu ( Sumerian ; cuneiform ) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some northwest of Lagash, at the site of modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq. History Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BC), but ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, and the last ruler of the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. He assumed the title of

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

, claiming to have been divinely appointed, upon the downfall of his corrupt predecessor,

Lugalanda Lugalanda, also Lugal-anda ( sux, ) was a Sumerian king of Lagash during the 24th century BC. Lugalanda was the son of the high priest of Lagash, who appointed him as king. At this time the high priests of Lagash were very influential, and eit ...

. He is best known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a

legal code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

. Although the actual text has not been discovered, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found. In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libations for the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so. He also participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with

Uruk Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Muthanna Governorate, Al ...

. In the seventh year of his reign, Uruk fell under the leadership of Lugal-Zage-Si, ''énsi'' of

Umma Umma ( sux, ; in modern Dhi Qar Province in Iraq, formerly also called Gishban) was an ancient city in Sumer. There is some scholarly debate about the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site. Traditionally, Umma was identified with Tell J ...

, who ultimately annexed most of the territory of Lagash and established the first reliably documented kingdom to encompass all of Sumer. The destruction of Lagash was described in a lament (possibly the earliest recorded example of what would become a prolific Sumerian literary genre), which stressed that "the men of Umma ... committed a sin against

Ningirsu , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from E ...

. ... Offence there was none in Urukagina,

of Girsu, but as for Lugal-Zage-Si,

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Umma, may his goddess

Nisaba Nisaba was the Mesopotamian goddess of writing and grain. She is one of the oldest Sumerian deities attested in writing, and remained prominent through many periods of Mesopotamian history. She was commonly worshiped by scribes, and numerous Su ...

make him carry his sin upon his neck" (alternatively – "may she carry his sin upon her neck"). Lugal-Zage-Si himself was soon defeated and his kingdom was annexed by

Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad (; akk, ''Šarrugi''), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highl ...

Reforms

Urukagina's code has been widely hailed as the first recorded example of government reform, seeking to achieve a higher level of

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

and equality. It limited the power of the priesthood and large property owners, and took measures against

usury Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is c ...

, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure (of people's property and persons); as he states, "The widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man". Here, the word "freedom" (" ama-gi"), appears for the first time in recorded history. Despite these apparent attempts to curb the excesses of the elite class, it seems elite or royal women enjoyed even greater influence and prestige in his reign than previously. Urukagina greatly expanded the royal "Household of Women" from about 50 persons to about 1500 persons, renamed it the "Household of goddess Bau", gave it ownership of vast amounts of land confiscated from the former priesthood, and placed it under the supervision of his wife, Shasha (or Shagshag). In his second year of reign, Shasha presided over the lavish funeral of his predecessor's queen,

Baranamtarra Baranamtarra was the Queen of Lagash during the 24th century BCE. In 2384 BCE, Baranamtarra and her husband, Lugalanda, seized power of Lagash, one of the oldest cities in Sumer. They became the largest landholders in the city, and Baranamtarra ...

, who had been an important personage in her own right. In addition to such changes, two of his other surviving decrees, first published and translated by

Samuel Kramer Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriology, Assyriologists, an expert in Sumer, Sumerian history and Sumerian language. After high school, he attended Temple University, before Dropsie ...

in 1964, have attracted controversy in recent decades. First, he seems to have abolished the former custom of

polyandry Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...

in his country, on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with rocks upon which her crime is written. Second is a statute stating that "if a woman says ext illegible...to a man, her mouth is crushed with burnt bricks." No comparable laws from Urukagina addressing penalties for

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

by men have survived. The discovery of these fragments has led some modern critics to assert that they provide "the first written evidence of the degradation of women".

Excerpt of some regulations from the Reform document

* From the border territory of Ningirsu to the sea, no person shall serve as officers. * For a corpse being brought to the grave, his beer shall be 3 jugs and his bread 80 loaves. One bed and one lead goat shall the undertaker take away, and 3 ''ban'' (18 l.) of barley shall the person(s) take away. * When to the reeds of

Enki , image = Enki(Ea).jpg , caption = Detail of Enki from the Adda Seal, an ancient Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC , deity_of = God of creation, intelligence, crafts, water, seawater, lakewater, fertility, semen, magic, mischief ...

a person has been brought, his beer will be 4 jugs, and his bread 420 loaves. One ''barig'' (36 l.) of barley shall the undertaker take away, and 3 ''ban'' of barley shall the persons of ... take away. One woman's headband, and one ''sila'' (1 l.) of princely fragrance shall the ''eresh-dingir'' priestess take away. 420 loaves of bread that have sat are the bread duty, 40 loaves of hot bread are for eating, and 10 loaves of hot bread are the bread of the table. 5 loaves of bread are for the persons of the levy, 2 mud vessels and 1 ''sadug'' vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Girsu. 490 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels and 1 ''sadug'' vessel of beer are for the lamentation singers of Lagash. 406 loaves of bread, 2 mud vessels, and 1 ''sadug'' vessel of beer are for the other lamentation singers. 250 loaves of bread and one mud vessel of beer are for the old wailing women. 180 loaves of bread and 1 mud vessel of beer are for the men of Nigin. * The blind one who stands in ..., his bread for eating is one loaf, 5 loaves of bread are his at midnight, one loaf is his bread at midday, and 6 loaves are his bread in the evening. * 60 loaves of bread, 1 mud vessel of beer, and 3 ''ban'' of barley are for the person who is to perform as the ''sagbur'' priest, king, or god. File:Cone fragment inscribed with part of the text of the reforms of Uruinimgina (Urukagina) - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago - DSC06974.JPG, Cone fragment inscribed with part of the text of the reforms of Uruinimgina (Urukagina) - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago File:Sumerian Cuneiform Stone Cone of Urukagina.jpg, Reform cone of Urukagina

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

AO 3149 File:Cone of Urukagina Louvre Museum AO3149.jpg, Transcription of cone AO3149. Urkagina appears as "King of Lagash". Urukagina lugal Lagashki

File:The Reforms of Urukagina.jpg, ''The Reforms of Urukagina''. 20th century reconstitution. File:Reform text of Urukagina, king of Lagash. Terracotta clay tablet. From Girsu, Iraq. 24th century BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.jpg, Reform text of Urukagina, king of Lagash. From Girsu, Iraq. 24th century BCE. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul

Praise poem of Urukagina

Some insight into Sumerian values can be gained from praise poems written for kings. While the kings may not always live up to this praise they show the type of achievements that they wished to be remembered by. Extracts below praise Urukagina who appears as a social reformer, getting rid of gross abuses of power that had taken hold in Lagash. # Since time immemorial, since life began, in those days, the head boatman appropriated boats, the livestock official appropriated asses, the livestock official appropriated sheep, and the fisheries inspector appropriated.... The shepherds of wool sheep paid a duty in silver on account of white sheep, and the surveyor, chief lamentation-singer, supervisor, brewer and foremen paid a duty in silver on account of young lambs. . . These were the conventions of former times! # When Ningirsu, warrior of Enlil, granted the kingship of Lagash to Urukagina, selecting him from among the myriad people, he replaced the customs of former times, carrying out the command that Ningirsu, his master, had given him. # He removed the head boatman from control over the boats, he removed the livestock official from control over asses and sheep, he removed the fisheries inspector from control.... # He removed the silo supervisor from control over the grain taxes of the ''guda''-priests, he removed the bureaucrat responsible for the paying of duties in silver on account of white sheep and young lambs, and he removed the bureaucrat responsible for the delivery of duties by the temple administrators to the palace. # The... administrators no longer plunder the orchards of the poor. When a high quality ass is born to a ''

shublugal In ancient Mesopotamia, a ''shublugal'', meaning ''slave of the king''(with Lugal meaning king), was a slave who lived in a temple, like '' gurush'' and '' iginidug'', but this type was more numerous. In times of peace, the sovereign gave lands to ...

'', and his foreman says to him, "I want to buy it from you"; whether he lets him buy it from him and says to him "Pay me the price I want!," or whether he does not let him buy it from him, the foreman must not strike at him in anger. # When the house of an aristocrat adjoins the house of a ''

'', and the aristocrat says to him, "I want to buy it from you"; whether he lets him buy it from him, having said to him, "Pay me the price I want! My house is a large container—fill it with barley for me!," or whether he does not let him buy it from him, that aristocrat must not strike at him in anger. # He cleared and cancelled obligations for those indentured families, citizens of Lagash living as debtors because of grain taxes, barley payments, theft or murder. # Urukagina solemnly promised Ningirsu that he would never subjugate the waif and the widow to the powerful.Praise of Urukagina
/ref>

Lament about the fall of Lagash to Umma

Urukagina participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with