It was probably not due so much to Urukagina's
personal qualities or defects as a leader that Shirpurla suffered
the greatest reverse in her history during his reign, but rather to
Gishkhu's gradual increase in power at a time when Shirpurla herself
remained inactive, possibly lulled into a false sense of security by the
memory of her victories in the past. Whatever may have been the cause of
Gishkhu's final triumph, it is certain that it took place in Urukagina's
reign, and that for many years afterwards the hegemony of Southern
Babylonia remained in her hands, while Shirpurla for a long period
passed completely out of existence as an independent or semi-independent
state.
The evidence of the catastrophe that befell Shirpurla at this period is
furnished by a small clay tablet recently found at Telloh during Captain
Cros's excavations on that site. The document on which the facts in
question are recorded had no official character, and in all probability
it had not been stored in any library or record chamber. The actual spot
at Telloh where it was found was to the north of the mound in which
the most ancient buildings have been recovered, and at the depth of two
metres below the surface. No other tablets appear to have been found
near it, but that fact in itself would not be sufficient evidence on
which to base any theory as to its not having originally formed part of
the archives of the city.
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