The sumerian kings each controlled a political region called a

The answer is city-state.

1. In Sumerian city-states, politics and religion were intimately related. The governor was the Prince-priest. the "High priest" or "Patesi", who represented the deity. The priest administered the government of the city, the income of the temple, led the soldiers, supervised the maintenance of the canals and organized the cult. The temple then played a fundamental role. It was the axis of political, religious and also economic life.

2. With the expansion of the Sumerian cities, the administration becomes more complex and there is a change in the attributes of the Patesi, who will be dedicated exclusively to worship.

3. Military leaders converted into Kings will perform the rest of the functions. These kings will maintain the division of Mesopotamia into small states: each city, was a state in itself, with its own institutions of government, did not depend on a regional or imperial major power.

The sumerian kings, also known as kings of sumer (the earliest known civilization located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, known nowadays as southern Iraq) were characterized for their superhuman feats and heroism. During the late 4th millennium BC, Sumer was divided into many political independent regions called city-states, which were divided by canals and boundary stones. Each of them had in their centers a temple dedicated to the particular goddess, patron, and god of the city and conquered by a religious ruler (ensi) or by a king (lugal) who was linked to the city's religious rites. Sumerians in the city-states practiced polytheism and each of these city-states were governed by a king, this position later on became hereditary. In addition, the Sumerian city-states rose to power during the prehistoric Ubaid, and Uruk periods. Ubaid period that took place between 5000-4000 BC, during this time the movement towards urbanization began, also agriculture and animal domestication were practiced in sedentary communities. Moreover, this period was associated with intensive irrigated hydraulic agriculture, and the use of the plough. On the other hand, Uruk period (4100-2900 BC) was characterized for the beginning of the emergence of cities across the landscape. Although this period was named for the "first city" of Uruk, Eridu was the orginal first city.