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Ancient Near East Portal

Fragment of an inscription of Urukagina; it reads as follows: "He [Uruinimgina] dug (…) the canal to the town-of-NINA. At its beginning, he built the Eninnu; at its ending, he built the Esiraran."

Urukagina (reigned ca. 2380 BC–2360 BC, short chronology), alternately rendered as Uruinimgina, was a ruler (énsi) of the city-state Lagash in Mesopotamia. He is best-known for his reforms to combat corruption, which are sometimes cited as the first example of a judicial code in recorded history. Although the actual text has not been discovered yet, much of its content may be surmised from other references to it that have been found. In it, he exempted widows and orphans from taxes; compelled the city to pay funeral expenses (including the ritual food and drink libations for the journey of the dead into the lower world); and decreed that the rich must use silver when purchasing from the poor, and if the poor does not wish to sell, the powerful man (the rich man or the priest) cannot force him to do so.

Urukagina's code is perhaps the first known example of government self-reform. Like the Magna Carta and the United States Constitution that followed (and like the Codes of Hammurabi, et al. to some degree), Urukagina's code limited the power of the priesthood and large property owners. The text describing Urukagina's reforms is also the first known use of the word freedom, in this case the Sumerian ama-gi.

Urukagina freed the inhabitants of Lagash from usury, burdensome controls, hunger, theft, murder, and seizure (of their property and persons); The widow and the orphan were no longer at the mercy of the powerful man. He is the first ruler in recorded history that tried to established freedom and equality through reforms in society and government. He also participated in several conflicts, notably a losing border conflict with Uruk. During his reign, Uruk fell under the leadership of Lugal-Zage-Si, patesi of Umma, who ultimately overthrew Urukagina, annexed Lagash, and established the first Mesopotamian Kingdom.