Eannatum was a Sumerian Ensi of Lagash circa 2500–2400 BCE. He established one of the first verifiable empires in history: he subdued Elam and destroyed the city of Susa as well as several other Iranian cities, and extended his domain to Sumer and Akkad. One inscription found on a boulder states that Eannatum was his Sumerian name, while his "Tidnu" name was Lumma.
Eannatum, grandson of Ur-Nanshe and son of Akurgal, was a king of Lagash who conquered all of Sumer, including Ur, Nippur, Akshak, Larsa, and Uruk. He entered into conflict with Umma, waging a war over the fertile plain of Gu-Edin. He personally commanded an army to subjugate the city-state, and vanquished Ush, the ruler of Umma, finally making a boundary treaty with Enakalle, successor of Ush, as described in the Stele of the Vultures and in the Cone of Entemena: Eannatum made Umma a tributary, where every person had to pay a certain amount of grain into the treasury of the goddessNina and the god Ingurisa.
Conquest outside Sumer
Eannatum expanded his influence beyond the boundaries of Sumer. He conquered parts of Elam, including the city Az off the coast of the modern Persian Gulf, allegedly smote Shubur, and, having repulsed Akshak, he claimed the title of "King of Kish" and demanded tribute as far as Mari: Eannatum recorded his victories on a stone inscription: However, revolts often arose in parts of his empire. During Eannatum’s reign, many temples and palaces were built, especially in Lagash. The city of Nina, probably a precursor of Niniveh, was rebuilt, with many canals and reservoirs being excavated.
Stele of the Vultures
The so-called Stele of the Vultures, now in the Louvre, is a fragmented limestone stele found in Telloh, Iraq, in 1881. The stele is reconstructed as having been high and wide and was set up ca. 2500–2400 BCE. It was erected as a monument of the victory of Eannatum of Lagash over Ush, king of Umma, leading to a boundary treaty with his successor Enakalle of Umma. On it various incidents in the war are represented. In one register, the king stands in front of his phalanx of heaviy armoured soldiers, with a curved weapon in his right hand, formed of three bars of metal bound together by rings. In another register a figure, the king, his name again inscribed around his head, rides on his chariot in the thick of the battle, while his kilted followers, with helmets on their heads and lances in their hands, march behind him. On the other side of the stele is an image ofNinurta, a god of war, holding the captive Ummaites in a large net. This implies that Eannatum attributed his victory to Ninurta, and thus that he was in the god's protection. The victory of Eannatum is mentioned in a fragmentary inscription on the stele, suggesting that after the loss of 3,600 soldiers on the field, Ush, king of Umma, was killed in a rebellion in his capital city of Umma: “ defeated him. Its 3600 corpses reached the base of heaven raised hands against him and killed him in Umma.”.
