Shell
H: 3.44 cm. W: 2.93 cm. Thickness: 0.56 cm
Provenance: no indication
Sumerian
Early Dynastic III. Mid 3rd millennium B.C.
Condition: slight chip to top of pole, two diagonal holes at back for the passing of a wire or thread for attachment, a hole through the front reaching through to them. Surface smooth, a warm yellowish hue.
The upper part of a figure holding a pole (for a standard). This inlay has a rapport with cut-outs for inlaying and might have been part of an ensemble somewhat similar to those appearing on the mosaic "standard" from the Royal Cemetery at Ur [1] and various shell figures from Mari [2].
1 London, British Museum WA 121 201: Strommenger, E., Hirmer, M.: Cinq millénaires d'art mésopotamien (Paris, 1964), no. 72, pp. 68-69, pl. X, XI.
2 Paris, Louvre Museum AO 19820: Parrot, A.: Mission archéologique de Mari I. Le temple d'Ishtar (Paris, 1956), nos. 458-459, pp. 145-146 fig. 87.
