Enmebaragesi

Enmebaragesi (Sumerian: En-me-barag-gi-se [EN-ME-BARA2-GI4-SE]) originally Mebarasi () was the penultimate king of the first dynasty of Kish and is recorded as having reigned 900 years in the Sumerian King List. Like his son and successor Aga he reigned during a period when Kish had hegemony over Sumer. Enmebaragesi signals a momentous documentary leap from mytho-history to history, since he is the earliest ruler on the king list whose name is attested directly from archaeology. The name construction of "Title A Place B-e si-Ø" (Official A who is appropriate for place B) was commonly used in the Early Dynastic onomasticon. EN (): Honorific title that was not part of the original name, used on kings associated with cities sacred to Inanna in the mythical historiography of Ur-Nammu's dynasty. ME (): Michalowski reads it as isib (priest), while Steinkeller concludes it is an abbreviated writing form of men (crown). BARA2 (): According to the onomastic it is a cultic/political place. However, if the pattern is "ME fit for Official A", it would mean "ruler". SI (): Verb meaning "to fill", which has more active force than the intransitive verb TUŠ (to sit, dwell), having a highly ideological meaning. Given both options, the name can be translated as "Priest who permeates the throne" or "Crown fit for a ruler". The dating of Enmebaragesi's reign and lifespan has inspired a fair amount of debate within the scholarly community, with propositions ranging from beginning Early Dynastic I (2900-2800 BCE) to Early Dynastic IIIa (2600 BCE). Most scholars typically attribute a date of 2600 BCE, citing several inscriptions that are datable to that period, while others place these inscriptions slightly earlier at 2700 BCE. Gianni Marchesi and Niccolò Marchetti, in their 2006 book: Royal Statuary of Early Dynastic Mesopotamia, propose that three of the four inscriptions typically attributed to Enmebaragesi refer to a non-royal personage, due to their lack of royal dedicators and the fact that they are dated later than the only known inscription referring to Enmebaragesi as king.