Месаннепада: Өмірбаяны мен тарихи іздері

Mesannepada was a son of Meskalamdug. A lapis lazuli bead with the name of King Meskalamdug was found in Mari, in the so called "Treasure of Ur", and reads:

Initially, it was thought that this bead (reference M. 4439) referred to a gift by Mesannepada to a king of Mari named Gansud or Ansud. This has now been corrected with the translation given above. It is unclear how this bead came to be in Mari, but this points to some kind of relation between Ur and Mari at that time. The bead was discovered in a jar containing other objects from Ur or Kish, the so called "Treasure of Ur". The jar was recognized as an offering for the foundation of a temple in Mari. Similar dedication beads have also been found from later rulers, such as Shulgi who engraved two carnelian beads with dedication to his gods c. 2100 BC.

[[File:Stone foundation inscription, from Tell al Ubaid, Iraq, 2500 BCE. British Museum (horizontal, with transcription). jpg|thumb|upright=2|A'annepada tablet inscription (with transcription in standard Sumero Akkadian cuneiform), mentioning his father Mesannepada. British Museum, BM 116982.

Mesannepada and his other son are also mentioned in an Old Babylonian tablet (1900 1600 BC), the Tummal Inscription, relating the accomplishments of several kings. Such tablets are usually copies of older tablets, now lost:

Mesannepada is associated with an expansion of Ur, at least diplomatically. A lapis lazuli bead in the name of Mesannepada was found in Mari, and formed part of the "Treasure of Ur", made for the dedication of a temple in Mari. Seals from the royal cemetery at Ur have also been found bearing the names of Mesannepada and his predecessors Meskalamdug and Akalamdug, along with Queen Puabi. A seal impression in the name of "Mesannepada, king of Kish" was found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. thumb|center|upright=2|Mesannepada, Lugal Kish ki , "Mesannepada, King of Kish", on a seal impression found in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. thumb|Cylinder seal inscribed "Queen Nintur, wife of Mesannepadda" (Nintur ereš, dam Mesannepada). Royal Cemetery at Ur. Mesannepada, and his son and successor Meskiagnun, who reigned 36 years, are both named on the Tummal Inscription as upkeepers of the main temple in Nippur along with Gilgamesh of Uruk and his son Ur Nungal, verifying their status as overlords of Sumer. Judging from the inscriptions, Mesannepada then assumed the title "King of Kish", to indicate his hegemony. Another son of Mesannepada, named Aannepadda, (Aja ane pada or A Anne pada, "father chosen by An"), whose years of reigned are unknown, is known for having the temple of Ninhursag constructed (at modern Ubaid) near el Obed, though he is not named on the kinglist. A small ziggurat beneath the structure built at Ur by Ur Nammu may date back to the time of Mes Anne pada. In the 1950s, Edmund I. Gordon conjectured that Mesannepada, and an archaeologically attested early "king of Kish", Mesilim, were one and the same, as their names were interchanged in certain proverbs in later Babylonian tablets; however this has not proved conclusive. More recent scholars tend to regard them as distinct, usually placing Mesilim in Kish before Mesannepada.

Mesannapeda's tomb may have been located in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. It has been suggested that tomb PG 1232, or PG 1237, nicknamed "the Great Death Pit," might belong to him.