Akkadian language cuneiform for Sharkalisharri. The star symbol "𒀭", the "Dingir", is a silent honorific for "Divine".
Shar-Kali-Sharri (𒀭𒊬𒂵𒉌 𒈗𒌷, DShar-ka-li-Sharri;[3]) reigned c. 2217–2193 BC (middle chronology) as the ruler of the Akkadian Empire. In the early days of cuneiform scholarship the name was transcribed as "Shar-Gani-sharri".[4] In the 1870s, Assyriologists thought Shar-Kali-Sharri was identical with the Sargon of Akkad, first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, but this identification was recognized as mistaken in the 1910s.[5] His name was sometimes written with the leading Dingir sign demarking deification and sometimes without it. Clearly at some point he was deified and two of his designations marked his divine status, "heroic god of Akkade", and "god of the land of Warium".[6] He was the son and successor of Naram-Sin who deified himself during his lifetime.[7]
Shar-Kali-Sharri succeeded his father Naram-Sin in c. 2217 BC. According to the Sumerian King List his reign lasted 25 year which is closely matched by the year name from his rule.[7] He completed the establishment of direct Akkadian rule, a process initiated by his predecessor.[8] It is known, from the seal impressions of three of her majordomos (example - "Sar-kali-sarri, king of the subjects of the god Enlil. Tuta-sar-libbis, the queen: Iskun-Dagan, scr[ibe] and her major[d]omo, (is) [her] servant"), that the wife and queen of Shar-Kali-Shari was Tuta-sar-libbis.[9]
Naram-Sin maintained control over the various city-states by the simple expedient of appointing some of his many sons as key provincial governors, and his daughters as high priestesses. Shar-Kali-Shari would have inherited this system on his ascension but is not known if he had any offspring or, for the most part, the nature of his provincial governors. It has been suggested that he was governor of Nippur before assuming the crown.[10][11] This is supported by the fact that text show that he was crowned in Nippur, a process that included his sister Tudanapšum who had been named high priestess of Enlil at Nippur.[12][13]
It was traditional for rulers in Mesopotamia to make an occasional "royal progress" visiting the major cultic sites. One such progress is known from the reign of his father Naram-Sin, fourth ruler of the Akkadian Empire. He was accompanied by three of his children, Bin-kali-šarrē, Tudanapšum, and crown prince Shar-Kali-Shari.[14] It is known that Shar-Kali-Sharri made a royal journey to Sumer early in his reign which lasted at least six months. Cities known to have been included in the royal progress were Umma, Zabala, Isin, Girsu, and Nippur with many royal gifts dispensed and much feasting.[15] In a show of military strength at least five sagina (generals) accompanied Shar-Kali-Shari.[16]
Cuneiform tablet in the name of Shar-Kali-Sharri
It is known that the governor of Adab under Shar-Kali-Shar was Lugal-gis based on three clay sealings reading "[S]ar-kali-sam, god, hero of Agade: Lugal-gis, scribe and go[vernor] of Ad[ab, (is) his] servant." (noting that the Dingir followed the rulers name here). His successor as ensi of Adab under Shar-Kali-Shali was Ur-tur, known from tablets found there. Many Adab tablets dated to his reign remain unpublished in the Istanbul Museum.[8] The governor of another city-state, Lagash is known. Lugal-ushumgal, was a governor (ensi) under Naram-Sin and that continued under Shar-Kali-Shari.[17] Several inscriptions of Lugal-ushumgal are known, particularly seal impressions, which refer to him as governor of Lagash and at the time a vassal (𒀵, arad, "servant" or "slave") of Naram-Sin, as well as his successor Shar-kali-sharri.[18] One of these seals proclaims:
Pink marble ceremonial macehead in the name of Shar-Kali-Sharri (Akkadian: 𒊬𒂵𒉌 𒈗𒌷), found at Sippar. Inscription - "Sar-kali-sarri, king of Agade, for the god Samas at Sippar, dedicated (this mace)." (BM 91146)
Lugal-ushumgal was Governor of Lagash, a vassal of Naram-Sin and later of Shar-Kali-Sharri.[20] His successor as governor Puzer-Mama declared himself ruler of Lagash, possibly on the death of Shar-Kali-Shari, and began the 2nd Dynasty of Lagash[21][22]
