THE AGE OF GUDEA AND THE UR III PERIODDuring the last phase of their political and cultural power, the Sumerians followed the
fashion already devised by the Akkadians. Again our knowledge comes mainly from
royal monuments. Unlike the previous period, the Sumerians seem to have limited
themselves to one style best typified by many of the statues portraying Gudea, the ruler
of Lagash. On his statues, whether seated or standing, he is wearing the long fringed
wrap-around garment covering one shoulder, while leaving the other bare (Figure 19. 9 ).
The edges are decorated with tassels (Aruz 2003 : 431 , cat. no. 307 ). On most of the
statues he is beardless and wearing a broad brimmed cap decorated with possibly
embroidered curls. Similar wide brimmed headdress is worn today in Iraq particularly
in urban centres, and it is always has a special embroidered pattern. It is tempting to
think it is a remnant from the Sumerian period. Certainly Iraqi archaeologists when
describing or discussing Gudea’s headdress use the local Arabic term charrawiya–a
cotton cap and a cotton square of decorated cloth folded and wrapped round the cap
to form the brim. During the late Sumerian period and the following Old Babylonian
period, it became the classic cap worn by royalty: Ur-Nammu on his stela and later
Hammurabi on his Law Code is seen with such a cap. The brimmed cap was always
worn by the ‘figure with mace’ seen on numerous cylinder seals (Collon 1987 : 149 ,
fig. 646 ).
–– Lamia al Gailani Werr ––Figure 19.9
Statue of Gudea of Lagash,
c. 2150 BC(Telloh, Louvre
Museum. From C. Gates,
Ancient Cities, second edition,
Routledge, 2011. Courtesy of
the author)