30 Millennia of Sculpture. Patrick Bade
Painted limestone 16.5 × 25.7 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
53. Anonymous, Fragmentary Female Statuette, known as The Woman With a Scarf. Princess of the Time of Gudea, Prince of Lagash, around 2120 BCE. Ancient Near East, Tello (Iraq). Chlorite, 17.8 × 11 × 6.7 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
54. Anonymous, Gudea, Prince of Lagash, known as Statue of the Gushing Vase, dedicated to the goddess Geshtinanna, around 2120 BCE. Ancient Near East, Tello (Iraq). Dolerite, 62 × 25.6 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
55. Anonymous, Statue of Ishtup-ilum, around 2100 BCE. Ancient Near East, Palace of the 2nd millennium, Mari (Syria). Black basalt, 152 × 46 × 40 cm. Aleppo Museum, Aleppo.
56. Anonymous, Seneb the Dwarf and his Family. Ancient Egyptian, Mastaba of Seneb, Giza (Egypt). Painted limestone, 34 × 22.5 cm. Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo.
57. Anonymous, Ankhenes-Mery II and Pepi II, Dynasty VI, 2364–2181 BCE. Ancient Egyptian, Saqqara (Egypt). Egyptian alabaster (calcite), 39.2 × 24.9 cm. Brooklyn Museum, New York.
58. Anonymous, Raherka, the Inspector of the Scribes and his Wife Meresankh, around 2350 BCE. Ancient Egyptian. Painted limestone, 52.8 × 17.6 × 21.3 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
59. Anonymous, Seal of the Scribe Add (top left) and Print from the Seal of the Scribe Add (top right), Akkad Dynasty, 2300–2100 BCE. Ancient Near East, Mesopotamia. Greenstone, height: 3.9 cm diameter: 2.5 cm. The British Museum, London.
60. Anonymous, Manishtusu Statue of the King of Akkad, around 2270 BCE. Ancient Near East, Susa (Iran). Diorite, 100 × 58 × 48 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
61. Anonymous, Stele of Naram-Sin, around 2250 BCE. Ancient Near East, Susa (Iran). Sandy limestone, height: 200 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
62. Anonymous, Head of an Akkadian Ruler, around 2250 BCE. Bronze, height: 36 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.
An antique oriental masterpiece of Mesopotamian art, the bronze was discovered at Nineveh, an ancient city in modern Iraq, in the temple of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. From the end of the 24th to the beginning of the 22nd century BCE, the Akkadian empire ruled Mesopotamia as a whole. Unlike the Sumerians, who regrouped in the south, the empire matched the Akkadian peoples living north of the ancient Babylonian civilisation. Historians assume that the mask represents the founder of this empire, Sargon, or his grandson, Naram Sin. A great conqueror and excellent strategist, Sargon was at the origin of the first unified state in Asia, which enabled him to conquer other city-states of the region and to extend its domination over the entire Middle East. Abandoned at birth, Sargon, according to legends appropriate for great destinies, had a childhood reminiscent of Moses and other heroes, such as Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. If his grandson left in history a somewhat more negative picture than that of his grandfather, however, they both remain considered as major figures in the history of Mesopotamia.
63. Anonymous, Composite Female Statuette. Princess of Bactria, late 3rd millennium or early 2nd millennium BCE. Bactrian. Serpentine and calcite, 18 × 16 × 14 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
An ancient Eastern Region of Afghanistan, particularly prosperous in the third and 2nd millennia BCE, mainly because of its wealth in raw materials, Bactria developed at that time, a particular sculpture consisting of miniature females. The ladies, dressed in kaunakes, a traditional costume made of Sumerian wool, are usually small, between eight and fourteen inches. This one, measuring about eight inches, is already quite exceptional in its size. In addition, her dress is amplified by a crinoline and a shawl or a flounce, giving her a profile of great majesty, which is accentuated by her standing position, whereas other statues are often found in sitting posture. A ‘platform’, built on the front of the dress, was to receive arms and hands, now missing. If facial features are barely sketched, the variety of materials and colours makes a clear distinction of clothes, hair and body of the model. To date, although 40 statuettes have been discovered, their identity and function remain uncertain. Maybe they are votive statuettes, representing a goddess of Central Asian mythology, or the representation of ladies of high rank, an assumption to which these figures owe their names of Princess of Bactria.
64. Anonymous, Foundation nail of a canephor on behalf of the Prince-Kudur Mabuk, father of Warad-Sin and Rim-Sin of Larsa, treasure of the foundation of the Temple of Inanna, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East, Larsa (Iraq). Bronze, nail height: 25 or 26 cm; shelf: 5.8 × 4.2 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
65. Anonymous, Figurine of a God called The God with the Golden Hand, around 2000 BCE. Ancient Near East, Susa (Iran). Copper and gold, 17.5 × 5.5 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
66. Anonymous, Statuette of a Royal Prince, 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East. Copper, 34.9 × 9.5 cm. The British Museum, London.
67. Anonymous, Royal Head, known as Head of Hammurabi, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East. Diorite, 15.2 × 9.7 × 11 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
68. Anonymous, Mask of the Demon Humbaba, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East. Terracotta, 8.9 × 5.6 cm. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin.
69. Anonymous, Head of a God, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East, Tello (Iraq), Shaped terracotta, 10.8 × 6.4 × 5.7 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
70. Anonymous, Head of a Statue of Amenemhat III, Dynasty XII, 1991–1786 BCE. Ancient Egyptian, Lower Egypt. Greywacke, height: 46 cm. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.
71. Anonymous, Statuette of a Quadrifons God, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East. Bronze, height: 17.3 cm. Oriental Institute of Art, Chicago.
72. Anonymous, Statuette of a Kneeling Man, known as The Adoration of Larsa, early 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East, Larsa (Iraq). Bronze and gold. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
73. Anonymous, Statue of a Pharaoh, probably Amenemhet II, Dynasty XII, 1991–1786 BCE. Ancient Egyptian, Licht (Egypt). Cedar wood and painted plaster, height: 56 cm. Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo.
74. Anonymous, Statue of Ka of Hor I Aouibre, Dynasty XIII, 1785–1650 BCE. Ancient Egyptian, Tomb of Hor, Dahshur (Egypt). Gilded wood with gold leaf and precious stones, height: 170 cm. Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo.
75. Anonymous, Gilgamesh Standing on the Head of Humbaba, first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Ancient Near East, Tell Asmar (Iraq). Terracotta (burnt) and traces of red paint, 16.5 × 5 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.