Modern photograph of the ruins of the Ekur temple at Nippur
One of the primary duties of the ruler of Mesopotamia was the maintenance of the Ekur temple of the chief god Enlil. Work on the temple, initiated by Naram-Sin, was completed by Shar-Kali-Shari.[23] So important was this process that it was featured in seven of his year names, even naming the general appointed to lead the task, Puzur-Eshtar.[24] Inscribed bricks of Shar-Kali-Shari were found during the excavation of Nippur:
"The god Enlil instructed (him). Sar-kali-sarri, the mighty, king of Agade, builder of Ekur, temple of the god Enlil at Nippur. As for the one who removes this inscription, may the gods Enlil, Samas, and Astar tear out his foundations and destroy his progeny."[25]
In a tablet inscription (HS 195) he also marked, after visiting the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the giving of a cult object to Enlil at Nippur.[26]
"The god Enlil decreed (it to him) Sar-kali-sarri, mighty king,cup bearer of the god Enlil, king of Agade, king of the subjects of the god Enlil. (The god Enlil)... as fa as ... from ... gave to him in its entirety. After he reached the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, he personally dedicated (this object) to the god Enlil in Nippur."[25]
Shar-Kali-Shari also built new temples to Annunitum and to Ilaba (the tutelary deity deity of the Akkadian Empire) at Babylon, as reflected in a year name, with a further one to Ilaba at Zabala.[27]
To Shar-kali-sharri, king of Agade, Shaki-beli his servant
Based on his year names the reign of Shar-Kali-Shari was fairly peaceful with the usual scuffles with nomadic groups like the MAR.TU and the Gutians as well as the traditional butting of heads with the Elamites.[28] The economic texts from that period also would indicate a reasonable degree of prosperity.[29][30][31] Clearly the Gutians were growing in influence during his reign as at some point they made Adab their capital, though whether as a vassals of Akkad or not is unknown. That said, there was a historical tradition that the Akkadian Empire began to unravel during his rule. One much later Neo-Babylonian copy of an inscription (BM 38302) of Shar-Kali-Shari (which also marks the building of the temple of Ilaba in Zabala) indicated that he face a widespread revolt at one point which he overcame. This reflects the Great Revolt faced by his father Naram-Sin though it cannot be discounted that passage of millennia had blurred the history of one ruler with the other.
"Sar-kali-sam, the mighty, king of Agade, builder of the ... of the temple of the goddess Astar at Zabala. [W]hen the four quarters together revolted against him ... [fr]om beyond the Lower Sea as far as the Upper [S]ea, he smote the people and all the Mountain Lands for the god Enlil and brought their kings i[n] fette[rs] before the god Enlil. Sar-kali-sam, the mighty, by the ... authority of the god Enlil, sh[owed] mercy to no one in those battles. He reached ... the source of the Tigris River and ... the source of the Euphrates River and cut down cedar wood in the Amanus (Mountains) in order to ... the temple of the goddess Astar. As for the one who removes this inscription,may the gods Enlil, Samas, and Astar tear out his foundations and destroy his progeny. Colophon - According to the text of a stele of marhusa stone. That which was written (on) the stone, Nergal-sumi-ibni of the Issakku family wrote out quickly."[25]
According to the Sumerian King List and later literary compositions, after Shar-Kali-Sharri's death in c. 2193 BC, the region fell into anarchy, with no king able to achieve dominance for long.[32] The king list states:
"Then who was king? Who was not the king? Igigi, Imi, Nanum, Ilulu: four of them ruled for only 3 years."
The Akkadian Empire then resumed some semblance of order for a time with the 21 year reign of Dudu followed by the 15 year reign of Shu-turul.
Lists of year names can be found for many rulers from the time of the Akkadian Empire, including Shar-Kali-Sharri.[33] They shed light on the length of his reign and the main events:
Year the King of Agade sat (on his throne)
Year in which Shar-Kali-Sharri went down to Sumer ...
