Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
The city-state of Lagash produced a remarkable number of statues of its kings as well as Sumerian literary hymns and prayers under the rule of Gudea (c. 2150–2125 BCE) and his son Ur-Ningirsu (c. 2125–2100 BCE).<br/><br/> This sculpture belongs to a series of diorite statues commissioned by Gudea, who devoted his energies to rebuilding the great temples of Lagash and installing statues of himself in them.<br/><br/> Many inscribed with his name and divine dedications survive. Here, Gudea is depicted in the seated pose of a ruler before his subjects, his hands folded in a traditional gesture of prayer. The Sumerian inscription on his robe lists the various temples that he built or renovated in Lagash and names the statue: 'Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long'.
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great (Akkadian Šarru-kÄ«nu, meaning 'the true king' or 'the legitimate king'), was a Semitic Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 23rd and 22nd centuries BC.<br/><br/> The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned in the last quarter of the third millennium BCE. He became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish, killing the king and usurping his throne before embarking on the quest to conquer Mesopotamia. He was originally referred to as Sargon I until records concerning an Assyrian king also named Sargon (now usually referred to as Sargon I) were unearthed.<br/><br/> Sargon's vast empire is thought to have included large parts of Mesopotamia, and included parts of modern-day Iran, Asia Minor and Syria. He ruled from a new, but as yet archaeologically unidentified capital, Akkad (Agade), which the Sumerian king list claims he built (or possibly renovated). He is sometimes regarded as the first person in recorded history to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire. His dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for around a century and a half.
Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 km north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of the Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BCE, although it flourished with a series of superimposed palaces that span a thousand years, from 2900 BCE to 1759 BCE, when it was sacked by Hammurabi.<br/><br/> The citizens of Mari were well known for elaborate hair styles and dress, and are considered to be part of Mesopotamian culture, despite being 240 km (150 mi) upriver from Babylon. It is theorized by some that Mari functioned as a trading post for southern Mesopotamia.<br/><br/> The inhabitants of Mari worshipped a vast array of gods and goddesses. Dagan, the deity of storms, had an entire temple dedicated to him, as did Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, and Shamash, the Sun god. Shamash was believed to be all-knowing and all-seeing, and in many seals he is seen standing between two large doors. According to the Epic of Gilgamesh, these doors are between Mount Mashu, and are the eastern doors to heaven. Through Mari's extensive trade network, Sumerian gods and goddesses were taken to non-Sumerian cities such as Ebla and Ugarit and incorporated into their native religions.
The Burney Relief (also known as the Queen of the Night relief) is a Mesopotamian terracotta plaque in high relief of the Isin-Larsa- or Old-Babylonian period, depicting a winged, nude, goddess-like figure with bird's talons, flanked by owls, and perched upon supine lions. The relief is displayed in the British Museum in London, which has dated it between 1800 and 1750 BCE. It originates from southern Iraq, but the exact find-site is unknown. Apart from its distinctive iconography, the piece is noted for its high relief and relatively large size, which suggests that is was used as a cult relief, which makes it a very rare survival from the period.<br/><br/> The relief depicts a naked female figure with tapering feathered wings and talons, standing with her legs together; shown full frontal, wearing a headdress consisting of four pairs of horns topped by a disc; wearing an elaborate necklace and bracelets on each wrist; holding her hands to the level of her shoulders with a rod and ring in each; figure supported by a pair of addorsed lions above a scale-pattern representing mountains or hilly ground, and flanked by a pair of standing owls.
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, war, love, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.<br/><br/> Ishtar was the god of love and war above all associated with sexuality: her cult involved sacred prostitution; her holy city Uruk was called the 'town of the sacred courtesans', and she herself was the 'courtesan of the gods'.<br/><br/> Ishtar was the daughter of Sin or Anu. She was particularly worshipped at the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Ashur and Arbela (Erbil).
Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 km north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BCE, although it flourished with a series of superimposed palaces that span a thousand years, from 2900 BCE to 1759 BCE, when it was sacked by Hammurabi.<br/><br/> The citizens of Mari were well known for elaborate hair styles and dress, and are considered to be part of Mesopotamian culture, despite being 240 km (150 mi) upriver from Babylon. It is theorized by some that Mari functioned as a trading post for southern Mesopotamia.<br/><br/> The inhabitants of Mari worshipped a vast array of gods and goddesses. Dagan, the deity of storms, had an entire temple dedicated to him, as did Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, and Shamash, the Sun god. Shamash was believed to be all-knowing and all-seeing, and in many seals he is seen standing between two large doors. According to the Epic of Gilgamesh, these doors are between Mount Mashu, and are the eastern doors to heaven. Through Mari's extensive trade network, Sumerian gods and goddesses were taken to non-Sumerian cities such as Ebla and Ugarit and incorporated into their native religions.