The Hurrian foundation pegs, also known as the Urkish lions, are twin copper foundation pegs each in the shape of a lion that probably came from the ancient city of

Urkesh Urkesh, also transliterated Urkish ( Akkadian: 𒌨𒆧𒆠 UR.KIŠKI, 𒌨𒋙𒀭𒄲𒆠 UR.KEŠ3KI; modern Tell Mozan; ), is a tell, or settlement mound, located in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in Al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern ...

(modern Tell Mozan) in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The pegs were placed at the foundation of the temple of

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; ) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations indicating that his cult surv ...

in the city of Urkesh as mentioned in the

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

inscriptions on them. The inscription on the two pegs and the associated stone tablet is the oldest known text in the

Hurrian language Hurrian is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language spoken by the Hurrians (Khurrites), a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopotami ...

. One of the lions is now housed, along with its limestone tablet, in the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The second lion is on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Overview

The foundation pegs are dated to the

Akkadian period The Akkadian Empire () was the first known empire, succeeding the long-lived city-states of Sumer. Centered on the city of Akkad (city), Akkad ( or ) and its surrounding region, the empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and Sumerian languag ...

.Aruz; Wallenfels, 2003, p. 222. They were placed in the foundation of the temple of

, the god of the underworld, during its construction. The pegs were deposited to protect and preserve the temple and the

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

prince of

, Tish-atal, who dedicated it.Aruz; Wallenfels, 2003, p. 223. The upper part of the figurines depict a snarling lion with the forelegs stretched forward, while the lower part is a thick peg. The lion places its paws on a copper plaque with

inscriptions. The copper plate and the lion pegs were made separately and then attached together. The use of such lion figures for protection was commonplace in

Ancient Mesopotamia The Civilization of Mesopotamia ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Paleolithic period up to Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writ ...

, but the Urkish lions are unique in their use as foundation pegs.

Louvre lion and tablet

The Louvre lion measures while the attached plaque is wide. The inscription on the copper plaque is largely erased but the legible parts confirm that it is a copy of the cuneiform inscription found on the stone tablet. The white

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

tablet, which fits under the copper plate and measures , bears the following inscription: The inscription is the earliest known text written in the

. The stone tablet was buried along with the metal peg as evidenced by the imprints of the copper oxide on the tablet, and the reverse imprints of the tablet in the oxide of the copper plate.Muscarella, 1988, p. 495.

Metropolitan Museum lion

Foundation peg in the form of the forepart of a lion MET DP226594

The Met lion measures and while it was made from a different mold to that of the Louvre, it is considered stylistically the same. The copper tablet still has legible traces of the cuneiform inscriptions. The inscriptions spanned fourteen lines. Lines 1–12 were incised vertically between the edge of the plate and the lion's left foreleg. Lines 13 and 14 were incised horizontally between the two stretched forelegs of the lion. The legible traces seem to confirm that the inscribed text is also a copy of the full inscription found on the Louvre stone tablet.Muscarella, 1988, p. 494.

Acquisition

Neither artefact has an archaeological record for its acquisition, and thus their original setting can not be confirmed. The Louvre lion and accompanying stone tablet were acquired in 1948 from a Parisian antiquities dealer. The Met lion was also purchased in 1948 from a New York antiquities dealer with funds from the

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...

bequest.Muscarella, 1988, p. 496.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{Louvre Museum Urkesh 3rd-millennium BC works Sculpture of the ancient Near East Syrian art Archaeological discoveries in Syria Near Eastern and Middle Eastern antiquities in the Louvre Copper sculptures Cuneiform Hurro-Urartian languages Architecture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sculptures in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metalwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Lions in art Syria–United States relations Ancient art in metal