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258 opotamia and Elam, identified their owner (in Akkadian) as "Naram-Sin, King of the Four Regions; vase of the Shining Crown of the land Magan." That Naram-Sin began to call himself "King of the Four Regions" affirms not only the conquest of Egypt but also suggests the inclusion of the Sinai peninsula in his sphere of influence. Inanna, it appears, was more than "just passing au a" influence. than was more through." (A foreign invasion, about the time of Naram-Sin, is also known from Egyptian records. They describe a period of disarray and chaos. In the words of the papyrus known to Egyptologists as The Admonitions of Ipuwer, "Strangers have come into Egypt... the high-born are full of lamentation." It was a period that saw the shift of the center of worship and kingship from Memphis-Heliop- olis in the north to Thebes in the south. Scholars call the century of disarray "The First Intermediate Period"; it followed the collapse of the sixth Pharaonic dynasty.) How could Inanna, with apparent immunity, intrude on the Sinai peninsula and invade Egypt unopposed by the gods of Egypt? The answer lies in an aspect of the Naram-Sin inscriptions that has baffled the scholars: the apparent veneration by this Mesopota- mian ruler of the African god Nergal. Although this made no sense at all, the fact is that the long text known as The Kuthean Legend of Naram-Sin (or, as it is sometimes called, The King of Kutha Text) attests that Naram-Sin went to Kutha, Nergal's cult center in Af- rica, and erected there a stela to which he affixed an ivory tablet inscribed with the tale of this unusual visit, all to pay homage to ATo wnt Nergal. The recognition by Naram-Sin of Nergal's power and influence well beyond Africa is attested by the fact that in treaties made be- tween Naram-Sin and provincial rulers in Elam, Nergal is invoked among the witness gods. And in an inscription dealing with Naram-Sin's march to the Cedar Mountain in Lebanon, the king credited Nergal (rather than Ishkur/Adad) with making the achieve- ment possible: Although since the era of the rulership of man none of the kings has ever destroyed Arman and_ Ebla, Now did the god Nergal open up the path for the mighty Naram- since the of the rulership aA; of era man Sin. He gave him Annan and Ebla, presented him with the Amanus and with the Cedar Mountain and with the Upper Sea. THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN it appears,