As a literate man, he reformed the school of scribes and improved the literacy rate of the whole area. He allocated funds to continue to maintain the city, improve existing roads and build new ones, and even opened the first roadside hotel so that travelers could stop, rest, eat, drink and be merry when traveling (later Persians adopted this innovation). He claimed to be a god before his death, but he seemed to be worshipped after his death.
His rule is well documented, because he has many scribes engraving his achievements, but this document is questioned because it is inaccurate. Although it seems that Shurji ruled well, he ordered that most documents related to the details of his rule be recorded. Later chroniclers will accuse him of ungodly and falsifying records, but archaeological evidence seems to support his ruling version.
In order to hold religious festivals in Ur and Nipur, Shurji ran 200 miles (32 1.8 km) in a big storm in one day.
Early Ruling and Schulze's Operation
Ur-Nammu's rule stabilized the area and made it prosperous after Gutian people were expelled. And because of a poem about the death of Urnam and its lower bound, he became an almost mythical hero shortly after his death.
His successor may try to distinguish himself from the former's rule, but Shuerji doesn't seem to do so. In order to ensure the stability of the kingdom, he created a standing army and organized it into a special force for specific military purposes (infantry is no longer just "infantry", but a venue dedicated to certain tactics, formations and purposes). Later, he led the army to crusade against the remaining Gutian people in the local area, avenged his father's death and protected the border.
In order to raise money for his army, he launched an unprecedented policy of taxing temples and temple groups. Although this may make him unpopular among priests, it could have increased his popularity among ordinary people without having to bear the increased burden. Taxes.
Stephen Bertman, a scholar, pointed out that when the kingdom of Ur extended from the vicinity of Eldu in southern Mesopotamia to Nineveh (57) along the Tigris River basin, "Ullner's imperialist dream was realized by his son Shurji". To modern Kuwait in southern Iraq. Through the unified central administrative organization established by Ullner Mu, the kingdom was effectively maintained. Shuerji improved it and was protected and expanded by the standing army, because it did not need to be mobilized and could respond quickly to any riots on the border. In the case of national security, Shuerji can devote himself to encouraging art and culture like his father.
He introduced the national calendar and standardized timing method, which enabled the whole kingdom to recognize the same date and time, replacing the old method of calculating the date and time in different regions in their own way. He also formulated measures for agricultural reform and standardization to ensure fair trade in the market. Before Shuerji's reform, the price difference between commodities traded in Ur and the same commodities in Nipur was very large, sometimes very large. All the documents were written in Sumerian (instead of Akkadian, a traditional national language), perhaps to distinguish Shurji's rule from the past.
Even so, it seems that he intends to present himself as the new Ramsin of Akkad, the last great ruler of Akkad (226 BC1-2224 BC). Ullner also understood the value of linking his rule with that of the legendary Akkadian king, but Shuerji went further, claiming that he was a god, just like Narasin, and signed his name on a sacred and decisive document.
Despite his remarkable achievements, he still seems to feel that he is only implementing the policies and construction projects formulated by his father. Scholar Paul Krivacek wrote:
The construction of Ullner Mjinta continued until his son's reign, which left Shuerji with the problem of how to establish a superman image in his people's consciousness. He chose running. ( 156)
In one day, Shuerji ran from Nipur to Ur, with a distance of 100 miles (160.9 kilometers), in order to hold religious festivals in two cities, and then ran back to Nipur from Ur; Run 200 miles (32 1.8 km) a day. One of his inscriptions clearly shows his motivation for running:
Make my name established in the distant days, never forgotten, never leave people's mouths,
May my praise spread all over the earth,
Let me be praised all over the place,
I, the runner, muster my strength and everything is ready.
From Nipur to Ur,
I am determined to cross, as if it is only "two hours" away.
I get up like a lion who never gets tired of being a lion.
Tie a belt around my waist.
