Editing Kish (Sumer) (section)

===3rd Millennium BC===
The ''[[Sumerian King List]] (SKL)'' states that Kish was the first city to have kings following the deluge.<ref>[https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/as11.pdf] Thorkild Jacobsen, "The Sumerian King List", ''Assyriological Studies'' 11, Chicago: University of Chricago Press, 1939</ref> The 1st dynasty of Kish begins with [[Jushur|Ĝushur]]. Ĝushur's successor is called [[Kullassina-bel]], but this is actually a sentence in [[Akkadian (language)|Akkadian]] meaning "All of them were lord". Thus, some scholars have suggested that this may have been intended to signify the absence of a central authority in Kish for a time. The names of the next nine kings of Kish preceding [[Etana]] are Nanĝišlišma, En-tarah-ana, Babum, Puannum, Kalibum,  Kalumum, Zuqaqip, Aba, Mašda, and Arwium. Archaeological finds from the [[Uruk period]] indicate that the site was part of the Uruk Expansion and hence originally [[Sumerian language]] speaking.<ref name="Gibson"/> [[Ignace Gelb]] identified Kish as the center of the earliest [[East Semitic languages|East Semitic]] culture which he calls the [[Kish civilization]], however the concept has been challenged by more recent scholarship.<ref>I. J. Gelb, "Mari and the Kish Civilization", in Mari in Retrospect: Fifty Years of Mari and Mari Studies (ed. Gordon D. Young), Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992</ref><ref name=WS>{{cite book |last=Sommerfeld |first=Walter |chapter=The 'Kish Civilization'|pages=545–547 |editor-last=Vita |editor-first=Juan-Pablo |title=History of the Akkadian Language |volume=1 |publisher=BRILL |series=Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East |year=2021 |isbn=9789004445215 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hyU9EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA545 |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref>

Of the twenty-first king of Kish on the list, [[Enmebaragesi]], who is said to have captured the weapons of [[Elam]], is the first name confirmed by archaeological finds from his reign.<ref name="RIME1" >Frayne, Douglas R, "KIŠ", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Vol 1, pp. 49-60, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008 {{ISBN|9780802035868}}</ref> He is also known through other literary references, in which he and his son [[Aga of Kish]] are portrayed as contemporary rivals of [[Dumuzid, the Fisherman]], and [[Gilgamesh]], early rulers of [[Uruk]].

Some early kings of Kish are known through archaeology, but are not named on the ''SKL''. It can be difficult to determine if these are actually rulers of Kish or had merely adopted the common appellation "King of Kish". This includes [[Mesilim]], who built temples in [[Adab (city)|Adab]] and [[Lagash]], where he seems to have exercised some control. Two other examples were  the sleeve of an Early Dynatic II bronze sword found at [[Girsu]] which read "Lugal-namni[r]-sum (is) king of Kis" and a statue fragment found at Nippur which read "Enna-il, king of Kis".<ref name="RIME1" /><ref>Frayne, Douglas R, "Rulers with the Title “King of Kiš” Whose Dynastic Affiliations Are Unknown", in Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC), The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Vol 1, pp. 67-76, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008 {{ISBN|9780802035868}}</ref>
[[File:Mesannepada, Lugal Kish-ki (with seal impression).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|''Mesannepada, Lugal Kish-ki'' ({{cuneiform|𒈩𒀭𒉌𒅆𒊒𒁕 𒈗 𒆧𒆠}}), "[[Mesannepada]], King of Kish", on a seal impression found in the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]].<ref name="Ur excavations">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=H. R. (Harry Reginald) |last2=Woolley |first2=Leonard |last3=Legrain |first3=Leon |title=Ur excavations |date=1900 |publisher=Trustees of the Two Museums by the aid of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/urexcavations186385join/page/312 312] |url=https://archive.org/details/urexcavations186385join}}</ref><ref name="Image">Image of a Mesanepada seal in: {{cite book |last1=Legrain |first1=Léon |title=Ur Excavations Voulme III Arachaic Seal-impressions |date=1936 |publisher=The Trustees Of The Two Museums By The Aid Of A Grant From The Carnegi Corporation Of New York |page=44 seal 518 for description, Plate 30, seal 518 for image|url=http://www.etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/20144.pdf}}</ref> The last column of characters, is thought to mean "his wife..." ({{cuneiform|𒁮𒉡𒍼}}, ''dam-nu-gig'').<ref name="Ur excavations"/>]]

After its early supremacy, Kish declined economically and militarily, but retained a strong political and symbolic significance.<ref>[https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-assyriologie-2013-1-page-131.htm] Steinkeller, Piotr., "An Archaic 'Prisoner Plaque' From Kiš.", Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie Orientale, vol. 107, pp. 131–57, 2013</ref> Its influence reached as far west as the city of [[Ebla]] near the [[Mediterranean Sea]], as shown by the [[Ebla tablets]].<ref>Archi, Alfonso., "More on Ebla and Kiš", in Ebla and Its Archives: Texts, History, and Society, Berlin, München, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 478-496, 2015</ref><ref>Moorey, P. R. S., "Abu Salabikh, Kish, Mari and Ebla: Mid-Third Millennium Archaeological Interconnections.", ''American Journal of Archaeology'', vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 447–48, 1981</ref> According to the [[Ebla tablets]], Kish was defeated in the time of Ebla ruler Ishar-Damu, probably by Uruk. Shortly afterward Kish joined Ebla in defeating [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], followed by the marriage of the Eblan princess Keshdut to a king of Kish.<ref>Archi, Alfonso, and Maria Giovanna Biga, "A Victory over Mari and the Fall of Ebla", ''Journal of Cuneiform Studies'' 55: 1–44, 2003</ref> Just as with [[Nippur]] to the south, control of Kish was a prime element in legitimizing dominance over the north of Mesopotamia. Because of the city's symbolic value, strong rulers later claimed the traditional title "''King of Kish''", even if they were from [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]], [[Ur]], [[Assyria]], [[Isin]], [[Larsa]] or [[Babylon]].<ref>Maeda, T., "'King of Kish' in Pre-Sargonic Sumer", ''Orient'' 17, pp. 1–17, 1981</ref> One of the earliest to adopt this title upon subjecting Kish to his empire was King [[Mesannepada]] of Ur.<ref>Albrecht Goetze, "Early Kings of Kish", ''Journal of Cuneiform Studies'', vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 105–111, 1961</ref>

[[Sargon of Akkad]], the founder of the [[Akkadian Empire]], came from the area near Kish, called [[Azupiranu]] according to a much later [[Neo-Assyrian]] text purporting to be an autobiography of Sargon.<ref>[[Leonard William King|L. W. King]], "Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian Kings", II, London, pp. 87–96, 1907</ref>
[[File:Manishtushu Lugal Kish.jpg|thumb|left|Macehead inscription of [[Manishtushu]], ruler of the [[Akkadian Empire]]: ''Manishtushu Lugal Kish'', "Manishtushu King of Kish"]]