Il, king of Umma

Il 𒅍
King of Umma
Stone tablet for the dedication of a temple, inscribed by Il, king of Umma, c. 2400 BCE, and mentioning his father Eandamu (𒂍𒀭𒁕𒊬), and his grandfather King Enakalle (𒂗𒀉𒆗𒇷). Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago
Reign	c. 2500  BCE – 2400  BCE
Predecessor	Ur-Lumma
Successor	Gishakidu
Dynasty	1st Dynasty of Umma

Umma

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Il was king of Umma, circa 2400 BCE.

Il (Sumerian: 𒅍, IL) was king (𒈗, Lugal) of the Sumerian city-state of Umma, circa 2400 BCE.^[1] His father was Eandamu, and his grandfather was King Enakalle, who had been vanquished by Eannatum of Lagash.^[1] Il was successor to Ur-Lumma. According to an inscription, before becoming king, he had been temple administrator in Zabalam: "At this time, Il, who was the temple administrator of Zabalam, marched in retreat from Girsu to Umma and took the governorship of Umma for himself."^[2] He ruled for at least 14 years.^[3]

He entered in a territorial conflict with Enmetena, ruler of Lagash, as mentioned in an inscription:^[3]

"He (Il) diverted water from the boundary-channel of Ningirsu and the boundary-channel of Nanshe (...). When because of those channels, Enmetena, the governor of Lagash, sent envoys to Il, Il, the governor of Umma, who steals fields (and) speaks evil, declared: ‘The boundary-channel of Ningirsu (and) the boundary-channel of Nanshe are mine! I will shift the boundary-levee from Antasura to Edimgalabzu!’ But Enlil (and) Ninhursang did not give it to him."^[3]

Il was defeated by Enmetena, who had sought the aid of Lugal-kinishe-dudu of Uruk, successor to Enshakushanna, who is in the king list.^[4]

Il later fought against Enannatum II, king of Lagash and successor to Enmetena, and defeated him, ending the Lagash dynasty founded by Ur-Nanshe.^[1][5]

He was succeeded by his son, Gishakidu.^[6]

• 
  Name of "King Il" on his tablet (𒈗 being the character for Lugal, "King"), and corresponding standard Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform
• 
  Votive plate of Queen Bara-irnum of Umma, "wife of Gishakidu, king of Umma, daughter of Ur-Lumma, king of Umma, grand-daughter of Enakalle, king of Umma, daughter-in-law of Il, king of Umma", to God Shara, in gratitude for sparing her life.^[7][8]
• 
  "King Il" (𒅍𒈗, Il lugal) on the votive plate of Queen Bara-irnun

References

1. Van De Mieroop, Marc (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East: Ca. 3000-323 BC. Wiley. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780631225522.
2. Sallaberger, Walther; Schrakamp, Ingo (2015). History & Philology (PDF). Walther Sallaberger & Ingo Schrakamp (eds), Brepols. p. 76. ISBN 978-2-503-53494-7.
3. Sallaberger, Walther; Schrakamp, Ingo (2015). History & Philology (PDF). Walther Sallaberger & Ingo Schrakamp (eds), Brepols. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-2-503-53494-7.
4. Jordan, Michael (1993). Encyclopedia of gods : over 2,500 deities of the world. Internet Archive. New York : Facts on File. pp. 245.
5. Williams, Henry Smith. The Historians' History of the World Vol.1 (of 25) (Illustrations): Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia. The Trow Press. p. 171.
6. Sallaberger, Walther; Schrakamp, Ingo (2015). History & Philology (PDF). Walther Sallaberger & Ingo Schrakamp (eds), Brepols. p. 78. ISBN 978-2-503-53494-7.
7. Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2003. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-58839-043-1.
8. Thomas, Ariane; Potts, Timothy (2020). Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins. Getty Publications. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-60606-649-2.