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235 ical remains, we believe that there also exists textual evidence at- testing to these links. Of particular interest is a long text named by scholars Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, whose background is the rise to power of Uruk (the biblical Erech) and of Inanna. The text describes Aratta as the capital of a land situated be- yond mountain ranges and beyond Anshan; i.e., beyond south- eastern Iran. This is precisely where the Indus Valley lay: and such scholars as J. van Dijk (Orientalia 39, 1970) have sur- mised that Aratta was a city "situated on the Iranian plateau or on the Indus river." What is most striking is the fact that the text speaks of the grain silos of Aratta. It was a place where "wheat was growing of itself, beans also growing of them- selves"—crops growing and stored in the storehouses of Aratta. Then, to be exported, they "poured grain into sacks, loaded them on the crate-carrying donkeys, and placed them on the sides of the transporting donkeys." Aratta's geographical location and the fact that it is a place re- nowned for its grain and bean storehouses bear forceful similarities to the Indus civilization. Indeed one must wonder whether Harappa Ae a ee ee ee ee stored in of or Arappa is not a present-day echo of the ancient Aratta. The ancient tale takes us back to the beginning of kingship at Erech. when a demigod (the son of Utu/Shamash by a human fe- male) was both high priest and king at the sacred precinct from which the city was to develop. Circa 2900 B.C. he was succeeded by his son Enmerkar, "who built Uruk" (according to the Sume- rian King Lists), transforming it from the nominal abode of an ab- sentee god (Anu) to a major urban center of a reigning deity. He achieved this by persuading Inanna to choose Erech as her princi- pal seat of power and by aggrandizing for her the Eanna ("House of Anu") temple. We read in the ancient text that at first all Enmerkar demanded of Aratta was that it contribute "precious stones, bronze, lead, slabs of lapis lazuli" to the building of the enlarged temple, as well as "artfully fashion gold and silver" so that the Holy Mount being raised for Inanna would be worthy of the goddess. But no sooner was this done than the heart of Enmerkar grew haughty. A drought had afflicted Aratta, and Enmerkar now de- manded not only materials but also obedience: "Let Aratta submit to Erech!" he demanded. To achieve his purpose Enmerkar sent to Aratta a series of emissaries to conduct what S. N. Kramer (History "A, Queen Am I!"