In the later period of Gudea we find the same style of weapon in use. Upon a bas-relief recovered by Commandant Cros from Tellô, and belonging to Gudea, we see a curved weapon (cf. Fig. 94, C)[166] terminating in a lion’s head and having a blade which was apparently inserted in a longitudinal slit made in the wood. Sometimes these curved weapons were made of one piece of metal, as was the case with the two examples discovered by Commandant Cros in an early Babylonian grave, one of which is reproduced in Fig. 94, D. Both of these weapons are made of copper and were found in a coffin consisting of two bell-shaped pots cemented together by bitumen. The one in the figure is the more elaborate of the two, and unlike its companion, has the handle still preserved while its total length is about sixteen inches. The edge of the blade was of course on the outside of the curve, the instrument thus resembling a scimitar or short curved sword. It is thus possible that the scimitar, or at least the archetype of the scimitar owes its origin to the Sumerians.[167] The other weapon is of a more primitive character and recalls the earlier examples afforded by the bas-reliefs more vividly, while its blade is double edged. In Assyrian times the curved end becomes quasi-circular in form and the outer edge is furnished with teeth, as is the case with the sceptre which Ashur-naṣir-pal holds in his hand (Pl. XXIV). The arms borne by Eannatum himself as represented on the Vulture Stele are the curved weapon already alluded to, a number of darts some of which are double pointed, and a long lance. Eannatum is in the act of piercing the head of a vanquished foe with his lance, which he holds horizontally over his head at the extreme end. According to Commandant Cros, the lance is used in exactly the same way by the Arabs of Irak to-day. It is first held loosely in the middle, while the action consists in throwing it forcibly through the hand till the lower end of it is reached, but it is not allowed to escape from the hand altogether; the weapon is therefore used in part as a spear, and in part as a javelin. For information regarding the military accoutrements in use at the time of Shar-Gâni-sharri and Narâm-Sin we are mainly dependent on the stele of the last-named monarch (cf. Pl. XIII), and the bas-relief fragments reproduced in Fig. 28, B, C. The bow and arrow would appear to be the principal weapons used by the Semites, though the spear and the axe also occur on early Semitic monuments. One noticeable feature in these two sculptures is the absence of any kind of shield. The cylinder-seals contribute little towards the solution of the manifold problems incidental to a study of early military affairs, as those seals which are engraved with battle-scenes are for the most part Persian in origin.