FOUR SUMERIAN TERRACOTTA CUNEIFORM CONES
FOUR SUMERIAN TERRACOTTA CUNEIFORM CONES
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PROPERTY FROM A TEXAS PRIVATE COLLECTION
FOUR SUMERIAN TERRACOTTA CUNEIFORM CONES

CIRCA MID TO LATE 3RD MILLENIUM B.C.

Details
FOUR SUMERIAN TERRACOTTA CUNEIFORM CONES
CIRCA MID TO LATE 3RD MILLENIUM B.C.
10 1⁄8 in. (25.7 cm.) high (larger)
Provenance
Milton S. Yondorf (1883-1949), Chicago, acquired by 1938 (larger pair of cones for the Priest-King En-metena) and 1940 (smaller two cones for King Uta-Hegal); thence by descent to his son, John D. Yondorf Jr. (1924-2010), Chicago.
Art Market, Chicago.
Antiquities, Christie's, New York, 5 December 2012, lot 175.

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Hannah Solomon
Hannah Solomon Vice President, International Head of Department

Lot Essay

Both sets of cones were translated by the Oriental Institute in Chicago: the pair for the Priest-King En-metena on 18 April 1938 and the two for King Uta-Hegal on 31 January 1940.

The inscription on the pair for the Priest-King En-metena, circa 2550 B.C., reads: "For the goddess Inanna and the god Lugal-emus, En-metena, ruler of Lagash, built the E-mus ('House--Radiance [of the Land]'), their beloved temple, entirely (?) he built, En-metena, who built the E-mus temple - his personal god is the god Sul-MUSxPA. At that time En-metena, ruler of Lagash, and Lugal-kigine-dudu, ruler of Uruk, established a brotherhood (pact) (between themselves)." For the inscription, see no. E1.9.5.3 in D.R. Frayne, The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia: Early Periods, vol. I, Presargonic Period.

The inscriptions on the two for King Uta-Hegal, Fifth Dynasty of Uruk, circa 2055-2048 B.C., reads on the first one: "For the goddess Nanse, the mighty lady, the lady of the boundary, Utu-hegal, king of the four quarters, restored into her (Nanse's) hands the border of Lagash on which the man of Ur had laid a claim;" and on the second one: "For the god Ningirsu, mighty champion of the god Enlil, Utu-hegal, king of the four quarters, restored into his (Ningirsu's) hands the border of Lagash on which the man of Ur had laid a claim." For other examples with the same inscriptions, see nos. E2.12.6.1 and E2.12.6.3 in Frayne, op. cit., vol. II.

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