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11 Gulf). It was therefore to "the gate of the House of Enlil" that Sar- gon brought the captive kings, ropes tied to the dog collars around their necks. In one of his campaigns across the Zagros mountains, Sargon experienced the same godly feat that the combatants at Troy had witnessed. As he "was moving into the land of Warahshi . . . when he pressed forward in the darkness . . . Ishtar made a light to shine for him." Thus was Sargon able to "penetrate the gloom" of darkness as he led his troops through the mountain passes of to- day's Luristan. The Akkadian dynasty begun by Sargon reached its peak under his grandson Naram-Sin ("Whom the god Sin loves"). His con- quests, Naram-Sin wrote on his monuments, were possible be- cause his god had armed him with a unique weapon, the "Weapon of the God," and because the other gods granted him their explicit consent—or even invited him—to enter their regions. Naram-Sin's principal thrust was to the northwest, and his con- quests included the city-state of Ebla, whose recently discovered archive of clay tablets has caused great scientific interest: "Al- though since the time of the separation of mankind none of the kings has ever destroyed Annan and Ibla, the god Nergal did open up the path for the mighty Naram-Sin and gave him Annan and Ibla. He also gave him as a present Amanus, the Cedar Mountain, to the Upper Sea." Just as Naram-Sin could attribute his successful campaigns to his heeding the commands of his gods, so was his downfall attributed to his going to war against the word of the gods. Scholars have put together from fragments of several versions a text that has been ti- tled The Legend of Naram-Sin. Speaking in the first person. Naram- Sin explains in this talc of woe that his troubles began when the goddess Ishtar "changed her plan" and the gods gave their blessing to "seven kings, brothers, glorious and noble; their troops numbered 360,000." Coming from what is now Iran, they invaded the mountain lands of Gutium and Elam to the east of Mesopotamia and were threat- ening Akkad itself. Naram-Sin asked the gods what to do and was told to put aside his weapons and, instead of going to battle, to go sleep with his wife (but, for some deep reason, avoid making love): The gods reply to him: "O Naram-Sin, this is our word: This army against you.. . Bind your weapons, in a corner place them! The Wars of Man