Page 89 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART one: MESOPOTAMIA
of Umammu (Plate 53) Neither the robes nor the beards of the figures show the fine
engraving of detail in which earlier periods delighted.
A bronze statuette shows Hammurabi kneeling, no doubt before the god in whose
temple it was placed (Plate 64). In a relief on the side of the base the king is shown
once
again in this attitude before a goddess on a throne, but the
accompanying inscription
states that the object was dedicated to die god Aniurru for the life of Hammurabi. On
the other side of the base a ram is depicted in relief, which may be the attribute of either
god or goddess. In front there is a small basin, either imitating a bowl for water or in­
tended to hold grains of incense. The face and hands of the king are covered with gold-
foil. But the most striking feature, here as in the granite head and in plate 63, is the in­
tense animation of the work. The attitude of genuflexion - just completed, the head
somewhat withdrawn between the shoulders, the left arm tightly pressed against the
body, die right hand making the appropriate gesture - all this is of a piece, a single,
purposeful movement convincingly rendered.37
Probably somewhat older than the piece just described are two bronzes found at
Ishchali and representing a pair of four-faced deities. The god (Plate 66) stands with one
foot on the back of a ram, which identifies him as one of those embodiments of natural
vitality to whom we have referred more than once; whether he appears here as Aniurru
or in another form we do not know. He holds a scimitar, now damaged, in his right
hand. His four faces are neatly joined, the beard providing a good transition. The figure
of his consort38 is inferior, in the same manner as the goddess of the hoard from Tell
Asmar is inferior to the god as a work of art (Plate 13). She is seated, and holds the ‘flow­
ing vase* with both hands. Her gown is covered with the vertical wavy lines we met in
the statue from Mari (Plate 62). There is no attempt to conceal the crude junctures of her
four faces, though locks of hair might have been used to advantage for this purpose, and
this is the main reason why she lacks the startling plausibility of the god. The head-dress
of both figures is peculiar. That of the god, although it resembles a beret, may consist of
one pair of horns above each face, but one would expect in that case a conical cap of felt.
The crown of the goddess is in the shape of an altar or temple above a pair of horns, a
type of head-dress which makes its appearance also on the seals of the period.39 There are
no texts which we can refer to these remarkable figures.
In the period of Isin, Larsa, and Babylon which we are discussing, a number of fine
stone vases were made. The stone mastiff of plate 67B was dedicated by king Sumu-ilum of
Larsa. The fragment illustrated next to it represents a fairly large class of vases cut in soft
bituminous stone, and decorated with animals. These are subordinated to the purpose o
ornamentation, but yet retain something of their peculiar character. Ibexes kneeling on
their forelegs serve as supports to a large tripod or the forepart of a bull or goat orms a
handle to a dipper.40 The mouflon of plate 67A was repeated three times round the ow .
With its head modelled in the round, while the body appears in relief along t le vase,
decorative scheme of great antiquity (Plate 5A). The proud attitu e o ie
it revives a
animal, and the splendid sweep of its horns make this one of the best examples of this
type of vase.

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