Ur-Nammu was king of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia (southern Iraq) around
2000 B.C. In 1925 a joint expedition from the University of Pennsylvania
Museum and the British Museum discovered dozens of fragments of a
monument in honor of Ur-Nammu. Because such works have rarely survived,
the stela became one of the most famous examples of Near Eastern art, a
status it retains today.
The stela had been ten feet high with registers in relief of scenes of
religious practices on both front and back. By 1927 the best pieces had
been restored in Philadelphia into an imagined version of the stela,
with plaster filling the gaps. But more than twice as many small or worn
pieces were omitted from the restoration and dutifully stored in boxes
at the Museum.
Jeanny Vorys Canby realized that the early reconstruction had been too
hasty, and her meticulous, painstaking reexamination reveals a wealth of
new scenes that revise our understanding of the monument. This book
includes the justification of the reconstructions, description of the
scenes, speculation on the ancient fate of the stela, as well as a
description of each piece with photograph and drawing. These vigorous,
innovative scenes contradict the long-held view from the old
reconstruction that the monument was dull and repetitive. In fact, it is
fresh and vibrant, with dynamic scenes peopled by beautifully sculpted
actors.
Entirely new evidence is presented here in scientific detail, including
appendices from Steven Tinney, of the Museum's Babylonian Section, and
Tamsen Fuller, conservationist. The book's conclusions will be of major
significance to historians, archaeologists, art historians, biblical
scholars, and anthropologists working in the ancient Near East and to
scholars concerned with institutions of kinship, religion, and everyday
life.
University Museum Monograph, 110
