Statues of Gudea

Statues of Gudea

Twenty-seven statues of Gudea have been found so far (A-AA).

A-K were found during Ernest de Sarzec's excavations in the court of the palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe in Telloh/Girsu. M-Q come from clandestine excavations in Telloh in 1924; most of the rest come from the art trade, with unknown provenances and sometimes of doubtful authenticity. Figures L and R do not represent Gudea with reasonable certainty. The statues were to represent the ruler in temples, to offer a constant prayer in his stead, and offerings were made to these. Most of the statues bear a dedication explaining to which god it was dedicated. He is either sitting or standing; in one case (N), he holds a water-jug "au vase jaillissant". He normally wears a close fitting "kaunakes", maybe made of sheep-skin, and a long tasseled dress. Only in one example (M, Soclet-statue) he wears a different dress, reminiscent of the Akkadian royal costume (torso of Manishtushu). On the lap of one of them (statue B) is the plan of his palace, with the scale of measurement attached. Statue F is similar to statue B; both are missing their heads, and have on their lap a board with a measuring scale and a stylus, only statue F doesn't have a ground plan.

It seems that the early statues are small and made of more local stones (limestone, steatite and alabaster); later, when wide-ranging trade-connections had been established, the more costly exotic diorite was used. Diorite had already been used by old Sumerian rulers (Statue of Entemena). According to the inscriptions, the diorite (or gabbro, "na4esi") came from Magan.

The dedication of the diorite statues normally tell how "ensi" Gudea had diorite brought from the mountains of Magan, formed it as a statue of himself, called by name to honour god/goddess (x) and had the statue brought into the temple of (y). Most of the big (almost lifesize, D is even bigger than life) statues are dedicated to the top gods of Lagash: Ningirsu, his wife Ba'u, the goddesses Gatumdu and Inanna and Ninhursanga as the "Mother of the gods". Q is dedicated to Ningiszida, Gudea's personal protective deity more properly connected to Fara and Abu Salabikh, the smaller M, N and O to his "wife" Gestinanna. The connection between Ningiszida and Gestinanna was probably invented by Gudea in order to affect a closer connection to Lagash.

numbermaterialsize
posture
provenance
dedicated to
today at
museum catalogue numeber

Adiorite1,24standingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNinhursanga/NintuLouvreAO 8
Bdiorite0,93sittingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNingirsuLouvreAO 2
Cdiorite1,38standingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohInanna LouvreAO 5
Ddiorite1,57sittingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNingirsuLouvreAO 1
Ediorite1,42standingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohBa'uLouvreAO 6
Fdiorite0,86sittingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohGatumduLouvreAO 3
Gdiorite1,33standingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNingirsuLouvreAO 7
Hdiorite0,77sittingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohBa'uLouvreAO 4
Idiorite0,45sittingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNingishzidaLouvreAO 3293 + AO 4108
Jdiorite----excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh------
Kdiorite1,24standingexcavations E. de Sarzec, TellohNingirsu----
Ldiorite--------(Kudurru)--
Malabaster or paragonite0,41standingclandestine excavations, Telloh 1924GeshtinannaDetroit Institute of Arts--
Ndolerite, calcite or steatite0,61standingclandestine excavations, Telloh 1924GeshtinannaLouvreAO 22126
Osteatite0,63standingclandestine excavations, Telloh 1924GeshtinannaNy Carlsberg Glyptotek, CopenhagenNCG 840
Pdiorite0,44sittingclandestine excavations, Telloh 1924NingishzidaNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art59.2
Qdiorite0,33sittingclandestine excavations, Telloh 1924Ningishzidabody in Baghdad, head in Philadelphiabody: 2909, head: CBS 16664
Rdiorite0,185sittingart tradeNamhaniHarvard Semitic MuseumHSM 8825
Slimestone--standing----Louvre--
T--1,24------Golenishev collection--
Udolerite1,01standing--Ninhursanga/NintuBritish Museum--
Vdiorite0,74standing----British Museum--
Wdiorite------------
Xdiorite------Meslamta'ea----
Ylimestone------Ningirsu----
Zdiorite------------
AAlimestone------------

Further reading

* Dietz Otto Edzard, "Gudea and His Dynasty" "Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Early Periods - RIME 3/1" (Toronto University Press 1997).
* F. Johansen, "Statues of Gudea, ancient and modern". "Mesopotamia" 6, 1978.
* A. Parrot, "Tello, vingt campagnes des fouilles (1877-1933)". (Paris 1948).
* H. Steible, "Versuch einer Chronologie der Statuen des Gudea von Lagas". "Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft" 126 (1994), 81-104.

External links

* [http://www.insecula.com/us/salle/MS00072.html Photographs of the Gudea statues at Louvre] Insecula.com
* [http://www.dia.org/collections/ancient/mesopotamia/82.64A.html Statue M] The Detroit Institute of Arts


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