The King as Shepherd of the People
Power as care: the good king was the shepherd who fed his flock and fought off the wolves.
Also: shepherd king · sipa · the good shepherd · king as shepherd · re'um · royal ideology
A favorite image of the good king was the shepherd. Just as a herdsman leads his flock to pasture and water, guards it from predators, and tends the weak, so the king was to lead, protect, and provide for his people on the gods' behalf. The metaphor runs through royal hymns and law-prologues: the king 'shepherds' the land, makes it secure and prosperous, and ensures that the strong do not oppress the weak. It is one of the oldest and most enduring political ideals of the ancient Near East — power understood as care and responsibility, not mere domination.
In short
The royal ideology of the king as 'shepherd' (Sumerian sipa) of his people — appointed by the gods to guide, protect, feed, and do justice for them as a herdsman tends his flock.
Where it’s found
Royal hymns (e.g. Šulgi A, ETCSL 2.4.2.01, in corpus) and the law-prologues; the title 'shepherd' in Sumerian/Akkadian royal inscriptions
How the idea developed across Sumer, Babylon & Assyria
The shepherd-king image is pervasive from the Sumerian royal hymns and law-prologues through the Akkadian royal titulary (rēʾûm, 'shepherd'). It travels widely across the ANE as a royal (and later divine) metaphor.