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278 work of roads that held the empire together politically and militarily and also enhanced trade and prosperity. Getting person- ally acquainted with the local chieftains, Shulgi further cemented his ties with them by arranging marriages for his daughters. Shulgi returned to Sumer, boasting that he had learned four for- eign languages. His imperial prestige was at its peak. In gratitude he built for Nannar/Sin a shrine in the sacred precinct of Nippur. In return he was rewarded with the titles "High Priest of Anu, Priest of Nannar." Shulgi recorded the two ceremonies on his cylinder seals (Figs. 96. 97). Fig. 96 Fig. 97 But as time went by, Shulgi increasingly preferred the luxuries of Ur to the rigors of the provinces, leaving their government to Grand Emissaries. He spent his time composing self-laudatory hymns, imagining himself a demigod. His delusions eventually THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN