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

(modern Tell Mozan) in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The pegs were placed at the

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

of the temple of

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

in the city of Urkesh as mentioned in the

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

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 Mesopota ...

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

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The second lion is on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York.

Overview

The foundation pegs are dated to the Akkadian period .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 (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

prince of

Tish-atal Tish-atal (Hurrian ) ( fl. c. 21st century BC) was endan of Urkesh during the Third Dynasty of Ur. He was one of the earliest known Hurrian rulers, but the archaeological record is fragmentary for this period, and no precise date can be ascribed t ...

, 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 ends in 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 history 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 writing i ...

, 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 ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

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

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 East and Middle East antiquities of the Louvre Copper sculptures Cuneiform Hurro-Urartian languages Architecture in collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sculptures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Metalwork of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Lions in art Syria–United States relations Ancient art in metal