This is a very interesting shell seal from the Early Dynastic IIIa period, ca. 2550– 2400 BC, inscribed: "Lugal-shà-pà-da". Found in the dromos of the Queen Puabi’s Tomb. Kept in University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia.
The official description of the scene depicted on this Sumerian seal is kind of funny: "Nude Hero Grappling with Lions Attacking Horned Animals"...Ok, "lions attacking horned animals" part is kind of obvious. "Nude hero grappling with lions"...Well that's not at all obvious...
The lions are Eurasian (Asiatic) lions.
The lion facing left is attacking a Persian fallow deer stag.
The lion facing right is attacking an Ibex (Bezoar) goat.
The "hero" is actually nowhere near the lions...He is pulling the stag by his horns...
The hairstyle of the "hero" is very interesting. No middle eastern curls seen on all the sculptures from that period...Instead, spikes of straight hair pointing upright...I have only seen things like this on depictions of Helios, the deified sun, from another time and culture...
So who is the "hero"? Not sure...It might turn out that linking him to the sun is not that crazy at all...You will see why soon, when I explain what the central part of the scene means: the two lions attacking a stag and a goat...
Believe or not I have already explained the meaning of this scene in my article about another early Sumerian artefact: Entemena vase, an amazing silver vase made around 2400 BC for Entemena, the king of Lagash...
This vase vas dedicated to the storm god Ningirsu...The engraving on the vase is very interesting.
Note the lion headed eagle, the symbol of Ningirsu and Lagash...The interesting thing is that the central scene of this freeze depicts lions attacking a deer and an ibex...
As I already explained in my article about this vase, mating season of the Eurasian lions starts during the mating season of Persian Fallow deer (August-September) and ends during the mating season of Bezoar Ibex goat (November-January)...
Which is why the order of the animals: deer--lion+lion--ibex is important...The animals are depicted like this because the whole scene taken together depicts autumn, the season whose symbol is a lion...
Interestingly, the seal actually has a proof that my interpretation of this scene is correct. There is a scorpion next to the head of the Ibex goat...
Zodiac sign Scorpio (23rd of Oct - 22nd of Nov) marks the time when scorpions disappear, hide to escape cold and wet weather brought by the Goat of rain 🙂, Ibex.
In Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East the rain season arrives when Ibexes start to mate, in Scorpio...
I already talked about this link between ibex goats, scorpions and the tree of life which sprouts from the rains which the Goat of rain brings in Scorpio in in my article about this seal from Dilmun
So we know what the animals represent. But what about our "hero"? Well he is pulling onto the horns of the stag, which in this scene symbolises end of summer and the beginning of autumn...Just like the ibex symbolises the end of autumn and beginning of winter...
So is he the sun god? Hmmm...
The fact that the authors of this scene have added the scorpion next to the ibex head, makes me doubt this...I think this could be Ninurta...Who is described as "Ninurta, the farmer’s version of the god of the thunder and rainstorms"...What does this mean?
Well, in the earliest records, he is the god of agriculture...Whose symbol was the plough...Which he gave to the people...Here is a god (Ninurta) giving plough to the people...
And guess who is depicted next to the seat of the god of plough? Ibex goat...Why?
As I explained in this article about the link between scorpion and ploughing, in Mesopotamia, after scorching summer, fields can only be ploughed after the soil has been moistened and softened. Before irrigation, that happened after the first rains. The ones brought by the Goat of rain. In Scorpio...
As I explained in this article about the link between scorpion and ploughing, in Mesopotamia, after scorching summer, fields can only be ploughed after the soil has been moistened and softened. Before irrigation, that happened after the first rains. The ones brought by the Goat of rain. In Scorpio...
This Mesopotamian cylinder seal kept at the Morgan Library and Museum, shows a scorpion standing between two plants, most likely grain. Scorpions go into hiding during the cold wet part of the year, which in Mesopotamia starts at the beginning of November, in the middle of Scorpio :) This is also the time when grain is planted...
Precipitation and temperature tables in North Iraq desert area...Similar situation is throughout Iraq...
So is the spiky hair "hero" in the original seal Ninurta, the farmer's thunder god? Or the sun god? Still not sure... 🙂 But that is not even that important...I will finish this article with this question: did you notice the animal which the figure on the far left is bringing to the god of rain and plough?
It's Markhor goat...
Do you want to know why is this figure carrying a Markhor goat? Have a look at this article entitled "A goat in a tree"
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