Granite weight in the form of a duck
Kingdom of Lagash, about 2150-2000 BC
Probably from southern Iraq
The weight is inscribed in cuneiform with the name of
Ur-Ningirsu, ruler of the city-state of Lagash as the successor to
Gudea. Ur-Ningirsu ruled in a period following the decline of the
empire of Agade (Akkad) and the rise of a new political power
centred on the city of Ur.
Although all the administrators of city states in southern
Mesopotamia used the cuneiform writing system, they used various
methods of weighing and measuring. With the formation of the
empires of Agade and Ur the cities were united under one king.
Attempts were made to reorganize the administration and introduce
standardization. This must have helped communication and
control.
The weight of this stone is given as 2 talents. A talent was
approximately 30 kilos and could be divided into 60 minas.
Stone was preferred for weights of different standards in the
Bronze Age (about 3000-1000 BC). There was a gradual shift to
metals in the first millennium BC (for example, two bronze weights
in the form of a lion, also in The British Museum).
British Museum, A guide to the Babylonian and, 3rd ed. (London, British Museum, 1922)