Larsa (Larsa period or later) : Bronze figure of kneeling supplicant with gold covering, c. 1930-1888 BC
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Strommenger, Eva
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The Sumerian inscription on the socle reads : "For Amurru, his god, for the life of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, Lunanna (here depicted praying for the life of his ruler and his own), son of - , has made a praying statue. He has consecrated it for his servant (i.e. himself)". The base has a relief of a ram couchant (symbolic sacrificial animal?) on one side, and a similar kneeling supplicant before a deity on the other. A small vessel for offerings is attached to its front. Andre Parrot, in Sumer (translated by Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons, London, Thames & Hudson, 1960), where this appears as Illustration 350 opposite p. 284, says that the hands and face are covered in gold foil, and that in this technique of plating certain parts of the figurine with a precious metal, there is something more than a desire to give the object a higher commercial or artistic value. This practice, which is met with outside Mesopotamia, has a religious significance, for gold and silver were thought to have purifying properties and were therefore applied to the "noblest" parts of the body. -- h : 19.5 cm (Paris, Louvre).
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Archives Series
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1964
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This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.
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