It is now evident, from the monuments and inscriptions which have been
obtained from the traditionally oldest cities, that the civilization of
the ancient people of Babylonia has an antiquity rivaling that of
ancient Egypt. The American discoveries at Nippur in 1888-90 carry back
Babylonian civilization to about 7000 B. C.
The early struggles for supremacy among the city states seem to have
been confined to the lower valley of the Tigris and Euphrates; but about
4000 B. C. a mighty conqueror, Lugalzaggisi of Uruk, made expeditions to
the Mediterranean and to the mountains at the north of Mesopotamia. He
styled himself “King of Uruk,” “King of the Totality.”
Very early, however, a Semitic invasion must have taken place, for the
date of two Semitic kings, namely, Sargon I. and Naram-Sin, of Accad, is
placed, according to the testimony of the later Babylonians themselves,
at about B. C. 3800 and 3750 respectively. Gudea, the priest-king, and a
famous builder, was the chief ruler about 2800 B. C.