Ancient Iraq (50 page)

From an anonymous grave of the Royal Cemetery of Ur. A gold dagger with a hilt of lapis-lazuli, in its gold sheath

Caption
Fragment of the Stele of the Vultures, representing the army of Eannatum,
ensi
of Lagash (Telloh)

This beautifully worked bronze head, three-quarters life-size, was found at Nineveh and is presumed to be a portrait of King Sargon of Akkad (
c
. 2334 – 2279
B.C
.) or, more probably, his grandson Narâm-Sin (
c
. 2254 – 2218)

Caption
One of the many statues of Gudea,
ensi
of Lagash, who lived
c
. 2141–2122 – 2122
B.C
., just before the first kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Only sixteen inches high and made of diorite

Caption
Stele of pink sandstone commemorating the victory of the Akkadian king Narâm-Sin over the Lullubi (a people of the Zagros mountains) (
c
. 2230
B.C.
)

Caption
The central stairs of the ziqqurat of Ur: looking as they probably did when the priests were treading the steps on the way up to the upper temple

Caption
The statue of Ebih-Il, an official from Mari, is one of the finest pieces of Early Dynastic sculpture. The name is Semitic, but the attitude and costume, as well as the sculptor's technique, are typically Sumerian

A votive dog dedicated to the goddess Nin-Sin by a high official of Lagash, ‘for the life of Sumu-El’, King of Larsa (1894 – 1866
B.C.
)

Caption
Believed to be the work of a Hurrian artist: the head of an unknown god found at Jabbul, near Aleppo

Upper part of the stele bearing the text of Hammurabi's ‘Law Code’. Hammurabi, king of Babylon (1792 – 1750
B.C.
) stands in front of the Sun-god Shamash, supreme chief justice, with his hand over his mouth as a sign of prayer

Façade of the temple of the Kassite king Karaindash (
c
. 1420
B.C.
) in Uruk, showing the new technique of bricks with moulded motifs

Caption
One of the reliefs decorating the walls of the palace of Kapara, the Aramaean ruler of Guzana-Tell Halaf