Page:History of Early Iran.pdf/58

42 Land of the Two Rivers, and their victory over Naram-Sin some years before had given them confidence. Their masses poured into Babylonia, striking a glancing blow at their southern neighbors, but never pausing in their headlong dash for the region most to be desired. Sharkalisharri valiantly attempted to stem the tide; one of his year formulas records an expedition against them, another the capture of Sharlak, their king. But his efforts were useless, and he himself became their prey. Shortly after his death, even the ghost of independent rule in the cities disappeared; and the period following his reign was one of such anarchy that it became known under the suggestive designation: "Who was king? Who was not king?"

About the same time, the Elamites and their dynasty of Awan disappear from the stage of oriental history. Puzur-Inshushinak was the twelfth and last king of Awan, and with his sudden eclipse the land is enshrouded in darkness. Babylonia and Elam alike appear to have been inundated by the Gutian tide.