message is related to the hierarchy and power of the state (Winter 1985 ). Although rarely
preserved as such, sculptural programmes conveyed messages beyond individual monu-
ments: in her study of the fragmentary statues of Manishtushu of Akkad, for example,
Melissa Eppihimer ( 2010 ) showed that this king’s multiple, nearly identical images
participated in his effort to maintain authority over the major cities of the relatively
newly united Mesopotamia.
One could organise the ensuing review of royal images in various ways, by time
periods, media or themes of the representation. None of these criteria have clear-cut
boundaries: media and themes transcend time and themes transcend media. I have
chosen to place themes above time and media.
IMAGES OF PROVIDINGThe Uruk Vase depicts the cosmos of the first urban society in hierarchic order over
several registers to be read from bottom to top (Figure 10. 1 ): water as precondition of
–– Claudia E. Suter ––Figure 10.1Vase from Uruk (drawing after Lindemeyer and Martin 1993 : pl. 25 )