Euphrates poplar

Diadem of the Sumerian Queen Puabi who was buried in the royal cemetery in Ur, Iraq, around 2600BC. Currently in the Pen Museum... 

Diadem central parts are these wreaths made of golden leaves...Identified as: 

wide poplar leaves (correct) 

narrow willow leaves (incorrect)

Here's why:

This is Euphrates poplar. It is the only poplar that grows in deserts and has great vitality and amazing ability to find water and resist heat, droughts, winds, including sand storms...

Euphrates poplar has two different leaf shapes. 

As a sapling, the leaves are shaped like willow leaves in order to reduce evaporation.

When it grows taller and more energy is needed to support the trunk, the leaves become bigger, turning into a round shape.

So both types of leaves on the Queen Puabi's headdress wreaths can be, and most likely are, Euphrates poplar leaves: young poplar (narrow) and old poplar (wide)...And not willow (narrow) and poplar (wide) leaves...

These amazing golden trees are also Euphrates poplar trees. Their leaves are green during spring summer and autumn. But turn golden yellow at the beginning of winter, when the temperature drops to 5°C to 10°C...Which in Iraq happens in Oct/Nov. Beginning of the rain season...

Kind of significant in Mesopotamia...I can bet that the choice of leaves used for the Queen Puabi's headdress was not accidental...Every other animal/plant shaped object found in her grave has religious significance (read is an animal/plant calendar marker)...For instance the diadem of Queen Puabi depicts 4 seasons...I talked about this in my post "Diadem of Queen Puabi"...

Anyway, Euphrates poplar also a tree under which Inanna falls asleep and is subsequently raped (Inanna and Shukaletuda)...I will talk about this legend soon. But I can bet that the choice of the tree that plays central role in this legend was not accidental either...

And maybe the fact that the Queen Puabi's headdress, which we know now is made only of Euphrates poplar leaves, turns Puabi (symbolically) into a living golden Euphrates Poplar tree is kind of important (symbolically)...🙂 What do you think?

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Shell plaque with ibexes

This is a shell plaque found in Queen Pu-abi's tomb dated to c. 2600 BC. It shows ibexes rearing up on their hind legs on both sides of the tree of life topped by the eight-pointed rosette....

This of course is not just a decorative object...

This is climate chart for Southern Mesopotamia...

The rain/snow season in Mesopotamia, which supports (tree of) life in Mesopotamia, starts in Oct/Nov. And it coincides with the beginning of the mating season of Ibex goats...Mating season which is marked by mad male goat fights...

Hence Ibex goat became animal calendar marker for the rain season (The Goat of Rain) and eventually became symbol of fertility and prosperity and royal power that depended on this fertility and prosperity...

I talked about this in many posts such as, "Problems with Abzu", "Relief from Dur Sharrukin", "Goatfish", "Flamingos from Susa", "Goat carrier", "Iranian goat of rain", "Strider", "A vessel from Tepe Hissar" 

And many more...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...