Shulgi 1157369 221207011 2008-06-23T14:42:29Z 212.242.135.131 {{Ancient Near East portal}} [[Image:Weight Shulgi Louvre AO22187.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Religious object bearing the name of king Shulgi]] '''[[Shulgi]]''' (also formerly read as '''Dungi''') of [[Ur]]im was the second king of the "[[Sumerian Renaissance]]". He reigned for 48 years, dated to [[2047 BC]]&ndash;[[1999 BC]] [[short chronology]] (also tentatively dated to [[2161 BC]]&ndash;[[2113 BC]] on the basis of a [[solar eclipse]]). Shulgi was the son of [[Ur-Nammu]] king of Ur; according to one later text (CM 48), by a daughter of the former king [[Utu-hengal]] of [[Uruk]] and was a member of the [[Third dynasty of Ur]]. Shulgi is best known for his extensive revision of the scribal school's curriculum. Although it is unclear how much he actually wrote, there are numerous praise poems written by and directed towards this ruler. He proclaimed himself a god after his 20th regnal year<ref>Van De Mieroop, Marc. (2005) ''A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC'', Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, p. 76</ref>. Other early chronicles castigate him for his impiety: the ''Weidner Chronicle'' (ABC 19) states that "he did not perform his rites to the letter, he defiled his purification rituals"; CM 48 charges him with improper tampering with the rites, composing "untruthful stelae, insolent writings" on them; and the ''Chronicle of Early Kings'' (ABC 20) accuses him of "criminal tendencies, and the property of Esagila and Babylon he took away as booty." Shulgi also boasted about his ability to maintain high speeds while running long distances. For example, he claimed he once ran from Nippur to Ur, a distance of not less than 100 miles.<ref name="Hamblin">Hamblin, William J. ''Warfare in the Ancient Near East to 1600 BC''. New York: Routledge, 2006.</ref> [[Samuel Noah Kramer]] speaks of him as "The first long distance runner champion". Shortly after his father's death, Shulgi engaged in series of punitive wars against the [[Gutians]] to avenge his father's death. He also developed a period of expansionism later in his career until, ultimately finding himself unable to conquer highlander raiders and some others, he as a consequence built a large wall in an attempt to keep them out.<ref name="Hamblin"/> Shulgi spent a great deal of time and resources in expanding, maintaining, and generally improving roads. He built rest-houses along roads, so that a traveler could find a place where he could rest and drink fresh water or spend a night. For this last feat, Kramer calls him the builder of the first inn. Both the readings "Shulgi" and "Dungi" were known before the turn of the 20th century, but over the course of that century, the scholarly consensus gravitated away from "Dungi" and toward "Shulgi" as being the correct pronunciation. ==See also== *[[History of Sumer]] *[[Sumerian king list]] {{Notable Rulers of Sumer}} ==References== <references/> [[Category:Sumerian rulers]] [[ca:Shulgi]] [[da:Shulgi]] [[de:Schulgi]] [[et:Šulgi]] [[el:Σουλγκί]] [[es:Shulgi]] [[fa:شولگی]] [[fr:Shulgi]] [[ko:슐기]] [[it:Shulgi]] [[he:שולגי]] [[nl:Shulgi van Ur]] [[ja:シュルギ]] [[pl:Szulgi]] [[ru:Шульги]] [[sh:Shulgi]] [[fi:Shulgi]]