statue of a woman with an intelligible inscription is that of the daughter of Enentarzi
of Lagash, but it was made before he succeeded to the throne (Frayne 2008 : 239 – 240
no. 1 ). If one postulates that having one’s statue in a temple was the privilege only of
ruling families, then all female statues found in temples would have to represent
relatives of rulers. Because no such rules existed for men, one can equally postulate that
non-royal women may have had the right to place their statue in a temple. Statues were
also proxy worshippers during the lifetime of the person they represent. It is not known
if these statues were the same that received offerings after the person’s death. In Lagash,
statues of deceased persons who received offerings were those of members of the royal
family, high priest, officials and their families. Further some women, mostly wives of
important, high status men, had the means to provide “masˇdaria,” presumably an
obligatory “gift” used for sacrifices (see Rosengarten 1960 ; cf. Prentice 2010 : 187 – 198 ).
Rarely, a statue was buried together with a person as in the one example from Ur, the
grave of a man, perhaps a husband buried with the statue of his (deceased?) wife
(Woolley 1956 : 39 – 40 , pl. 37 ).
The first royal women pictured and named on public monuments are the wife and
two daughters of Urnanshe of Lagash (c. 2550 ), founder of the first Lagash dynasty. On
the stele of Urnanshe, (Figure 10. 3 ) his wife Menbara’abzu and his daughter Ninusu
participate in the inaugural ritual for the Ibgal temple in Lagash-city. Urnanshes’s
daughter Abda (reading of name uncertain) is shown together with her father and
brothers on a relief showing a procession also connected to temple building. Abda’s
prominent position before her brother, the crown prince Akurgal, indicates her high
status, probably as high priestess, a position attested for royal daughters in later periods.
On a votive relief from the Gipar at Ur (see Figure 11. 2 , this volume), four women
are shown with headband and long hair, insignia of “en”-priestesses in later periods.
The en-priestess of Nanna may be identified in the woman shown en face, whereas the
three women in the upper register may represent eresˇ-dingir-priestesses of other gods
at Ur. Early Dynastic texts do not mention an en-priestess, but eresˇ-dingir-priestesses
are mentioned in Lagash, and the seal of Hekunsig, eresˇ-dingir-priestess of the god
Pabilsag, was found near Royal Tomb 580 at Ur, where she may have been buried. The
fifth woman on the relief possibly represents a queen of Ur as she follows a man with
a sacrificial animal, an offering associated with rulers.
Banquet is a major theme on votive reliefs and seals with women pictured as prin-
cipal participant(s), musicians, or servants (Figure 18. 5 ). The principal woman is shown
as equal to the principal man; in some scenes the woman has a footstool, probably
indicating higher rank than that of the male participant. There are also banquets with
a second woman or only women participants; the latter indicating that women
celebrated festivals without men. Several hypotheses are suggested for the identity of
the principals, that is, the seated participants, and for the meaning of the banquet. The
seated participants on the plaques holding a cup and a piece from a date palm (branch
or date cluster?) resemble statuary images. Both statues and reliefs belonged to inven-
tories of temples, and the mis-en-scènein two-dimensional images includes offerings,
transport of produce, animals and other goods. The principal figures may be shown
“eating from the table of the deities,” a prerogative of highest clergy and royalty. Images
of banqueting couples possibly allude to the divinized status of royal couples, who may
also be represented in statuary either together or separately but staged as couples
(Asher-Greve 1985 : 84 ; Selz 2004 ). Pictorial variations reflect different occasions for
–– Women and agency ––