Silver Head of a Lion from Queen Puabi's Tomb at Ur
By STAN PARCHIN
August 30, 2010
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| Mesopotamian, Early Dynastic IIIA (ca. 2550-2400 B.C.). Silver Head of a Lion. Silver, lapis lazuli and shell. H. 11 cm (4.3 in.); W. 12 cm (4.75 in.). Mesopotamia, Ur, PG 800, Dromos of Puabi's Tomb. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. |
Silver Head of a Lion (ca. 2550-2400 B.C.) was discovered by archaeologist Sir C. Leonard Woolley in the dromos or passageway of Queen Puabi's intact tomb at the Royal Cemetery of Ur. The Mesopotamian sculpture's naturalism and materials testify to the sophisticated artistry, wealth and international contacts of the Sumerian city-state when the work was created. While the artifact's silver was imported from Iran or through the Gulf regions, the lapis lazuli for its eyes came from Afghanistan in Central Asia.
One of a pair, the lion's head was found near the remains of a box thought by Woolley to be a wardrobe chest. Originally attached to a wooden object, the excavator proposed that they were decorative protomes affixed to the arms of a religious chair. No contemporary representations survived to support this theory.
The powerful lion figured prominently in Sumerian art. It appeared most often in contest scenes with other lions, bulls, bull-men and heroes on carefully carved cylinder seals. The realistically rendered mane's locks of hair on the head from Puabi's tomb indicate that the sculptor keenly observed and depicted a lion, not a lioness. As a work of functional art, the object may have been used as an apotropaion to protect against evil.
A sense of naturalism is conveyed by the simple sculptural forms, well-defined nose and slightly open mouth of the boldly executed Silver Head of a Lion. The upper lip's soft flesh is incised with striations that suggest the snout's snarl. The viewer's attention is immediately drawn to the fearsome feline's slanted and deeply inset eyes made of lapis lazuli and shell. Heightened by the shadows of the nose and mouth, the lion's intensity of expression is rarely seen in early Mesopotamian art.
"Silver Head of a Lion" is on view in the long-term installation "Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery" at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Sources
Aruz, Joan and Wallenfels, Ronald (eds.), et al. Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003, 32, 114-115.
Burrows, E.R., et al. The Royal Cemetery: A Report on the Predynastic and Sargonid Graves Excavated between 1926 and 1931. London: The British Museum, 1934, 81-82.
Zettler, Richard L. and Lee Horne (eds.), et al. Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (exh. cat.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1998, 50-52.