Statues of Gudea

Diorite Statue I, Louvre

The Statues of Gudea are a collection of approximately twenty-seven statues of Gudea that have been found in southern Mesopotamia. Gudea was a ruler (ensi) of the state of Lagash between c. 2144 BC and 2124 BC, and the statues demonstrate a very sophisticated level of craftsmanship for that time. The known statues have been named by archaeologists as "A" to "Z" and "AA". Many statues are headless, and there are also detached heads. Gudea is named in the dedicatory inscription carved on most statues, but in some cases the identity of the ruler portrayed is uncertain.

Provenance

Statue N, or the “Statue with the Gushing Vase,” commemorating the construction of the temple of the goddess Geshtinanna. Louvre Museum. Unearthed during the illegal excavations at Tell V in Tello in 1924, it was acquired by a Parisian antiquities dealer and then sold to the Louvre in 1967.

The earliest known statues of Gudea were unearthed at the site of Tello, ancient Girsu, during the first French excavation campaigns that took place between 1878 and 1909, notably in the Hellenistic palace at Tell A, where they had been re-installed several centuries after Gudea’s death. They were shipped to France and are now part of the Louvre Museum’s collections. Others were found by archaeologists at other sites (Nippur, Tell Hammam). A significant number have an unknown provenance, as they originated from illegal excavations and were acquired by the institutions that now own them through the antiquities market. Seven or eight statues of Gudea and his son were thus unearthed in 1924 south of Tell V in Tello (the place of the ancient sanctuary of Ningishzida), then illegally smuggled out of the country and resold in the West to private or public collections, notably through the French antiquities dealer Elias Géjou. Among them were at least some of the statues M through Q, dedicated to Ningishzida or his consort Geshtinanna.; some of them are suspected by some scholars of being modern forgeries modeled after the authentic statues.

Corpus

The number of known statues of Gudea is a matter of debate: some may be forgeries created in modern times, others may be attributable to a different ruler, while fragments of inscriptions may have belonged to destroyed statues or to stelae. According to experts, the corpus ranges from 24 to 27 statues.

The inscriptions are essentials in the process of attribution and authentification, especially for Statues M-Q that are supposed to come from illicit digs of the 1920's: Statue P may be a forgery because its provenance is unknown and its inscription is identical with that of Statue I except for the name, taken from Statue C; Statue M, also of unknown provenance and unusually made in paragonite, has an inscription that identical to those of Statues N and O, except for the name, so its authenticity as also been doubted by some specialists. While complete diorite statues of a standing king, recovered from clandestine excavations (perhaps those of 1924?), without inscriptions (anepigraphic), might represent Gudea, but there is no way to be certain.

These statues are identified by a letter (two for the last ones), originally according to the place the statues found during the regular excavations at Telloh were displayed in the Louvre, subsequent letters being assigned to others, regardless of provenance (most of them came from clandestine excavations).

To these must be added 16 isolated carved heads of Gudea (not identified by letters).

Also dating from Gudea’s reign is an inscribed alabaster statue of his wife Ninalla standing (found without her head), which she dedicated for her husband’s life. Sculptors of the Second Dynasty of Lagash (and also the Ur III Dynasty) created other statues of the same type, but their style can be distinguished from those depicting Gudea. Some are royal statues depicting his predecessor, Ur-Ba'u, carved from diorite in a more compact and linear style, and his successor, Ur-Ningirsu II, carved from chlorite with more sinuous contours. In addition to these royal statues, the Lagash workshops also produced statues of high-ranking women, the best known of which is a chlorite statue of a woman wearing a scarf, with her hands clasped in prayer; only the upper body and head remain.

Visual aspect

The statue H of Gudea, represented seated, dedicated to the god Ningishzida. Louvre Museum.

