vase
- Museum number
- 1999,0731.1
- Description
-
Copper alloy vase with Sumerian cuneiform inscription of Utu-hegal, king of Uruk.
- Production date
- 2123BC-2113BC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 9.50 centimetres (at the rim)
-
Diameter: 15.50 centimetres
-
Height: 15.90 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Text on BM website:
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ane/anenoacq.html
Commemorating a Hero
Kings in Mesopotamia have bequeathed us many royal inscriptions, from which modern scholars can sometimes reconstruct history. This bronze vessel carries an inscription of a king called Utu-hegal, who ruled from the city of Uruk in southern Iraq in about 2123-2113 BC. The inscription gives us his name and titles, but nothing more than a curse formula to prevent anyone from removing the vessel unlawfully. Perhaps the vessel was held in the hands of a statue of the king. In later times Utu-hegal was revered as the hero who removed the hated Guti invaders from the land, but this vase is the only known inscription dating to the king's reign.
- Location
- On display (G56/dc9)
- Acquisition date
- 1999
- Acquisition notes
- Purchased by Palumbo at the sale at Christies of the Erlenmeyer Collection (Basle), 13/12/1988, lot 61. Later offered for auction at Christie's, Fine Antiquities, London 9 December 1992 (lot 26). Re-deposited 27/4/99 (entry 559).
- Department
- Middle East
- Registration number
- 1999,0731.1