- Museum number
- 90829
- Description
-
Limestone kudurru: consists of a four-sided block with conical top. On each of the four sides are two panels of text, one above the other, the upper one consisting of not more than three lines. The corners of the stone are carved to represent lofty towers, the courses of the bricks or stone-work being indicated by lines. The conical top above the inscriptions is carved with emblems facing to the right. The text contains a deed of gift recording a grant of fifty 'gur' of corn-land in the province of Bit-Pir'-Amurri by Meli-Shipak to Khasardu, the son of Sume. The land was situated on the bank of the Royal Canal and was in the district of the city of Shaluluni. Four officials carried out the transfer of the property, and the deed was drawn up in the presence of seven high officials who are enumerated by name. Many symbols are carved onto the boundary-stone; Face A: (1) Composite being, in the form of a centaur, with attributes of man, beast, bird and reptile. The god has two heads, one human, with beard and thick hair falling on the shoulders, and on it he wears a conical head-dress probably provided with horns; the second head, facing backwards, is that of a lion. The god's torso and arms are human, and he is represented drawing a bow; ends of five arrows in a sheath are visible over his right shoulder. The body, hind legs, the lower tail, and the upper part of the fore legs are those of a horse; a second tail is that of a scorpion, and the fore legs end in scorpions, though only one scorpion is shown. Wings rise from the horse's shoulders. Face B: (2) Leaping dog, (3) Bird on perch, (4) Composite being, half man, half horse, resembling a satyr and grasping in both hands a spear or standard, the shaft formed from a palm-stem, (5) Spear-headed standard, with tassels. Face C: (6) Solar disc, (7) Mace with twin lion-heads, (8) Spear-head, (9) Goddess, carrying bowl and brush or flail, (10) Eagle-headed mace, (11) Lunar disc, (12) Lightning-fork. Face D: (13) Lamp, (14) Winged goddess with twining legs, (15) Ram-headed crook, (16) Eight-pointed star, (17) Cylindrical headdress, with feathered top and decorated with circles, standing on a carved table. Top of stone: (18) Serpent in a coil. The Solar and Lunar discs and the Eight-pointed star, though here separated, form a group, since they fill spaces in the upper field immediately below the serpent's outer coil.
- Production date
- 1186BC-1172BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 51 centimetres
-
Weight: 61.50 kilograms
-
Width: 24 centimetres
-
Width: 25 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
-
-
-
-
- Curator's comments
- Compare with 1882,0522.1799 (BM.90835).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2013 - 2014 22 June - 6 Jan, Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 'Mesopotamia, Inventing Our World'
2013: 30 Jan-13 May, Museum of History, Hong Kong, 'The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia'
2012: 4 May-7 Oct, Melbourne Museum, 'The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia'
2011 28 March-26 June, Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, 'Splendours of Mesopotamia'
Temporary loan: 'Galileo: Images of the Universe from Antiquity to the Telescope', Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy, 12th Mar-30th Aug 2009
- Acquisition date
- 1882
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 90829
- Registration number
- 1882,0522.1798
