Image Gallery
Detail of the War Scene of the Standard of Ur
Detail (middle part of the top and middle registers) of the so-called "War Scene" of the Standard of Ur, a (reconstructed) hollow box, the precise purpose of which is unknown. From the Royal Cemetry of Ur, Ur, Sothern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. Early Dynastic Period, c. 2500 BCE.
The British Museum, London.
At the center of the upper register, a male figure, taller than all others (his head projects beyond the upper frame), stands and faces right. This is probably the king. He holds a long object in his hand. He wears a leather head cap and a long garment. Behind him, his bodyguards stand, wearing flounced skirts, and holding spears and axes. In front of him, a group of prisoners of war is being led by soldiers. On the left side lower register, Sumerian soldiers, fully attired in leather head caps and cloaks as well as flounced skirts, parade a group of prisoners of war. The prisoners are naked, bound, held, and fallen. There are wounds on their bodies with blood gushes. The artist was successful in delivering the scene of their humiliation and defeat. The depictions, in mosaic, were made using lapis lazuli, red limestone, and shell set in place with bitumen.
Questions & Answers
What are the oldest weapons in the world?
- The oldest weapons in the world are spears, specifically the spears found in Schöningen, Germany in 1995 dated to c. 400,000 BCE
What were weapons originally made of?
- Weapons were originally made of wood and stone.
What is the oldest gun in the world?
- The oldest firearm found to date is the Heilongjiang Hand Cannon from China, dated to c. 1288.
What are the oldest swords in the world?
- The oldest swords in the world were discovered only in the 1980s at Arslantepe Mound in Turkey and date to c. 3300 BCE.
