The influence of the Sumerian culture extended far outside southern Mesopotamia, as revealed by the excavations at Ashur, the first capital of Assyria, on the Tigris; at Mari, the ancient seat of the Amorite rulers on the Euphrates; at “Shushan the Palace” in Elam, so early connected with the painted pottery people. It would be interesting to follow eastward the cultural connection by land and sea with the Indus Valley, or westward over Syria and Palestine with pre-dynastic Egypt, in the same early dynastic age.
The archaic temple of the goddess Ishtar at Ashur (Qala ‘Shergat), in spite of northern peculiarities, is another example of the Sumerian style prevailing about 2800 B.C., according to Dr. W. Andrae (1922). It is built on the rock level, probably after removal of older constructions. Its courts and shrine, the painted stucco relief, the stone and clay statuettes of men and women worshippers, the water basins, the offering tables, and the curious altar stands in the form of houses, show the southern influence. As late as the end of the third millennium, the petty princes of Ashur were subjects of the kings of Ur, and they did not achieve complete independence before the middle of the second millennium.
The Amorites established along the Euphrates were at an early date in contact with the Sumerian south. The kings of Mari, as the tenth dynasty after the Deluge, extended for a while their dominion over it. The emplacement of their royal city, long forgotten, was discovered in 1936 at Tell-Hariri near Abu-Kemal, and excavated with brilliant results by Mr. A. Parrot. Here again an old Ishtar temple, dated in the early dynastic period, has shown the traditional Sumerian type of courts, cella and columns; stone vases inlaid with shell, lapis, red paste and bitumen; a mosaic standard reminiscent of Ur, but with princely figures dressed after the fashion of Kish; and a number of stone statues in the round, one of which is supposed to represent Ishtar, and others, identified by inscriptions engraved on their shoulders, royal officers, King Lamgi-Mari, the intendant Ebi-il, and the miller Idi-narum, all Semitic worshippers of the goddess. Other Semitic gods-Adad, Dagan-were honoured by the later Amorite kings, who built the great palace of Mari, with its large courts, chambers, throne room, fresco paintings, a forerunner of the palaces of Assyria. The Ishtar temple was destroyed by Eannadu, King of Lagash (Tello), a Sumerian conqueror (2650 B.C.). The palace was ruined by Hammurabi, the founder of the empire of Babylon (1792-1750 B.C.).