Mesopotamian Archaeology: An introduction to the archaeology of Mesopotamia and AssyriaHandcock, Percy S. P. (Percy Stuart Peache)
History
Mesopotamian Archaeology: An introduction to the archaeology of Mesopotamia and Assyria
Handcock, Percy S. P. (Percy Stuart Peache)
Iraq -- Antiquities
In Fig. 65 we have a seal-impression of Ur-Engur, king of Ur about 2400
B.C. The scene depicted is a familiar one: an intermediary god is in the
act of introducing a suppliant worshipper to a superior deity seated on
a throne. The enthroned god has a lengthy beard and wears a round hat
somewhat resembling the turban worn by Gudea (cf. Pl. 23). He is resting
one arm on the back of his throne, while his right hand is extended in
apparent invitation to the slowly approaching worshipper. The throne
itself, unlike the box-like seats of earlier days, is provided with a
back, and the back legs are fashioned after the legs of an ox. The
intermediate deities wear the horned cap with which the gods in Gudea’s
time were usually covered, while horns appear to rise also from out of
their heads, the horns oddly enough being identical in shape with those
on the terra-cotta head discovered during the recent excavations in
Babylonia.[135] The seated deity is clad in a long simple garment
reaching down to the feet, his dress being simpler than that of the
attendant deities, or even that of the worshipper himself. The latter
wears a long tunic, and a fringed mantle over his left shoulder. Both of
the intermediaries are likewise apparelled in lengthy garments, which
differ, however, from each other and also from that of the worshipper in
being more elaborately worked, the divine introducer wearing the richer
robe of the two. The inscription refers to Ur-Engur, king of Ur, who may
conceivably be the figure seated on the throne; in support of this
theory, it is worth noting that the kings of this dynasty were often
deified while yet on earth. Ur-Engur was succeeded by Dungi, the
impression of one of whose cylinder-seals is given in Fig. 66. Both of
these seals are preserved in the British Museum. A bearded and
horn-capped god is standing before an altar shaped like a high standing
vase, from which arises a feathered branch which may be intended to
represent the ascending flame, while two long bare stalks with tufted
heads hang over the altar on either side. The god holds in his left hand
a weapon, the upper end of which is provided with a lateral semicircular
handle, similar to that found at Tellô by De Sarzec, and also to that
represented on the stone vase of Gudea (cf. Fig. 90). In his extended
right hand he holds a three-stalked flower, which is an exact replica of
that found in the hands of mythical beings on later Assyrian
bas-reliefs. On the other side of the altar is the suppliant, clad in
the same fringed garment seen in Fig. 65, while his right hand is raised
in adoration. Behind him is another worshipper whose dress resembles
that of the god, and who is similarly crowned with a horned cap, but in
spite of this divine distinction he has both hands raised in worship.
Dungi was succeeded by Bur-Sin, one of whose cylinder-seals is seen in
Fig. 67. The scene varies little from that found on the seals of his
predecessors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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