10 per cent of Sˇu-Suen’s date formulae and curtailed the use of personal names includ-
ing Sˇu-Suen as a theophoric element (Waetzoldt 2008 ).
MEDIA AND MESSAGE
In every communication, the circumstances – source, channel of transmission, receiver- are vital for understanding the message (Suter 2000 ). There are diverse channels that
transmit visual images of kings and queens: statues, stelae, door plaques, cult vessels
and implements, foundation figurines, rock reliefs and cylinder seals. From the later
Early Dynastic period on, all these image carriers can bear inscriptions that help us
determine their function and purpose. Most of them were objects set up in a temple
and dedicated to a deity with a wish for the long life of the donor and, sometimes, also
of the reigning king (Braun-Holzinger 1991 ). Dedicatory objects, especially royal
statues, were ritually consecrated and could receive offerings (Winter 1992 ; Selz 1997 ).
Unlike these objects on display, figurines with inscriptions recording who built a
temple and for which deity, were buried in the temple’s foundation (Rashid 1983 ).
Reliefs carved onto mountains at the periphery of Mesopotamia celebrate military
victories (Börker-Klähn 1982 ). Cylinder seals bear owner inscriptions that may identify
the seal owner, in addition to his or her name, by filiation and/or profession and,
sometimes, also specify his or her relation to the reigning king or other superior
(Collon 1987 ); they guaranteed identification and authentication in transactions of
state administration and expressed legitimacy and authority in social hierarchy.
While foundation figurines are cast in metal, most dedicatory objects and cylinder
seals that have survived the tooth of time are carved in stone. In contrast to metal,
which can easily be melted for reuse, stone is harder to destroy. In the long inscrip-
tion of his Statue B (ll. 7 : 49 – 54 ), Gudea points out that he had this image made of
diorite rather than metal so that nobody could rework it; indeed, no other early
Mesopotamian ruler has left us as many statues as Gudea. Texts and single finds, such
as the life-size bronze head from Nineveh, inform us that statues of Akkad and Ur III
kings could at least partially consist of metal, with some cases already known from the
Early Dynastic period (Braun-Holzinger 1991 : 232 – 234 ). Both materials were precious
in Mesopotamia: metal was imported from Anatolia or Iran and, while limestone
existed in northern Mesopotamia, most other stones were imported from farther away
(Moorey 1994 ). The kings of Akkad, for example, imported diorite from Oman for
the manufacture of life-size statues and stelae and the fact that they mention this
specifically in their inscriptions confirms the value that was attributed to the material.
Royal seals were often made of semi-precious stones imported from distant lands as,
for example, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.
Foundation figurines, stelae and rock reliefs were reserved for royal deeds, other
dedicatory objects – statues, door plaques, cult vessels and implements – could also be
donated by other members of the elite, while cylinder seals were available to a wider
circle of the urban society. The artisans who sculpted the various objects remain
anonymous and can be excluded as source of the messages that the carved images
transmitted, since they worked as skilled labour in the service of the elite.
It is generally assumed that the donor in the case of dedicatory objects or the owner
in the case of seals were the patrons who commissioned them. Although this may be so
in many cases, it is by no means the rule. Inscriptions on Ur III seals of high func-
–– Claudia E. Suter ––