EARLY DYNASTIC IIIA, CIRCA 2600-2500 B.C.

Details

A FRAGMENTARY SUMERIAN INSCRIBED ALABASTER BOWL
EARLY DYNASTIC IIIA, CIRCA 2600-2500 B.C.
5 1/2 in. (13.9 cm.) wide

Provenance

with Sumer Galleries, New York and Los Angeles.
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 1979.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Sale room notice

Please note this lot is offered without reserve.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The cuneiform inscription reads, "Irara dedicated (this bowl) to Inana (for) Keš-pa’e, sanga of Keš, son of Gabašu." Kešpa’e was the priest-king of Keš, a city at the eastern edge of Sumer, near modern-day Tulūl al-Baqarat. For a similar example, see the bowl in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 43-44 in A. Goetze, "Early Dynastic dedication inscriptions from Nippur," Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. XXIII, no. 2.

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