Year after Shar-Kali-Sharri went down to Sumer (and) [the crown] upon (his) head ...[14]
Year in which Shar-Kali-Sharri appointed Puzur-Eshtar the shagina (general), to build the temple of Enlil
Year after the year Shar-Kali-Sharri appointed Puzur-Eshtar, the shagina, to build the temple of Enlil
In the year in which Shar-Kali-Sharri laid the foundations of the temple of Enlil in Nippur
Year the foundations of the temple of Enlil (in Nippur) were laid
Year following the year in which the foundations of the temple of Enlil in Nippur were laid
Year the king Shar-Kali-Sharri brought to the temple of Enlil …
In the year in which Shar-Kali-Sharri a vase of libation in gold (for the temple of Enlil and) cut down cedar timber for the temple of Enlil
In the year in which Shar-Kali-Sharri laid the foundations of the temples of the goddess Annunitum and of the Ilaba in Babylon and captured Sharlag(ab) the king of Gutium[34]
Tablet in Akkadian language recording domestic animals, Bismaya, reign of Shar-kali-sharri, c. 2100 BC, clay - Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago
Seal of Shar-Kali-Sharri (previously attributed to Sargon), with seated deity.
Seal of Shar-Kali-Sharri (previously attributed to Sargon), with Gilgamesh fighting a lion.
Seal impression of Lugal-ushumgal as servant of Shar-Kali-Sharri: "Sharkalisharri, the mighty king of Agade, Lugalushumgal, ensiofLagash, is thy servant."
^written šar-ka3-li2-šar-ri2𒊬𒂵𒉌𒊬𒌷 in later manuscripts of the Sumerian King List, but
šar-ka3-li2 LUGAL-ri2𒊬𒂵𒉌 𒈗𒌷 in royal inscriptions even though the LUGAL ("king") sign did not have the phonetic value of šar in Sumerian
(Laurence Austine Waddell, The Makers of Civilization 1968, p. 529)
^King, L. "Shar-gani-sharri, King of Akkad." Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 30 (1908): 238-242
^D. D. Luckenbill, "Review of: The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria by Morris Jastrow, Jr.", The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Apr., 1917), pp. 252-254, 1917
^Steinkeller, Piotr, "The Divine Rulers of Akkade and Ur: Toward a Definition of the Deification of Kings in Babylonia", History, Texts and Art in Early Babylonia: Three Essays, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 107-157, 2017
^ abThureau-Dangin, F., "Encore la Dynastie d'Agadé", Revue d'Assyriologie 9, pp. 81–83, 1912
^ ab[1] M. Molina, "The palace of Adab during the Sargonic period", D. Wicke (ed.), Der Palast im antiken und islamischen Orient, Colloquien der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 9, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 151-20, 2019
^B. Buchanan and W.W. Hallo, "Early Near Eastern Seals in the Yale Babylonian Collection", New Haven and London, 1981
^Gibson, McGuire, "Nippur: New Perspectives", Archaeology, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 26–37, 1977
^Michalowski, Piotr, "Tudanapšum, Naram-Sin and Nippur", Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 173–76, 1981
^Charvát, Petr, "A Tale of Twin Cities: Archaeology and the Sumerian King List", Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique International at Rome, 4-8 July 2011, edited by Alfonso Archi, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 75-80, 2015
^Westenholz, Joan, "EN-Priestess: Pawn or Power Mogul?", Organization, Representation, and Symbols of Power in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Würzburg 20–25 Jul, edited by Gernot Wilhelm, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 291-312, 2012
^ ab[2]Foster, Benjamin R., "Notes on Sargonic royal progress", Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 12.1, pp. 29-42, 1980
^Kraus, N. L., "When the King Came Down to Sumer: The Royal Sojourn of Sar-Kali-Sarre and the Court of Akkad", Iraq. Journal of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, vol. 81, pp. 207–220, 2019
^Foster, B. R., "Management and Administration in the Sargonic Period", in: M. Liverani (ed.) Akkad, the First World Empire: Structure, Ideology, Traditions HANES 5, Padova: Sargon srl., pp. 25–39, 1993
^Amiet, Pierre, "L’art d’Agadé au Musée du Louvre", Paris: Éditions des Musées Nationaux, 1976
