Translated Neo Sumerian Terracotta Foundation Cone

Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia, Sumer, city of Lagash, Neo-Sumerian period, reign of Gudea of Lagash, ca. 2120 to 2090 BCE. A finely preserved foundation cone with a discoid head, a tapered body, and a narrow tip. Twelve columns of cuneiform text are inscribed around the body by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay just before being placed inside a kiln. Foundation cones like this example - also referred to as dedication pegs or funerary pegs - were inscribed with prayers or praises to specific gods or rulers. When translated this cone reads, "For Ningirsu, the mighty warrior of Enlil, Gudea, governor of Lagash, who built the Eninnu (temple) of Ningirsu, (also) built his Epa, the temple of seven sectors." Size: 2.2" W x 4.7" H (5.6 cm x 11.9 cm)

For a strikingly similar example, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 45.90.

For another strikingly similar example, please see "Beloved by Time: Four Millennia of Ancient Art." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2000, pp. 18-19, fig. 28.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection, acquired in June 2019; ex-Artemis Gallery; ex-private New Jersey, USA collection, acquired in the 1970s from a private antiques D

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#154297
Condition Report: Small area of restoration to body indicated by smooth surface. Minor nicks to head, body, and tip, with softening to some cuneiform characters, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits throughout. Cuneiform characters are mostly clear and legible.