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Rise of Ur-Nammu
UR-NAMMU ESTABLISHED THE THIRD DYNASTY OF UR IN SUMER, ALSO REFERENCED AS THE UR III PERIOD & THE SUMERIAN RENAISSANCE.
Mesopotamia was ruled by the Akkadian Empire, established by Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE).
Even though Sargon's empire had maintained order for centuries, it was never fully embraced by its subjects who periodically revolted only to be put back in their place through military campaigns. The Gutians differed from any other challengers to Sargonid rule, however, not only in that they were able to exploit the empire’s weakness c. 2083 BCE but also because they had nothing in common with the people of Mesopotamia. Scholar Paul Kriwaczek notes:
[According to Sumerian accounts] the Guti were never to be forgiven for being unlike other pretenders to the control of Mesopotamia in having no interest in picking up the baton of Civilization and carrying it forward. The chroniclers keep reminding us that these were "unhappy people, unaware of how to revere the gods, ignorant of the right religious practices". It could only be a matter of time before the reviving confidence of the southern Cities led to a concerted effort to drive them off. (135)
In his Victory Stele, Utu-hengal wrote about the Gutians:Utu-u-henu-hengal victory stele, where he describes the Gutians he vanquished as "the fanged snake of the mountain ranges". Louvre Museum Louvre Museum, AO 6018.I [16]
Gutium, the fanged snake of the mountain ranges, a people who acted violently against the gods, people who the kingship of Sumer to the mountains took away, who Sumer with wickedness filled, who from one with a wife his wife took away from him, who from one with a child his child took away from him, who wickedness and violence produced within the country..." -Victory Stele of Utu-Henga