Diorite

Statues of Gudea are often partially destroyed (many are acephalic: the head is missing), with only a few being complete or nearly so. Nevertheless, they constitute a unique corpus for the Ancient Near East, if only in terms of quantity. The fact that so many statues of Gudea have been preserved is due to the choice of material in which most of them were made: diorite. The inscription on Statue B states that this stone was chosen to ensure their preservation, avoiding the use of metal so that they would not be melted down later. Moreover, there is no indication that he had any metal statues of himself made, unlike the kings of Akkad and Ur III. Moreover, in Sumerian thought, the stones were believed to possess specific properties and destinies, which paralled their physicical aspect. Diorite was obviously chosen because of its hardness, which made it difficult to carve, but also to destroy and desacrate. Consequently, statues fashioned from this stone could perpetuate Gudea’s prayers for eternity.

Diorite is a hard stone imported from southern Arabia. We know from the texts that it came from the "land of Magan," which corresponds to the present-day Sultanate of Oman. Gudea was not the first ruler of Lagash to use it, as it had already been used by his father-in-law Ur-Baba and, long before them, by the kings of the Archaic period. The rulers of Akkad had made it the material of choice for royal representations.

The sculptural quality of the work suggests that the workshop from which these pieces emerged had a long tradition of hard-stone carving. The use of diorite, a particularly hard stone, necessitates very massive forms in which the body parts are barely carved out of the block, resulting in a robust appearance already present in earlier Lagashite statuary. Akkadian influence is evident in the introduction of a naturalism that is particularly noticeable in the depiction of muscles.

Appearance and postures

The way in which Gudea is represented on his statues has been summarized as follows by O. W. Muscarella: "His introspective face represents a beardless man, whose wide, heavy-lidded eyes are focused, not staring, beneath a continuous bushy eyebrow. His nose is prominent but not too big, his cheeks are soft but not too fat, and his mouth is casually closed. In all the statues he wears an ankle-length garment that leaves the right shoulder bare and, with a few exceptions, he has a wide and thick-brimmed hat with curls that may represent fur. The feet are bare, the folded arms are subtly but but obviously muscled, and the hands are joined with the right folded into the left, held just above the waist."

The king is depicted dressed in the manner typical of kings of the period: in a long, fringed tunic, open over the right shoulder; and, when preserved, his head is generally adorned with a wide-brimmed cap (he is bareheaded in Statue S).

He is depicted standing (at least 10 instances) or seated (7). The seat on which he sits in the latter cases appears to be a marker of his royal status, also represented on cylinder seals from the Ur III period depicting him.

A few statues are distinguished by the addition of an element: a tablet and a stylus resting on the king’s lap in Statues B and F, which depict him as an architect; the tablet shows a temple plan in the first statue, while it is blank in the second; and a vase with gushing water in Statue N.

Inscriptions

Most statues are carved with a dedicatory inscription, whose length vary. Their visual aspect is important. According to Z. Bahrani, "the inscriptions that are carved onto these statues are incorporated into the images in an important and integral way: they were considered to be part of the design rather than a supplement, and their placement upon the statue was taken into account carefully by the sculptor. The texts were given as much attention in terms of the beauty of the carving as any of the other details of the image."

The Royal Portrait

The statues of Gudea can be seen as an ancient form of portrait, reflecting the inner qualities and traits of the ruler, through visual signs (physiognomies) and also the inscriptions which gave some explanations or at least clues about their functions. They are not realistic portraits, trying to match physical resemblance, but rather conceptual, abstract images.

Through a joint study of the statues and their accompanying texts, as well as those of the Gudea cylinders, I. Winter has highlighted various physical characteristics of the king that reflect the different qualities the gods bestowed upon him to make him fit to reign: "By comparing the verbal representations of the ruler with his physical representation in the statues, what emerges is a consistent and coherent picture in both domains—constituting what Louis Marin, in his study of the images of Louis XIV of France, has referred to as “representations of power,” brought into being and reinforced by the “power of representation."

According to her, at least five elements stand out:

Gudea's piety is also evident in the static, calm, serene, even introspective attitude emanating from his hands. The king is at rest, not in a dynamic pose, as was often the case for the kings of Akkad. His hands are generally clasped, a gesture of prayer. The king's physical power is nonetheless manifested by his musculature.

Names and functions

The dedicatory inscriptions also provide details about the functions of these statues. Like other inscriptions, they indicate at least the god to whom they are dedicated and the circumstances of their consecration. Their lengths vary greatly; the shortest is that of Statue Q, which contains only the basic elements: the recipient deity, the identity of the dedicant (Gudea), the circumstances of the offering, the name of the statue, and its location:

For Ningishzida, his (personal) god, did Gudea, ruler of Lagash, who built Ningirsu's Eninnu, fashion a statue of himself. "It befits the House" - (this is how) he named (the statue) for his sake, and he brought it to him into his house.

The more extensive inscriptions, particularly that of statue B, which is the longest, contain more detailed information on the construction of the temples and the making of the statues, the ritual offerings accompanying their consecration, and even curses against those who would harm the object and the memory of Gudea.

The inscriptions indicate the names given to them, which provide insight into the roles assigned to them—roles that generally consist of bestowing divine blessings upon the king: for statue H, it is "The Lady, beloved daughter of shining heaven, Mother Ba'u (“Baba”), gave life to Gudea out of the tarsirsir House" (her temple);; for statue M, it is "It stands in (constant) prayer"; for statue P, "Let the life of Gudea, who built the house (“the temple”), be long." The names are not just indications of their functions: in Mesopotamian thought, the process of naming gives life to an object. When a statue receives a name, it becomes a valid substitute to the king, takes his place and provides him a form of immortality.

The statues were therefore used in worship; they were intended to be placed in temples, and served to invoke the gods’ blessings upon the king—in particular, that they grant him a long life. Placing a statue of a person near that of a deity is a way of ensuring that the person pays perpetual homage to the deity. Through his statues, Gudea can pray eternally to the gods before whose statues his own are placed (several inscriptions saying that the statue "stands in constant prayer"), and also partake in the offerings made to them, for example libations in Statue B:

He (Gudea) installed the statue (in order) to convey messages. (...) It is (exclusively) of diorite; let is stand at the libation place. Nobody will forcibly (damage the stone).

The inscriptions describe, in varying degrees of detail, the process of the statue’s creation and its consecration, perhaps through a ritual intended to bring it to life (as is done for divine statues). Some of these inscriptions mention the establishment of food offerings, leading to the suggestion that the statues were the recipients of such offerings. However, this is not certain, since, as far as we know, Gudea was only worshipped after his death—and even then, this worship was not necessarily performed in the presence of his statues. They also served to preserve his memory because they would outlive him, or, according to a phrase in his inscriptions, so that his name might be “eternal” (gil-sa). The king’s name is sometimes inscribed separately from the main text of the inscriptions; its presence serves as a way to preserve the memory of the king, and the curses inscribed on the statues are directed at those who would erase his name and thus his memory.

Degradations and re-installation

Gudea's statues have survived in a fragmented state. Many are decapitated, some heads have mutilated noses, and several headless figures that appear to have belonged to statues of Gudea have been identified. This has raised the question of whether these destructions were intentional or not. It is common for episodes of violence to be marked by the desecration of works of art, as a way to undermine the memory of a former king who had fallen from grace. This could have occurred during one of the conquests of the region, during the rise to power of the Third Dynasty of Ur or during its fall, or even later. But there is no conclusive evidence, particularly because it is impossible to date the destruction of any of these objects. Furthermore, these damages (or at least some of them) are not necessarily the result of human action, but could be due to the ravages of time or a natural disaster.

In the 3rd century BC, the site of Tello experienced a significant resettlement under the leadership of a Hellenized local ruler named Adad-nadin-ahhe, who built a palace on the Tell A. It was during the excavations of this building that archaeologists discovered the first statues of Gudea (statues A through H). Seven statues had been arranged in the building’s main courtyard (A), grouped according to the king’s posture (three statues of the seated king in the center, four of the standing king in a corner), along with fragments of statues. Those dedicated to Ningirsu were taken from nearby, as the palace was built on the site of this god’s former temple. The colossal statue (statue D), clearly too heavy to be transported, had been left where it was found, in a niche built specifically for it, and may have been slightly restored. Other statues, however, had been moved from other sanctuaries (Gatumdug, Ninhursag, Inanna). Adad-nadin-ahhe was, more broadly speaking, a sort of “antiquarian” interested in the history of the site where he was based; he also collected ancient cylinder seals and imitated the format of Gudea’s stamped bricks for his own building projects.

Table of statues

Number Image Material Size Posture Provenance Dedicated to Today at Museum catalogue number
A
diorite 1.24m standing excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ninhursanga/Nintu Louvre AO 8
B
diorite 0.93m sitting excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ningirsu Louvre AO 2
C
diorite 1.40m standing excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Inanna Louvre AO 5
D
diorite 1.58m sitting excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ningirsu Louvre AO 1
E
diorite 1.40m standing excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ba'u Louvre AO 6
F
diorite 0.86m sitting excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Gatumdu Louvre AO 3
G
diorite 1.33m standing excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ningirsu Louvre AO 7
H
diorite 0.77m sitting excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ba'u Louvre AO 4
I
diorite 0.45m sitting excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ningishzida Louvre AO 3293 + AO 4108
J[citation needed] diorite[citation needed] -- -- excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh[citation needed] -- -- --
K
diorite 1.24m standing excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh Ningirsu Louvre AO 10
L diorite -- -- -- -- Louvre AO 28
M
alabaster or paragonite 0.41m standing clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 Geshtinanna Detroit Institute of Arts 82.64
N
dolerite, calcite or steatite 0.62m standing clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 Geshtinanna Louvre AO 22126
O
steatite 0.63m standing clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 Geshtinanna Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen NCG 840
P
diorite 0.44m sitting clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 Ningishzida New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 59.2
Q diorite 0.30m sitting clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924 Ningishzida body in Baghdad, head in Philadelphia body: IM 2909, head: CBS 16664
R
diorite 0.185m sitting art trade Namhani (singer) Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East HSM 8825
S
limestone -- standing -- -- Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul (and fragments in the Louvre) EŞEM 5215
T dolerite head: 0.65x0.55m -- Nippur Nisaba Golenishev collection (body); Penn Museum (head) 5144,1.5 (body) + UM L.29.212 (head)
U dolerite 1.01m standing Tell Hammam Nanshe British Museum 92988
V
diorite 0.736m standing art trade -- British Museum 122910
W diorite 0.16x0.11m neck fragment -- Louvre AO 20
X
Limestone statue of Gudea. From Girsu, Iraq. 2144–2124 BC. Extensively reconstructed. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul
 diorite -- fragment -- Meslamta-ea Louvre AO 26646
Y limestone -- fragment -- Ningirsu Louvre AO 26633
Z diorite -- fragment -- -- Louvre AO 26637
AA limestone -- fragment (stele?) -- -- Louvre AO 26630
BB limestone -- fragments (stele?) -- Ba'u Louvre AO 26635 + AO 26670
--
diorite 1.07m standing -- -- Louvre (Abu Dhabi) AO 20164
--
diorite 0.7m standing -- -- Louvre (Lens) AO 29155

References

  1. ↑ Thomas & Colonna d'Istria 2019, p. 113.
  2. ↑ Suter 2015, p. 68–70.
  3. 1 2 3 Bahrani 2017, p. 141.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Ariane; Colonna d'Istria, Laurent (2019). "Le temple de Ningešzida". Akkadica (in French). 140: 113–114.
  5. 1 2 Suter 2000, p. 36.
  6. 1 2 Muscarella, Oscar White (2013). "Gudea or Not Gudea in New York and Detroit: Ancient or Modern?". Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East. Leiden: Brill. pp. 915–929..
  7. 1 2 3 Suter 2015, p. 63.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Suter 2000, p. 331.
  9. ↑ Edzard 1997, pp. 55.
  10. ↑ Bahrani 2017, pp. 146 considers the inscription too complex to be a forgery.
  11. ↑ Parrot 1948, p. 167.
  12. ↑ Bahrani 2017, p. 140 (fig. 6.2).
  13. 1 2 3 4 Muscarella, Oscar White (2003). "Seated Statue of Gudea". In Aruz, Joan (ed.). Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 429.
  14. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)
  15. ↑ Bahrani 2017, p. 140–141.
  16. ↑ Bahrani 2017, p. 148.
  17. ↑ Bahrani 2017, p. 144-145.
  18. ↑ Suter 2015, p. 518.
  19. ↑ Suter 2015, p. 518-519.
  20. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 57.
  21. 1 2 Suter 2000, p. 58.
  22. ↑ Suter 2015, p. 515.
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  26. ↑ Winter 2010, p. 155.
  27. ↑ Winter 2010, p. 156.
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  45. ↑ Suter 2015, p. 68-74.
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  48. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 29-30.
  49. ↑ Gudea A (Louvre Museum website)
  50. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 30-38.
  51. ↑ Gudea B dit "Architecte au plan" (Louvre Museum website)
  52. 1 2 3 4 5 Suter 2000, p. 329.
  53. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 38-40.
  54. ↑ Gudea C dit "aux épaules étroites" (Louvre Museum website)
  55. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 40-42.
  56. ↑ Gudea D dit "colossal" (Louvre Museum website)
  57. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 42-46.
  58. ↑ Gudea E dit "aux larges épaules" (Louvre Museum website)
  59. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 46-48.
  60. ↑ Gudea F dit "Architecte à la règle" (Louvre Museum website)
  61. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 48-50.
  62. ↑ Gudea G dit "à l'épaule brisée" (Louvre Museum website)
  63. 1 2 3 4 5 Suter 2000, p. 330.
  64. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 50-51.
  65. ↑ Gudea H (Louvre Museum website)
  66. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 51-53.
  67. ↑ Statue de Gudea dite "Petit Gudea assis" (Louvre Museum website)
  68. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 53-54.
  69. ↑ Gudea I (sic) (Louvre Museum website)
  70. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 335: attribution to Gudea uncertain..
  71. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 54.
  72. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)
  73. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 55-56.
  74. ↑ Gudea of Lagash
  75. ↑ Statue de Gudea dite "au vase jaillissant" (Louvre Museum website)
  76. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 57.
  77. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 57-58.
  78. ↑ Statue of Gudea (Met Museum website)
  79. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 58-59.
  80. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 59-60.
  81. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 60-61.
  82. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 331-332.
  83. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 61-62.
  84. 1 2 3 Suter 2000, p. 332.
  85. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 62-63.
  86. ↑ (Statue British Museum website)
  87. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 332: fake?.
  88. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 63-64.
  89. ↑ Statue (British Museum website)
  90. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 64.
  91. ↑ Statue (in French)
  92. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 65.
  93. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)
  94. 1 2 3 4 Suter 2000, p. 333.
  95. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 65-66.
  96. ↑ document écrit (Louvre Museum website)
  97. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 66.
  98. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)
  99. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 335.
  100. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 67.
  101. ↑ Suter 2000, p. 335 n.39.
  102. ↑ document écrit (Louvre Museum website)
  103. ↑ Edzard 1997, p. 112-113.
  104. ↑ Stele
  105. ↑ Stele (Louvre Museum website)
  106. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)
  107. ↑ Statue (Louvre Museum website)

Bibliography

Further reading