Although Lugal-zaggisi had changed his capital and no longer continued to use his father's title as patesi of Umma, he naturally did not neglect his native city; moreover, he retained the title "prophet of Nidaba," and thereby continued to claim the protection of the city-goddess, who, before his recent victories, had been his patroness and that of his father before him. He even emphasized his dependence upon her by styling himself her son, and in another passage he boasts that he had raised the city of Umma to power. High in his favour also stood Ur, the city of the Moon-god, and Larsa, the city of the Sun-god; and the less-known cities of Ninni-esh and Kianki are also selected for mention as having been specially favoured by him. At first sight it is not clear on what principle the names of these cities are selected from among all those in the land of Sumer, which were presumably within the circle of his authority. That Erech, Ur, and Larsa should be referred to is natural enough, for they were close to one another, and would thus form the centre and nucleus of his dominion; and the king would naturally devote himself to improving their canalization and beautifying them by the erection of new buildings. It is not improbable that we may explain the mention of Ninni-esh and Kianki on the same principle: they probably stood in the immediate neighbourhood of the three greater cities, or of Umma, and thus participated in the benefits which they enjoyed. In any case, the absence of a city's name from Lugal-zaggisi's list is not necessarily to be taken as implying that it was not included within the limits of his dominion. This is proved by the fact that Lagash is not referred to, although it was probably one of his earliest conquests. In fact, the king's object in composing the earlier part of his inscription was not to give an accurate analysis of the extent and condition of his empire, but merely to enumerate the cities he had particularly favoured, and to record the names of those deities with whom he stood in particularly close relations. For instance, we may conclude that although the city of Eridu is not referred to by name, it nevertheless formed part of Lugal-zaggisi's kingdom. There is thus every reason to regard his dominion as having been co-extensive with the whole of Sumer, and his title "king of the land" was probably based on a confederation of all the Sumerian city-states.