In 2458 B. C. a dynasty arose in the city of Ur, situated far to the south. These kings were Sumerians and under them a great Sumerian revival occurred. By this time northern Babylonia was called Akkad, from the city of Agade, and southern Babylonia was called Sumir, from a corruption of the name of one of the quarters of Lagash. These kings combined with the title “king of Ur” the title “king of Sumir and Akkad.” Sumir is the Biblical “Shinar” (Gen. 10:10; 11:2, etc.). Dungi, the second king of this dynasty of Ur, reigned 58 years and established a wide empire, which included Elam and the city of Susa. He established a system of government posts to aid the royal officers of army and state in the performance of their duties. Upon the fall of the dynasty of Ur, the dominion of Babylonia was divided between two cities, Nisin and Larsa, each of which furnished a dynasty which flourished for more than two and a quarter centuries. Naturally, these kings were continually struggling with each other for the supremacy, and sometimes one city was the more powerful, sometimes the other. The Elamites, who during the whole period had occasionally swooped down into the Mesopotamian Valley, overran Larsa and furnished the last two kings of its dynasty,--Arad-Sin and Rim-Sin. These kings have each been thought by different scholars to be the Arioch of Gen. 14:1. (See Part II, Chapter IX.) About 2210 B. C. a dynasty of rulers was founded in the city of Babylon that was destined to bring a new era into the history of the country. After a struggle of more than a century Hammurapi, the sixth king of this line, broke the power of Larsa and made Babylon the leading city of the country. Nisin had previously fallen. With the rise of Babylon another period of the life of the country was ended. The above sketch calls attention to a few only of the more prominent features and cities of Babylonia. There were many others which participated in her life during the millennium of the pre-Babylonian period. The recovery of more inscriptions will no doubt make this statement more true even than we now dream. Each of these contributed its mite to the progress of civilization in this melting-pot of races in this far-off time. (3) _The Early Babylonian Period_ began with the reign of Hammurapi and continued till about 1050 B. C. It includes the rule of the first four dynasties of Babylon. The period began gloriously under Hammurapi, who conquered all of Babylonia, and extended his sway also to the Mediterranean. He was as great as an administrator as he was as a conqueror; he codified the laws of Babylonia and inscribed them on a stone pillar, which was set up in the temple of Marduk in Babylon. These laws have been recovered, and are one of the most valuable archæological discoveries of modern times. (See Part II, Chapter XIII.)