In the so-called “Reform Texts” of Urukagina, the passage that claims that Urukagina installs the gods Ningirsu, Bau, and Shulshagana as proprietors over the households and fields of the ruler’s family has been the starting point of theories about the nature of the Sumerian city state in the Early Dynastic Period. The interpretation of this passage is hampered by the fact that the corresponding passage in the first part of the text has no generally accepted understanding. This passage describes the state of affairs before Urukagina, and its understanding depends mainly on the meaning of the Sumerian idiom zag — us₂. This seminar reviews and evaluates the interpretations of this key passage and attempts to offer a new understanding based on the investigation of the text and of the uses and meanings of the idiom zag — us₂ in contemporary and later texts.