ABSTRACT
The earliest case of mediation in documented history took place between the two Sumerian city-states of Lagash and Umma in ancient Mesopotamia. After centuries of violent clashes over possession of the fertile fields along the Tigris River, the rivals finally resolved their dispute peacefully in 2500 BC through the mediation efforts of the King of Kish. According to the settlement reached, the disputed band of territory would be cultivated by the people of Umma, while part of the grain harvested would be returned to Lagash as rent and interest (Cooper 1983). Through this innovative ‘land-lease’ agreement, the mediator helped forge a solution that both sides could live with and that both preferred over continuation of the conflict. The record of this world’s oldest mediated treaty is on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
