Page:History of Early Iran.pdf/57

Rh Sar-i-Pul. His inscription is in the Akkadian script and language; as the mighty king, king of Lullubium, he declares that he has set up his own image and that of Ishtar on Mount Batir, and with a good Babylonian curse he calls upon Anu and Antum, Enlil and Ninlil, Adad and Ishtar, Sin and Shamash, and other deities to preserve his monument. In later times tradition assigned him to the ranks of the kings of Gutium and finally made him a king of the city Kutha. As a horrible monster he figured in a legend which illustrates the impression made by Guti barbarians upon the inhabitants of Babylonia. Not far distant from his relief is the stele of Tardunni, son of Ikki, also bearing an Akkadian inscription which invokes Shamash and Adad. Tardunni must be placed in the same period and may likewise have been a king of Lullubium.

Perhaps the Guti, who seem to have lived north of the Shehrizor, were responsible for this advance of the Lullubi. They too longed for possession of the