Lion hunting stele

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The lion hunt stele is the oldest known stele from Mesopotamia . It was found at the Warka site, is about 80 cm high, made of basalt and dates to the end of the Uruk period , around 3000 BC. Today it is in Baghdad in the Iraqi National Museum .

The work was made from a roughly hewn stone block. A relief with two lion hunting scenes was carved out of this on one side . In the upper one the hunter attacks an erect lion with a lance, in the lower one he is armed with a bow and arrow. To the left behind the hunter another animal is shown, but only in parts, which has already been hit by arrows just like the one he was hunting.

The men are each depicted with a beard and full hair, which is held together at the head by a browband. You wear a skirt with a thick bulge in the waist area. Parallel representations can be found on cylinder seals as well as the vase by Warka , where this figure is referred to as EN (priestly prince).

literature

  • Hansen: Early Sumerian and Early Dynastic Flat Art. in Orthmann: The Old Orient. PKG XVIII, p. 182, plate 68.