The mere fact of so large and important an obelisk, inscribed with a
Semitic text by an early Babylonian king, being found at Susa was
an indication that other monuments of even greater interest might be
forthcoming from the same spot; and this impression was intensified when
a stele of victory was found bearing an inscription of Naram-Sin, the
early Semitic King of Agade, who reigned about 3750 B.C. One face of
this stele is sculptured with a representation of the king conquering
his enemies in a mountainous country. [* See illustration.] The king
himself wears a helmet adorned with the horns of a bull, and he carries
his battle-axe and his bow and an arrow. He is nearly at the summit of
a high mountain, and up its steep sides, along paths through the
trees which clothe the mountain, climb his allies and warriors bearing
standards and weapons. The king's enemies are represented suing for
mercy as they turn to fly before him. One grasps a broken spear, while
another, crouching before the king, has been smitten in the throat by an
arrow from the king's bow. On the plain surface of the stele above the
king's head may be seen traces of an inscription of Naram-Sin engraved
in three columns in the archaic characters of his period. From the few
signs of the text that remain, we gather that Naram-Sin had conducted
a campaign with the assistance of certain allied princes, including the
Princes of Sidur, Saluni, and Lulubi, and it is not improbable that
they are to be identified with the warriors represented on the stele as
climbing the mountain behind Naram-Sin.
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