Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, reign of Gudea of Lagash, ca. 2144 to 2124 BCE. A fine hand-built pottery foundation cone with roughly three-quarters of its body wrapped in cuneiform text. The body tapers to a fragmentary point and has a wide, disc-shaped head on the other end. The thirteen columns of text were created by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay just before undergoing the firing process. Clay nails like this are also referred to as dedication pegs or funerary pegs; they were inscribed, baked, and stuck into walls made of mud-brick to mark ownership either by a god or a ruler. These dedications sometimes include stories or boasts about the rulers they describe, and are some of our earliest sources of written royal history. Size: 5" L x 3.625" W (12.7 cm x 9.2 cm).
This cone was created during the reign of Gudea of Lagash. When translated, it roughly reads, "Gudea, Ensi (ruler) of Lagash, produced resplendently everything appropriate for Ningirsu, Warrior of Enlil, and built and restored his E-ninnu (Ningirsu's temple), the bright Imdugud bird."
Provenance: Dr. Jerome R. Johnson collection, Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA
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#146710
Condition
Losses to conical tip and areas of discoid head as shown. Minor abrasions and nicks to body and head, with light softening to some inscribed cuneiform characters, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits throughout.