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Source Description
The deeply impressed cuneiform characters on this well-preserved votive nail record in Sumerian the restoration of the Eninnu temple in Girsu (modern Tell Telloh) for Ningirsu, the chief deity of Girsu, by Gudea, the ensi of Lagash. Girsu was an important religious and civic center in the 3rd millennium BCE. Hundreds of examples of this text are known, mostly written on nails but also appearing on bricks. Clay cones and nails were inscribed in the name of a ruler of a Mesopotamian city-state to commemorate an act of building or rebuilding, often of a temple for a specific deity. Deposited in the walls or under the foundations of these structures, the words of the texts were directed at the gods but would also be found by later restorers.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
7822
label
Nail of Gudea
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
7822
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Nail of Gudea
description
The deeply impressed cuneiform characters on this well-preserved votive nail record in Sumerian the restoration of the Eninnu temple in Girsu (modern Tell Telloh) for Ningirsu, the chief deity of Girsu, by Gudea, the ensi of Lagash. Girsu was an important religious and civic center in the 3rd millennium BCE. Hundreds of examples of this text are known, mostly written on nails but also appearing on bricks. Clay cones and nails were inscribed in the name of a ruler of a Mesopotamian city-state to commemorate an act of building or rebuilding, often of a temple for a specific deity. Deposited in the walls or under the foundations of these structures, the words of the texts were directed at the gods but would also be found by later restorers.
provenance
Edgar J. Banks, Alpine, New Jersey, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 2144-2124 BCE (Lagash II; Ur III [Neo-Sumerian])
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Ceramics
nails
cones
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
11.6
height
5.9
dimensionsRaw
H: 4 9/16 x W: 2 5/16 in. (11.6 x 5.9 cm)
Source extras
cul
Neo-Sumerian
inscriptions
[Translation from composite text of Cuneiform Digital Library RIME 3/1.01.07.037] For Ningirsu
/ the mighty warrior of Enlil
/ Gudea
/ ruler / of Lagash
/ made a fitting thing resplendent for him
(namely) / his temple Eninnu-with-the-White-Thunderbird / he built for him / and restored it for him.[https://cdli.ucla.edu/P272892]
reign
Gudea (ca. 2144-2124 BC)
med
baked clay, impressed
creator_ids
4252
collection_ids
ANE
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
187a961affb920fc