The Third Dynasty of Ur and Shulgi

King Shulgi reigns for nearly half a century and makes Ur the capital of a state where everything is counted: tens of thousands of administrative tablets survive, recording grain, livestock and workdays. He introduces standard measures and a calendar, sets up schools for scribes, repairs the roads and builds stations for couriers. Under him the Sumerian language enjoys its last flowering, though Akkadian is already heard in the streets. Around 2004 BCE Ur will fall to the Elamites, and the lament over its destruction will become one of the most powerful texts of antiquity.