Page:History of Early Iran.pdf/38



HEN Babylonian scribes reduced to written word the myths and legends of antiquity, they told of the world's creation, of kings enthroned for reigns of fabulous length, and of a mighty flood which threatened entirely to depopulate the earth. They told how kingship, after the waters had receded, descended from heaven upon the city Kish in northern Babylonia, where ruled a dynasty of long-lived sovereigns. Their lists make dry reading, for the names of the kings with their lengths of rule alone are given. Of the twenty-first ruler of this dynasty, however, a significant fact is related, a fact which to the scribes was the first political event after the Flood. Enmenbaragesi, we are informed, subdued Elam. Eventually the sovereignty of Kish yielded to that of Uruk in southern Babylonia, but Elam had still to be dealt with. It is reported that Meskengasher, founder of the new dynasty, descended to the sea and ascended the mountain, statements which may refer to the Persian Gulf and the Elamite high