Images

This is a symbolic weapon which was dedicated to a temple in order to receive gods' blessings. The lions' heads represent power and reflect the fact the donor was a royal person. Early dynastic period, 2500 BCE, from Sippar, Mesopotamia...

The inscriptions on this stone plaque mention the name of Enannatum I, king (or ruler) of Lagash. The plaque was fixed to a wall of a shrine or temple. The king's hands are folded in a worship position. c. 2420 BCE, from Girsu (modern Tell...

The decoration on both lizard-headed female figurines might well represent tattoos or jewelery. The one on the right side appears to breastfeed an infant. Such figurines were probably made for ritual purposes. Ubaid period, 5200-4200 BCE...

Sheep played an important role in the ancient Sumerian economy. Images and figurines of sheep were especially common during the late prehistoric era in Uruk. This piece was probably decorating a shrine or a temple. From the late Uruk period...

There is a hole on the back of this stone calf for vertical posts or other attachments. Late Uruk period, 3300-3000 BCE, from Ur, Mesopotamia, Iraq. (The British Museum).

Frieze from the base of the temple of the goddess Ninhursag at Tell Al-Ubaid. The lion-headed eagle monster, or Imdugud, grasps a pair of deer. Imdugud represents the Sumerian god Ningirsu, and it is unknown why it was placed at the temple...

The upper register shows a naked priest followed by three worshippers. The priest pours an unknown liquid offering from a spouted vessel into a stemmed dish or stand, in front of a horned god figure. In the lower register, there are three...

A woman looking out of a balustraded window was a popular theme in Phoenician art. This is possibly related to the goddess Astarte and ritual prostitution. This piece belongs to a large collection of the so-called "Nimrud ivories." These...

"Woman at the window" or "the lady of the window" is one of the most famous scenes in Phoenician ivory carving. The plaque shows a woman who looks out of a window, thought to be a sacred prostitute linked to the goddess Astarte or Ishtar...

This terracotta plaque dates back to the old Babylonian period. It depicts a male and female having sex while the woman drinks a fluid (beer?) from a jar through a straw. Such scenes were mass-produced in southern Mesopotamia during the old...