From the earliest period at Lagash fragments of shell were employed in place of ivory, and the effect produced by it is nearly the same. Certain species of great univalves or conch-shells, which are found in the Indian Ocean, have a thick core or centre, and these furnished the material for a large number of the earliest cylinder-seals. Small plaques or lozenges could also be obtained from the core by sectional cutting, while the curved part of the shell was sometimes employed for objects to which its convex form could be adapted. The numerous flat lozenges that have been found are shaped for inlaying furniture, caskets, and the like, and curved pieces were probably fitted to others of a like shape in order to form small cups and vases. Each piece is decorated with fine engraving, and in nearly every instance the outline is accentuated by the employment of a very slight relief. The designs are often spirited, and they prove that even in the earliest periods the Sumerian draughtsman had attained to a high standard of proficiency. One of the most interesting engraved fragments that have been recovered consists of a slightly curved piece of shell, which probably formed part of a small bowl or cup. The rest of the side seems to have been built up of pieces of similar shape, held together by bitumen, or, more probably, fitted to a metal lining by rivets through holes in the shell. The scene engraved upon the fragment represents a lion seizing a bull in a thicket of shrubs or high flowering plants. Though the group upon the fragment is complete in itself, there are indications that it formed only part of a more elaborate composition. [Illustration: Fig. 30--Convex panel of shell from the side of a cup, engraved with a scene representing a lion attacking a bull; early Sumerian period. _Déc._, pl. 46, No. 3; cf. Cat. p. 189] For in the space on the right of the fragment behind the lion's mane are engraved two weapons. The upper one is a hilted dagger with its point towards the lion; this may be compared with the short daggers held by the mythological beings resembling Ea-bani upon one of Lugal-anda's seals, with which they are represented as stabbing lions in the neck.[48] Below is a hand holding a curved mace or throwing stick, formed of three strands bound with leather thongs or bands of metal, like that held by Eannatum upon the Stele of the Vultures.[49] It is, therefore, clear that on the panel to the right of the lion and bull a king, or patesi, was represented in the act of attacking the lion, and we may infer that the whole of the cup was decorated with a continuous band of engraving, though some of the groups in the design may have been arranged symmetrically, with repetitions such as are found upon the earlier cylinder-seals.