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(a)(b)Figure 5.8 Sumerian vegetation deities. A. Bas- relief of vegetation goddess, dating to 2500– 2371
bce; from Lagash, east of Uruk. B. Detail from an Akkadian greenstone cylinder seal impression, ca.
2,300 bce, showing Inanna/ Ishtar, winged, armed, and holding a cluster of dates (left), the Sun god
Shamash cutting through the mountains of the east (below), and the water god Enki or Ea (right).
A is from H. W. F. (2000), Babylonians. University of California Press, plate III, Berlin Museum. B is from
the British Museum: WA 89115.