Uruk (FIGS. 2-2and 2-3), the Ur ziggurat is much grander. The base is
a solid mass of mud brick 50 feet high. The builders used baked bricks
laid in bitumen, an asphaltlike substance, for the facing of the entire
monument. Three ramplike stairways of a hundred steps each con-
verge on a tower-flanked gateway. From there another flight of steps
probably led to the temple proper, which does not survive.GUDEA OF LAGASH The most conspicuous preserved sculp-
tural monuments of the Neo-Sumerian age portray Gudea, the ensi
of Lagash around 2100 BCE(see “The Piety of Gudea,” above). His
statues (FIG. 2-16) show him seated or standing, hands tightlyclasped, head shaven, sometimes wearing a woolen brimmed hat,
and always dressed in a long garment that leaves one shoulder and
arm exposed. Gudea was zealous in granting the gods their due, and
the numerous statues he commissioned are an enduring testimony
to his piety—and to his wealth and pride. All his portraits are of pol-
ished diorite, a rare and costly dark stone that had to be imported.
Diorite is also extremely hard and difficult to carve. The prestige of
the material—which in turn lent prestige to Gudea’s portraits—is
evident from an inscription on one of Gudea’s statues: “This statue
has not been made from silver nor from lapis lazuli, nor from copper
nor from lead, nor yet from bronze; it is made of diorite.”42 Chapter 2 THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTO
ne of the central figures of the Neo-Sumerian age was Gudea of
Lagash. Nearly two dozen portraits of him survive. All stood
in temples where they could render perpetual service to the gods and
intercede with the divine powers on his behalf. Although a powerful
ruler, Gudea rejected the regal trappings of Sargon of Akkad and his
successors in favor of a return to the Sumerian votive tradition of the
Eshnunna statuettes (FIG. 2-6). Like the earlier examples, many of
Gudea’s statues are inscribed with messages to the gods of Sumer.
One from Girsu says, “I am the shepherd loved by my king [Ningirsu,
the god of Girsu]; may my life be prolonged.” Another, also from
Girsu, as if in answer to the first, says, “Gudea, the builder of the tem-
ple, has been given life.” Some of the inscriptions help explain why
Gudea was portrayed the way he was. For example, his large chest is a
sign that the gods have given him fullness of life and his muscular
arms reveal his god-given strength. Other inscriptions underscore
that his large eyes signify that his gaze is perpetually fixed on the
gods (compare FIG. 2-6).
Gudea built or rebuilt, at great cost, all the temples in which he
placed his statues. One characteristic portrait (FIG. 2-16) depicts the
pious ruler of Lagash seated with his hands clasped in front of him
in a gesture of prayer. The head is unfortunately lost, but the statue is
of unique interest because Gudea has a temple plan drawn on a tablet
on his lap. It is the plan for a new temple dedicated to Ningirsu.
Gudea buried accounts of his building enterprises in the temple
foundations. The surviving texts describe how the Neo-Sumerians
prepared and purified the sites, obtained the materials, and dedicated
the completed temples. They also record Gudea’s dreams of the gods
asking him to erect temples in their honor, promising him prosper-
ity if he fulfilled his duty. In one of these dreams, Ningirsu addresses
Gudea:
When, O faithful shepherd Gudea, thou shalt have started work
for me on Erinnu, my royal abode [Ningirsu’s new temple], I will
call up in heaven a humid wind. It shall bring the abundance from
on high....All the great fields will bear for thee; dykes and canals will
swell for thee;...good weight ofwool will be given in thy time.*The Piety of Gudea
WRITTEN SOURCES
*Translated by Thorkild Jacobsen, in Henri Frankfort,The Art and Architecture of
the Ancient Orient,5th ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), 98.2-16Seated statue of Gudea holding temple plan, from Girsu
(modern Telloh), Iraq, ca. 2100 bce.Diorite, 2 5 high. Louvre, Paris.
Gudea of Lagash built or rebuilt many temples and placed statues of
himself in all of them. In this seated portrait, Gudea has on his lap a
plan of the new temple he erected to Ningirsu.1 ft.2-16AGudea
holding water
jar, Girsu, ca.
2100 BCE.