Wave my arm and run away from the snake like a dove,
Open your knees like an Anzu bird and look up at the mountain. (Kramer, 286)
Running certainly achieved its goal, because Shuerji was related to events and had great endurance in later chronicles. His courage and determination were also praised, because his running was in a big storm. His inscription continued:
On that day, the storm roared, the wind roared/the north wind roared/the seven winds in the sky swallowed up/the deafening storm made the earth tremble. (Kramer, 287)
In fact, Shuerji was famous for running, and he soon became a popular figure in Mesopotamian poetry, and was famous for his masculinity and endurance as the lover of the goddess Inanna. About the famous running, Krivacek wrote:
Can he really do it? The early Assyrians thought this achievement was impossible and fictional. However, recent considerations suggest otherwise. An article in the Journal of Sports History quoted two related records: "In the first 48 hours of the Sydney-Melbourne race of 1985, the Greek ultramarathon athlete Yannis Kouros completed 287 miles. This impressive distance was completed without a pause in sleep. In the1970s, an English athlete ran 1000 miles in1hour 3 1 minute. There is no reason to believe that Sumerians are worse at sports. After all, their world is more realistic than ours: speed, strength and endurance are more important to them than us. ( 157)
As he hoped, Shuerji's running made his fame spread all over the land and distinguished his rule from his father's. Ullner showed his people his image as a father who guided the people, while Shuerji claimed that he was a god. He started campaigning in his seventh year in office, and he can do whatever he wants from now on. Mesopotamia used to name the year after the great achievements (usually military victories) of the king, so the year when Shurji ran was called "the year when the king traveled back and forth between Ur and Nipur in one day". Shortly after the incident, his stories were engraved, and the scribes were sent to temples all over the country to recite them, presenting him to the people as a greater king than his father.
Subsequent rule and controversy
His public relations activities have achieved great success. The Chronicle of Mesopotamia described Shurji as a "god" and a "fast runner" and described how he generously provided food for cities, especially the holy city of Eridu. According to hymns and songs, he is the brother of Chamakh, the sun god, and the husband of Inanna, the goddess. When he decided to expand his kingdom northward, the army undoubtedly followed him and occupied Anshan area (now western Iran).
His policy of constantly taxing temples and temples, as well as the standardization of the weight, measurement, time and date of the whole kingdom, deprived cities of their regional identity and, to a lesser extent, their economic independence (financial factors seemed quite insignificant, because many cities continued to prosper after the fall of city of ur), but there was no evidence of domestic conflict or rebellion in his ruling records.
However, Shurji's version of peace and prosperity was challenged, because first of all, as mentioned above, history came from documents issued by the state, and more importantly, later writers claimed that Shurji deliberately tampered with these documents to show that he was the greatest king of Mesopotamia.
Chronicle of the King as a God also records: "Shuerji, the son of Ullner, provided Elidu with rich food by the sea. However, he was inclined to commit crimes, took the property of Eritrea and Babylon as trophies [……], consumed his body and killed him "(CM, Tablet A, 20:28-30). Another passage in the chronicle claims that during Shurji's reign, he "wrote untrue stone tablets and arrogant works about the purification ceremony of the gods and left them to future generations" (CM 27).
At any time in the region, these two situations have seriously offended the feelings of the Mesopotamian people in the region, which is of great significance to accurately record the past. Seriously enough, Shuerji took Saglia's property in Babylon, because the items in the temple did not belong to a specific city, but belonged to the gods of this city, and then lied in words, presenting these lies, because real history is intolerable.
Chronicle of Mesopotamia (also known as Chronicle of Babylon) is a history of the king's activities in Mesopotamia compiled by the scribes at some time in BC 1 millennium based on earlier data. Although scholars have always believed that they were created in Babylon, there is reason to believe that they were assembled by different scribes from different places under the guidance of the Assyrian Empire, probably by King Ashuba of Nineveh (reigned in 668-627 BC).
It is entirely possible for these later scribes to write from a certain angle, hoping to advance their own agenda and edit or omit some details of the past in the chronicle, but it is unlikely to completely fabricate events and pretend to be history. Most likely, they borrowed from the literary tradition of Mianaru in Mesopotamia, adopted "factual" information, and modified it to achieve the effect, thus spreading core cultural values, such as respect and obedience to the king.
Mentioning Shurji's plunder of Saglia in Babylon means that Babylon revolted during Shurji's rule-this event is not recorded in his * * * document-if it did happen, it is likely that other parts of his kingdom would control Shurji less and respect what they did, rather than what the official national records claimed. Babylon is a famous city in the history of Mesopotamia, because it resisted foreign rule, just like the Bible is famous for its depravity. If any city under Shurji wanted to rebel, it was Babylon. Although robbing any temple is considered a serious crime, robbing Essaglia in Babylon seems to be considered the worst. Later kings, such as Assyrian Tukule Ninurta I and Senna cribb, were assassinated for desecrating the Babylonian temple, which may also be the fate of Shurji.
The Great Wall and the Death of Shurji
At the end of his reign, Sumer was troubled by the invasion of nomadic tribes called Amorites. Shuerji built a wall 155 miles (250 kilometers) long on the eastern border of his kingdom to prevent the Amorites from entering, but because it was not anchored at both ends, the invading nomads could simply bypass it. Elam were also on the border, but at least during Shurji's reign, Ur troops reinforced the walls and kept them in the bay.
After 46 years in office, Shuerji died and his son Amar-Xin (reigned in1981-kloc-0/973 BC) succeeded him. He defeated Elam and consolidated the wall. His younger brother Shu Xin (reigned in 1972- 1964 BC) succeeded to the throne. He made further efforts to build the separation wall to quell the rebellion of establishing his own Amorite community in the kingdom, and tried to follow his father's rule and maintain the dynasty. His son Ibisin (reigned in 1963- 1940 BC) succeeded to the throne, and he gradually lost the kingdom territory established by Ullner and Shuerji. Krivacek comments:
Despite all efforts to strengthen it, this wall is still not enough to stop the barbarians in the west. They continued to attack, adding to the pain of the failed empire. ( 16 1)
Ibisin was the last king of the third dynasty in Ur. At the end of his reign, only city of ur remained in this huge kingdom, and later it fell into Elam's hands.
Shurji's death is as controversial as the record describing his rule. Scholars have repeatedly said that "Shurji and his spouses Gemei-Ninglira and Shurji-Himti may have died in an assassin's attack" (Bertman, 105) or "Shurji may have died in a court uprising" (Leitzke, 160), but they are not sure whether this statement is true. The main suspects mentioned by modern scholars are always Shuerji's sons, but in order for them to assassinate their father and succeed the ruler, they need court officials, their families, or read the people's dissatisfaction, hoping to gain the people's support for the coup.
Piotr Michalowski, a scholar, confirmed that Shulgi-Shimti was still alive after Shulgi's funeral, and "in a paragraph one month after the monarch's death, she mentioned the cows transported from the [Geme-nin Lila] herd, but this did not tell us whether she was alive or dead" (290). Shurji-Himti is Shurji's wife. According to records, she has considerable influence in the court. Geme-Ninlila is Shuerji's concubine, but she also enjoys a high position in the court. She is a successful businesswoman herself.
There is no evidence that the tide of public opinion has turned against Shurji, and there is no evidence that members of the court have launched any conspiracy. The chronicles of Mesopotamia hint at Shurji's assassination, which links his so-called plunder of Babylonian Isalla with his death. As mentioned earlier, during the Assyrian period in Mesopotamia, the later kings were murdered by their sons for committing blasphemy. Perhaps later Assyrian and Babylonian writers explained Shurji's story according to their understanding of their own history.
The missing part of this paragraph may also state some very different understandings supporting Shuerji's death. Shuerji may have been assassinated or died of natural causes because of blasphemy, but the repeated statement that his queen and spouse were assassinated with him cannot be supported, and the statement that he was killed by his son is equally untenable.
conclusion
Although the national records recording his rule are questioned, the archaeological evidence of this period supports their statement that Shurji's rule was indeed prosperous, and the achievements he claimed for himself did happen, even though they were not exactly as described. Under his rule, roads improved, the kingdom expanded, the economy became stronger, inns were built, calendars and time were standardized, weights and measures were standardized, and literature and art flourished.
Whether he is guilty of fabricating his own life and rule is still controversial, but there is no doubt that he is a man with great administrative and military talents, imagination, determination and personal charm. Some people may question whether he is worthy of the title of the greatest king of Ur III, but when his achievements are measured by his shortcomings, the former is better than the latter, and there is certainly no king of that period to follow him, which is his equality in any way.