Puzer-Mama

Puzer-Mama was a ruler of Lagash before Gudea. Though he adopted the title of lugal, Puzer-Mama shows kinship with future Lagashite kings in the religiosity of his inscriptions.

He took control of Lagash during Shar-kali-sharri’s reign, when troubles with the Guti left the Sargonic king with only “a small rump state whose center lay at the confluence of the Diyala and Tigris river.” (Frayne 1993 p. 186)

Puzer-Mama’s royal inscription — wherein he receives the various gifts of the gods appropriate to rulership: power by Ningirsu, intelligence by Enki, and position by Inanna, (Frayne 1993 p. 272) — may be contrasted with the contemporary religious element in Shar-kali-sharri's various inscriptions: a call for the gods to punish any who alter his inscriptions, and specifically to “tear out his foundations and destroy his progeny” (one of a number of curses for protection found in royal inscriptions starting with the reign of Sargon.)

References

• Frayne, Douglas R. (1993). Sargonic and Gutian Periods (Toronto, Buffalo, London. University of Toronto Press Incorporated)