Enshakushanna


Enshakushanna, or Enshagsagana, En-shag-kush-ana, Enukduanna, En-Shakansha-Ana, was a king of Uruk around the mid-3rd millennium BC who is named on the Sumerian King List, which states his reign to have been 60 years. He conquered Hamazi, Akkad, Kish, and Nippur, claiming hegemony over all of Sumer.

Titulature

He adopted the Sumerian title en ki-en-gi lugal kalam., which may be translated as "lord of Sumer and king of all the land", and could correspond to the later title lugal ki-en-gi ki-uri "King of Sumer and Akkad" that eventually came to signify kingship over Mesopotamia as a whole.

Inscriptions

Several inscriptions of Enshakushanna are known. A dedication tablet in his name is known, now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation:
The inscription states that his father was "Elilina", possibly King Elulu of Ur.
An inscription reports that "When the gods commanded, he destroyed Kish... and Akshak".

Succession

He was succeeded in Uruk by Lugal-kinishe-dudu, but the hegemony seems to have passed to Eannatum of Lagash for a time. Lugal-kinishe-dudu was later allied with Entemena, a successor of Eannatum, against Lagash's principal rival, Umma.