The functions of many of the officials it is difficult to determine, but some of the titles that can be explained include couriers and royal messengers, who were entrusted with despatches. In the case of officials of a higher grade the object of their mission is sometimes indicated on the tablet, and it is seen that the majority superintended the collection and distribution of supplies, the transport of building materials, and the provision of labour for the public works undertaken by the king. In fact, a very large number of the royal officers were employed in recruiting public slaves in Elam, and in transporting them to Ur and other cities, for work upon temples and palaces in course of construction. From the situation of Lagash on the high-road between Ur and Susa, it is natural that the majority of the officials mentioned on the tablets should be on their way to or from Elam, but some whose business lay in other directions are occasionally mentioned. Thus certain of them were from towns in the immediate neighbourhood of Lagash, such as Tig-abba, while others journeyed northward to Nippur. Others, again, were on their way south to the coast, and even to the island of Dilmun in the Persian Gulf. Among the higher officials whose stay in Lagash is recorded, or whose representatives passed through the city on business, a prefect, a local governor, and even a patesi are sometimes mentioned, and from this source of information we learn the names of some of the patesis who ruled in Susa under the suzerainty of Dungi and his successors on the throne of Ur. Thus several of the tablets record the supply of rations for Urkium, patesi of Susa, on his way back to that city during Dungi's reign. Another tablet mentions a servant of Zarik, patesi of Susa, who had come from Nippur, while a third patesi of Susa, who owed allegiance to one of the later kings of Ur, was Beli-arik.[18] It is noteworthy that these names, like that of Lipum, patesi of Anshan, who is also mentioned, are not Elamite but Semitic Babylonian, while Ur-gigir and Nagidda, who were patesis of Adamdun during this period, are Sumerian. It is therefore clear that, on his conquest of Elam, Dungi deposed the native rulers and replaced them by officials from Babylonia, a practice continued by his successors on the throne. In this we may see conclusive evidence of the permanent and detailed control over the administration of the country, which was secured by the later kings of Ur. Such a policy no doubt resulted in a very effective system of government, but its success depended on the maintenance of a sufficient force to overawe any signs of opposition. That the Elamites themselves resented the foreign domination is clear from the number of military expeditions, which were required to stamp out rebellions and reconquer provinces in revolt. The harsh methods adopted by the conquerors were not calculated to secure any loyal acceptance of their rule on the part