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“Shulgi, son of Ur-Namu, provided abundant food for Eridu, which is on the seashore. But he had criminal tendencies and took away the property of Esagil and Babylon as booty.” <ref> Grayson, A. Kirk, ed. <i>Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles.</i> (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2000), p. 154</ref>
The empire that Ur-Nammu and Shulgi created was quite sophisticated in terms of its bureaucracy and state apparatus. The empire was divided into provinces that were each overseen by a governor known as an <i>ensi</i>. In addition to an ensi, each province also had at least one general, and several, such as the province of Umma, had several generals, which effectively prevented ensis from rebelling. Another important Ur III administrative office was the <i>sukkalmah</i>, whose task it was to represent the interests of the Ur III state away from Ur and who therefore acted as another check on possibly ambitious ensis. <ref> Mieroop, pgs. 77-79</ref> {{Mediawiki:AmNative}}
====Trade and Diplomacy in the Ur III State====
