Dungi's administration of the Elamite provinces of his empire appears to have been of a far more permanent character than that established by any earlier conqueror from Babylonia. In the course of this history we have frequently noted occasions on which Elam has come into contact with the centres of civilization in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates. In fact, from her geographical position, she was not only the nearest foreign neighbour of Sumer and Akkad, but she was bound to influence them and be influenced by them in turn. To the earlier Sumerian rulers Elam was a name of terror, associated with daring raids across the Tigris on the part of hardy mountain races. The Semitic kings of Kish had turned the tables by invading Elamite territory, and their conquests and those of the kings of Akkad had opened the way for the establishment of close commercial relations between the two countries. Although their expeditions may have been undertaken with the object of getting spoil rather than of acquiring territory, there is no doubt that they resulted in a considerable Semitic immigration into the country. Moreover, the Semitic conquerors brought with them the civilization they had themselves acquired. For their memorial and monumental records the native princes of Elam adopted from their conquerors the cuneiform system of writing and even their Semitic language, though the earlier native writing continued to be employed for the ordinary purposes of life.[14] Basha-Shushinak,[15] patesi of Susa and governor of Elam, who may probably be placed at a rather earlier period than the Dynasty of Ur, employs the Semitic Babylonian language for recording his votive offerings, and he not only calls down Shushinak's vengeance upon the impious, but adds invocations to such purely Babylonian deities as Shamash, Nergal, Enlil, Enki or Ea, Sin, Ninni or Ishtar, and Ninkharsag. We could not have more striking evidence of the growth of Semitic influence in Elam during the period which followed the Elamite victories of the kings of Kish and Akkad.