^Felli, Candida, "Some notes on the Akkadian glyptic from Tell Brak", Excavations at Tell Brak 2, pp. 141-150, 2001
^[3]Frayne, Douglas R., "Lagaš", Sargonic and Gutian Periods, Toronto, Buffalo, London. University of Toronto Press Incorporated, pp. 269-273, 1993 ISBN0-8020-0593-4
^Volk, Konrad, "Puzur-Mama und die Reise des Königs", pp. 22-29, 1992
^Goetze, Albrecht, "Akkad Dynasty Inscriptions from Nippur", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 88, no. 1, pp. 54–59, 1968
^[4]"Donald E. McCown and Richard C. Haines, Nippur I, Temple of Enlil, Scribal Quarter, and Soundings: Excavations of the Joint Expedition to Nippur of the University Museum of Philadelphia and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago", Oriental Institute Publication 78, 1967
^ abc[5]Douglas R. Frayne, "Akkad", The Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334–2113), University of Toronto Press, pp. 5-218, 1993 ISBN0-8020-0593-4
^Gelb, I. J., and B. Kienast, "Die altakkadischen Königsinschriften des dritten Jahrtausends v. Chr", Freiburger altorientalische Studien 7, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1990
^Lambert, Wilfred G., "Babylon: Origins", Babylon: Wissenskultur in Orient und Okzident, edited by Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Margarete van Ess and Joachim Marzahn, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 71-76, 2011
^Thureau-Dangin, "Recherches sur Torigine de Tecriture cuneiformes", Ire partie: Lesformes archaiques et leurs equivalents modernes. Paris, 1898
^Milano, Lucio, and Aage Westenholz, "The “Šuilišu Archive” and Other Sargonic Texts in Akkadian", CUSAS27, Bethesda MD: CDL Press, 2015
^Markina, Ekaterina, "Akkadian of the Me-ság Archive", Babel und Bibel 6, edited by Leonid E. Kogan, N. Koslova, S. Loesov and S. Tishchenko, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 169-188, 2012
^Foster, Benjamin R., "New Light on the ‘Mu-Iti’ Texts", Orientalia, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 153–62, 1979
^Kraus, Nicholas, "The Weapon of Blood: Politics and Intrigue at the Decline of Akkad", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 108, no. 1, pp. 1-9, 2018
^George, A. R., "House Most High. The temples of ancient Mesopotamia", Winona Lake, 1993 ISBN0-931464-80-3
^Kupper, J.-R., "Les nomades en Misopotamie au temps des rois de Mari", Bibliotheque de la FacultC de Philosophie et Lettres de l'Universite de Liege 142. Paris: Societ d'edition "Les Belles Lettres, 1957
Foster, Benjamin R., "The age of Agade: inventing empire in ancient Mesopotamia", Routledge, 2015 ISBN978-1138909717
D. R. Frayne, "Notes on a New Inscription of Shar-kali-sharri", Ann. Rev. RIM Proj. 2, pp. 23–27, 1984
Keetman, Jan, "Bilingualismus in Sumer zum Gebrauch des Akkadischen und Sumerischen in der Verwaltungspraxis des Reiches von Akkad unter Naram-Sujen und Sar-Kali-Sarri", Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, vol. 108, pp. 1–14, 2014
Mieroop, Marc Van De, "Sargon of Agade and his Successors in Anatolia", Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici 42, pp. 133-59, 2000
Pomponio, F., "Quello che accade (forse) dopo la morte di Šar-kali-šarrī", Akkade is King. A collection of papers by friends and colleagues presented to Aage Westenholz on the occasion of his 70th birthday 15th of May 2009, hrsg. v. Gojko Barjamovic (Uitgaven van het Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten te Leiden 118), pp. 227-244, 2011
Visicato, Giuseppe, "The Career of Ur-Bagara as a Chronological Indicatior of the Documents of Girsu from Šarkališarri to Gudea", Opening the Tablet Box, Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster, hrsg. v. Sarah C. Melville, Alice L. Slotsky (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 42), pp. 435-452, 2010
Westenholz, Aage, "Assyriologists, Ancientand Modern, on Naramsin andSharkalisharri", In Assyriologica et Semitica: Festschrift für Joachim Oelsner anläßlich seines 65. Geburtstages am 18. Februar 1997, edited by Joachim Mar-zahn and Hans Neumann, Alter Orientund Altes Testament 252. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 545–56, 2000
