In spite of the political fragmentation, the Sumerian city-states may have formed a kind of league. They shared a set of religious beliefs that recognized the supremacy of the patron deity of Nippur, Enlil, over the pantheon. Through accidents of discovery, Lagash is the best-known of these city-states. Its sovereigns are documented over six generations, covering about a century and a half (circa 2.500-2.350), from UrNanshe to Uru-inimgina (Urukagina); their capital was located at Girsu (Tello). In addition to commemorative inscriptions, sixteen hundred administrative texts have survived, such as ration lists and assignments of fields. The reconstruction proposed by historians on the basis of these texts has varied. Fora long time, prevailing opinion was that the city-states were "temple states" in which the gods were the sole landowners. A recent reexamination of the sources has shown that the economy of Lagash was in fact controlled by the king through the intermediary of large domains connected with the temples of the city's prominent deities. Sometimes conflicts erupted between the royal family and the SANGA, who were responsible for the management of temple land. It is probably in this context that the "reforms" of Uru-inimgina, the last Early Dynastic ruler of Lagash, occurred; his was the earliest case of royal interverition in the law. (See also "Social and Economic Organization of Ancient Mesopotamian Temples" in Part 4, Vol. I.)