Seated statue of gudea holding temple plan
Statues of Gudea
27 statues found in southern Mesopotamia
Not to be confused with Gudea cylinders.
Approximately twenty-seven statues of Gudea have been found in southern Mesopotamia.
Gudea of lagash sculpture meaning in italy
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Lyre of queen puabi Approximately twenty-seven statues of Gudea have been found in southern Mesopotamia. Gudea was a ruler ensi of the state of Lagash between c. The known statues have been named by archaeologists as "A" to "Z" and "AA". Many statues are headless, and there are also detached heads. Gudea is named in the dedicatory inscription carved on most statues, but in some cases the identity of the ruler portrayed is uncertain.Provenance
Statues A–K were found during Ernest de Sarzec's excavations in the court of the Hellenistic-era palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe (see Adadnadinakhe bricks) in Telloh (ancient Girsu). Statues M–Q come from clandestine excavations in Telloh in ; the rest come from the art trade, with unknown provenances and sometimes of doubtful authenticity.
Figures L and R do not represent Gudea with reasonable certainty.
Description and purpose
The statues were to represent the ruler in temples, to offer a constant prayer in his stead; offerings were made to these. Most of the statues bear an inscribed dedication explaining to which god it was dedicated.
Gudea is either sitting or standing; in one case (N), he holds a water-jug au vase jaillissant. He normally wears a close fitting kaunakes, maybe made of sheep-skin, and a long tasseled dress.
Only in one example (M, Soclet-statue) he wears a different dress, reminiscent of the Akkadian royal costume (torso of Manishtushu). On the lap of one of them (statue B) is the plan of his palace, with the scale of measurement attached. Statue F is similar to statue B; both are missing their heads, and have on their lap a board with a measuring scale and a stylus, only statue F does not have a ground plan.
Size and material
It seems that the early statues are small and made of more local stones (limestone, steatite and redstone); later, when wide-ranging trade-connections had been established, the more costly exotic diorite was used.
Unlike the local stone, diorite is extremely hard, and so difficult to carve. Diorite had already been used by old Sumerian rulers (Statue of Entemena). According to the inscriptions, the diorite (Sumerian: na4esi, 'diorite or gabbro') came from Magan. The remnants of a very large diorite statue in the British Museum may be a representation of Gudea, but this cannot be determined with certainty.
What remains of the statue is &#;m (4&#;ft 11&#;in) high (and weighs over 1,&#;kg (2,&#;lb)), meaning that if it were fully reconstructed the statue would be well over 3&#;m (&#;ft) high and the largest yet discovered sculpture of the ruler.[1]
Dedicatory inscription
The dedication of the diorite statues normally tell how ensi Gudea had diorite brought from the mountains of Magan, formed it as a statue of himself, called by name to honour god/goddess (x) and had the statue brought into the temple of (y).
Gudea of lagash sculpture meaning This statue is made of a hard type of stone called diorite that did not occur in Mesopotamia and had to be imported from remote territories. This telling detail reflects the great power wielded by Gudea, king of the state of Lagash. In addition to thirteen standing and seven sitting statues, some ten detached heads depicting him are known. This is one of the best-preserved examples. Gudea was a ruler in the southern city-state of Lagash, part of the powerful empire of Akkad, which collapsed around BC as a result of the attacks by the Guti.Most of the big (almost lifesize, D is even bigger than life) statues are dedicated to the top gods of Lagash: Ningirsu, his wife Ba'u, the goddesses Gatumdu and Inanna and Ninhursanga as the "Mother of the gods". Q is dedicated to Ningiszida, Gudea's personal protective deity more properly connected to rand Abu Salabikh, the smaller M, N and O to his "wife" Gestinanna.
The connection between Ningiszida and Gestinanna was probably invented by Archaeologists in order to effect a closer connection to Lagash.
Table of statues
| Number | Image | Material | Size | Posture | Provenance | Dedicated to | Today at | Museum catalogue number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | diorite | m | standing | excavations E.
de Sarzec, Telloh | Ninhursanga/Nintu | Louvre | AO 8 | |
| B | diorite | m | sitting | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Ningirsu | Louvre | AO 2 | |
| C | diorite | m | standing | excavations E.
de Sarzec, Telloh | Inanna | Louvre | AO 5 | |
| D | diorite | m | sitting | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Ningirsu | Louvre | AO 1 | |
| E | diorite | m | standing | excavations E.
de Sarzec, Telloh | Ba'u | Louvre | AO 6 | |
| F | diorite | m | sitting | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Gatumdu | Louvre | AO 3 | |
| G | diorite | m | standing | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Ningirsu | Louvre | AO 7 | |
| H | diorite | m | sitting | excavations E.
de Sarzec, Telloh | Ba'u | Louvre | AO 4 | |
| I | diorite | m | sitting | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Ningishzida | Louvre | AO + AO | |
| J | diorite | -- | -- | excavations E.
de Sarzec, Telloh | -- | -- | -- | |
| K | diorite | m | standing | excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh | Ningirsu | Louvre | AO 10 | |
| L | diorite | -- | -- | -- | -- | (Kudurru) | -- | |
| M | alabaster or paragonite | m | standing | clandestine excavations, Telloh | Geshtinanna | Detroit Institute of Arts | -- | |
| N | dolerite, calcite or steatite | m | standing | clandestine excavations, Telloh | Geshtinanna | Louvre | AO | |
| O | steatite | m | standing | clandestine excavations, Telloh | Geshtinanna | Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen | NCG | |
| P | diorite | m | sitting | clandestine excavations, Telloh | Ningishzida | New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art | ||
| Q | diorite | m | sitting | clandestine excavations, Telloh | Ningishzida | body in Baghdad, head in Philadelphia | body: , head: CBS | |
| R | diorite | m | sitting | art trade | Namhani | Harvard Semitic Museum | HSM | |
| S | limestone | -- | standing | -- | -- | Louvre | -- | |
| T | -- | m | -- | -- | -- | Golenishev collection | -- | |
| U | dolerite | m | sitting | Seleucia ad Tigrim near Seleucia | Ninhursanga/Nintu | British Museum[2] | ||
| V | diorite | m | standing | art trade | -- | British Museum[3] | ||
| W | Limestone | m | standing | art trade | -- | -- | -- | |
| X | Limestone | -- | standing | -- | Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul | -- | ||
| Y | limestone | -- | -- | -- | Ningirsu | -- | -- | |
| Z | diorite | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| AA | limestone | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Further reading
- Dietz Otto Edzard, "Gudea and His Dynasty" Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Early Periods - RIME 3/1 (Toronto University Press ).
- F.
Johansen, "Statues of Gudea, ancient and modern".
Gudea of lagash sculpture meaning in english You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early. Not on view. The Akkadian Empire collapsed after two centuries of rule, and during the succeeding fifty years, local kings ruled independent city-states in southern Mesopotamia. 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 ca.Mesopotamia 6,
- A. Parrot, Tello, vingt campagnes des fouilles (). (Paris ).
- H. Steible, "Versuch einer Chronologie der Statuen des Gudea von Lagas". Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft (),