Published Sumerian Mace Head with Inscription

Culture: Sumerian

Period: 2600-2400 B.C.

Material: Marble

Dimensions: 7.6 cm high

Price: Sold

Ref: 6222

Provenance: English private collection prior to 1980, thence in an Estonian collection. Last in an English auction house.

Condition: Intact

Description: Important, pear-shaped marble mace head with an inscription in seven columns. Translation: “1. For God 2. balag-e 3. Ur-Dingir.A.Ha 4. son of 5. Ezi 6. of the scribe 7. dedicated this mace head.” The mentioned god is until today unknown. The Assyriologist Wilfred George Lambert translated the deity in an available document with “Tammuz”, which is considered as a mistake today. The mace head was published in 2007 in the Cuneiform Digital Library with the CDLI number P472775 and can be retrieved online. According to the entry it was found in Adab, present Bismaya. A very similar mace head in the Metropolitan Museum in New York with the Accession Number 51.25.7 originated from Tell Agrab.