Our conclusion, therefore, is that in the later texts Shar-Gani-sharri has adopted Sharru-Gi's name, but nothing more. In view of the general accuracy of the late traditions concerning the conquests of these early rulers, it may seem strange that such a change of names should have taken place; but it is not difficult to suggest causes for the confusion. Both kings were great conquerors, both belonged to the same epoch, and founded dynasties in Northern Babylonia,[40] and both bore names which, in part, are not dissimilar. Moreover, the suggestion has been made that the words "Gani" and "Gi," which form components of the names, may possibly have both been divine titles,[41] though we find no trace of them in the later periods of history. But whether this was so or not, and whatever renderings of the names we adopt,[42] it is clear that Sargon's traditional achievements may be credited to Shar-Gani-Sharri, who, as king of Agade or Akkad, succeeded to the earlier empire of the kings of Kish.[43] We have already seen reason to believe that the kings of Kish were separated by no long interval from the empire of Akkad,[44] and this view is supported, not only by a study of their inscriptions, but also by the close connection that may be traced between the artistic achievements of the two periods. Epigraphic evidence has been strikingly reinforced by the discovery of Sharru-Gi's monolith; for the sculptures upon it share to some extent the high artistic qualities which have hitherto been regarded as the exclusive possession of the Dynasty of Akkad. The modelling of the figures on Narâm-Sin's stele of victory,[45] their natural pose and spirited attitudes, have long been recognized as belonging to a totally different category from the squat and conventional representations upon the Stele of the Vultures. The cylinder-seals of the period are marked by the same degree of excellence, but between the sculptures of Eannatum and those of Narâm-Sin there has hitherto been a gap in the orderly stages of development. A single example of engraved metal-work had indeed been recovered, but the date of this was, and still is, to some extent uncertain. The object consists of the copper head of a colossal votive lance, some thirty-one and a half inches long. On one of its faces is engraved in spirited outline the figure of a lion rampant, and on the neck of the blade is the name of a king of Kish beginning with the sign "Sharru." A slight indication of date is afforded by the fact that it was found at Tello, near the eastern corner of Ur-Ninâ's building, but at a rather higher level.[46] If the second line of the inscription, which is illegible through oxidization, contained a title and not part of the name, it is probable that we may restore the name in the first line as that of Sharru-Gi himself. Otherwise we must assign the lance to some other king of Kish, but whether we should place him before or after Sharru-Gi it is difficult to say.