The same uncertainty applies to another ruler of this period, who bore the name of Enshagkushanna and assumed the titles "lord of Sumer" and "king of the land." Two of his inscriptions have been recovered upon fragments of vases, which were found at Nippur at the same level as those already described, and one of these is of considerable interest, for it gives us the name of an enemy of Sumer who has already bulked largely in the earlier history of Lagash.[15] The inscription in question consists of only a few words, and reads: "Enshagkushanna has vowed to Enlil the booty of Kish, the wicked."[16] It is clear from the epithet applied to Kish that at this period, as in the time of Eannatum, the northern city was a terror to the Sumerian states in the south, and we may assume that war between them was not of infrequent occurrence. It was after some successful raid or battle in the north that Enshagkushanna dedicated a portion of the spoil to Enlil in his temple of E-kur. Similar fragments of vases have been found at Nippur, the inscriptions upon which testify to other successes against Kish, achieved by a king of Sumer, who probably reigned at a period rather earlier than Enshagkushanna, Lugal-kigub-nidudu, and even Lugal-zaggisi. Although fragments of no less than four of his vase-inscriptions have been discovered,[17] the name of this Sumerian king unfortunately does not occur on any one of them. In the longest of the texts he takes the title of "king," and in the gap that follows we may probably restore the phrase "of the land," that is, of Sumer; on two of them, like the other Sumerian kings we have referred to, he ascribes his installation in the government of the country to Enlil, the god of Nippur. All four inscriptions were drawn up on the same occasion, and commemorate a striking victory this unknown Sumerian ruler had achieved over the northern cities of Kish and Opis. Of the two conquered cities Kish was clearly the more important, for its devastation is recorded in each of the texts, whereas Opis is only mentioned in one of them. Each city was ruled by a separate king, whose overthrow is recorded on the vases, but, since they were defeated in the same battle, we may conjecture that they formed the centre of a single confederation or dominion, of which Kish was the head. In two of the texts the king of Kish is referred to, not only by his title, but by name, and, since he bore the Semitic name of Enbi-Ishtar, we may conclude that at this period Kish, and probably Opis and other northern cities, were already under Semitic domination. In the war these cities were waging with the south, the vases record what appears to have been a serious check to the increase of Semitic influence and power. For not only was Enbi-Ishtar defeated, but both Kish and Opis were sacked, and the Sumerian king returned southward laden with booty, including statues, precious metals, and rare stones. The vases on which he recorded his victory formed part of