Statues of Gudea

Approximately twenty-seven statues of Gudea 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[edit]

Statues A–K were found during Ernest de Sarzec's excavations in the court of the palace of Adad-nadin-ahhe in Telloh (ancient Girsu). Statues M–Q come from clandestine excavations in Telloh in 1924; the rest come from the art trade, with unknown provenances and sometimes of doubtful authenticity. Figures L and R do not represent Gudea with reasonable certainty.

Description and purpose[edit]

The statues were to represent the ruler in temples, to offer a constant prayer in his stead; offerings were made to these. Most of the statues bear an inscribed dedication explaining to which god it was dedicated. Gudea is either sitting or standing; in one case (N), he holds a water-jug au vase jaillissant. He normally wears a close fitting kaunakes, maybe made of sheep-skin, and a long tasseled dress. Only in one example (M, Soclet-statue) he wears a different dress, reminiscent of the Akkadian royal costume (torso of Manishtushu). On the lap of one of them (statue B) is the plan of his palace, with the scale of measurement attached. Statue F is similar to statue B; both are missing their heads, and have on their lap a board with a measuring scale and a stylus, only statue F doesn't have a ground plan.

Size and material[edit]

It seems that the early statues are small and made of more local stones (limestone, steatite and redstone); later, when wide-ranging trade-connections had been established, the more costly exotic diorite was used. Unlike the local stone, diorite is extremely hard, and so difficult to carve. Diorite had already been used by old Sumerian rulers (Statue of Entemena). According to the inscriptions, the diorite (Sumerian: ^na4esi, 'diorite or gabbro') came from Magan. The remnants of a very large diorite statue in the British Museum may be a representation of Gudea, but this cannot be determined with certainty. What remains of the statue is 1.5 metres high (and weighs over 1250 kg), meaning that if it were fully reconstructed the statue would be well over 3 metres high and the largest yet discovered sculpture of the ruler.^[1]

Dedicatory inscription[edit]

The dedication of the diorite statues normally tell how ensi Gudea had diorite brought from the mountains of Magan, formed it as a statue of himself, called by name to honour god/goddess (x) and had the statue brought into the temple of (y). Most of the big (almost lifesize, D is even bigger than life) statues are dedicated to the top gods of Lagash: Ningirsu, his wife Ba'u, the goddesses Gatumdu and Inanna and Ninhursanga as the "Mother of the gods". Q is dedicated to Ningiszida, Gudea's personal protective deity more properly connected to rand Abu Salabikh, the smaller M, N and O to his "wife" Gestinanna. The connection between Ningiszida and Gestinanna was probably invented by Archaeologists in order to effect a closer connection to Lagash.

Table of statues[edit]

Number	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	1.38m	standing	excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh	Inanna	Louvre	AO 5
D	diorite	1.57m	sitting	excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh	Ningirsu	Louvre	AO 1
E	diorite	1.42m	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	diorite	--	--	excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh	--	--	--
K	diorite	1.24m	standing	excavations E. de Sarzec, Telloh	Ningirsu	Louvre	AO 10
L	diorite	--	--	--	--	(Kudurru)	--
M	alabaster or paragonite	0.41m	standing	clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924	Geshtinanna	Detroit Institute of Arts	--
N	dolerite, calcite or steatite	0.61m	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	0.33m	sitting	clandestine excavations, Telloh 1924	Ningishzida	body in Baghdad, head in Philadelphia	body: 2909, head: CBS 16664
R	diorite	0.185m	sitting	art trade	Namhani	Harvard Semitic Museum	HSM 8825
S	limestone	--	standing	--	--	Louvre	--
T	--	1.24m	--	--	--	Golenishev collection	--
U	dolerite	0.71m	sitting	Seleucia ad Tigrim near Seleucia	Ninhursanga/Nintu	British Museum^[2]	98065
V	diorite	0.78m	standing	art trade	--	British Museum^[3]	122910
W	Limestone	0.34m	standing	art trade	--	--	--
X	Limestone	--	standing	--		Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul	--
Y	limestone	--	--	--	Ningirsu	--	--
Z	diorite	--	--	--	--	--	--
AA	limestone	--	--	--	--	--	--