Another interesting class of copper figures was further discovered by De Sarzec at Tellô: it consisted in a number of small statuettes most of which were dedicated by the patesi Gudea; each is in a kneeling posture and holds a cone between his hands, while the head-dress consists in the horned cap characteristic of all Mesopotamian deities, whether early or late. These little figures are about eight or nine inches high. The cones are inscribed with a votive inscription, and the cones themselves must probably be regarded as religious symbols. Cones made of clay or stone belonging to this period are common enough, their occurrence however in copper and in immediate contact with the statue of a human being is very rare. A plain long copper cone measuring 1 foot 1-1/2 inches in length, and bearing an archaic inscription, is now preserved in the British Museum, this is however an exception, metal cones being, on their rare occurrence in Babylonian art, in nearly all cases associated with human or quasi-divine figures. One of the best and also earliest examples of these copper cone-statuettes is that of Ur-bau (_circ._ 2500 B.C.) patesi of Lagash, now preserved in the Louvre, and reproduced in figure 39, C. This figure was found enclosed in a clay vase in the bottom of which three holes had been bored, and it was accompanied by a fine white marble tablet, the inscription upon which is a kind of résumé of the text found on the statue of this patesi. The god is kneeling on one knee, and his hands are fixed firmly on an elongated cone which resembles the nail-pointed terminations of the earlier figures. The head-dress consists in the horned cap. The features are full of expression and force in spite of their heaviness, and the statuette as a whole shows a great advance on the artistic products of the time of the first dynasty of Lagash, and also compares very favourably with the later work of Gudea’s time. Among other early copper objects of interest we may especially mention two bulls’ heads the casting of which is not solid, as is the case with all the figures hitherto referred to, but hollow, and a curious vase, all found together at Tellô in the stratum immediately above that representing the age of Ur-Ninâ.[107] The bulls’ heads (cf. Fig. 40, A) are practically identical in type though not in size; the horns are long and the muzzle short, but notwithstanding their crudeness these heads are full of vitality, and are not without a charm of their own. The larger of the two, which is seen in Fig. 40, A, has its eyes inlaid with mother-of-pearl, while the pupils of the eyes are made of lapis lazuli; it is some seven and a half inches high (including the horns), the smaller head being only five and a half inches in height. [Illustration: FIG. 40.—A, C, D (Musée du Louvre) Cat., pp. 318, 310, 324. B (from Hilprecht, _Explorations_, p. 540). E (from Harper, _A. J. S. L._, XX, p. 266).]