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The monument is crowned by a second coiled serpent, representing the celestial ocean that is the counterpart of
the river of the underworld, encircling the badly damaged recumbent figure of the Bull of Heaven.
C. The production of elaborately decorated and inscribed kudurrus, publicizing grants of land by the king and
other high officials, reached its height during the Kassite period. (For a detailed discussion, see 2Bi.002.) The
object pictured here is an example of the form that such monuments took during the twelfth century--an
elongated rectangular block carved in the form of a fortified palace protected by towers and battlements.
The prominence of the two serpents on this particular Kudurru is unusual, but is in keeping with the importance
of serpents in the symbolic imagery of ancient Mesopotamia (see, for example, Star No.400, 520; 2Bb.517,
2Bc.024, 2Bd.077, 2Bf.007).
D. n/a
E. Moortgat (p.101) notes that the picture-language of the Kudurru reliefs is fundamentally an attempt in
iconographic form to crystallize the theological speculation of the polytheistic pantheon of the second millennium
B.C. Symbols were chosen to indicate the complex character of the gods they represented and attempts were
made to explain their hierarchic position in the theological system and their bearing upon thee various spheres of
the cosmos.
F. The sudden proliferation of kudurrus during the Kassite period is indicative of a new pattern of social
organization--a quasi-feudal system of land grants to favored retainers of the king whereby more and more
productive acreage was withdrawn from taxation. (Hallo, p. 108) That the kudurru was widely perceived as an
expression of the concept of kingship and its power is demonstrated by the fact that the Elamite king, Shutruknahunte, who conquered the Kassites in the twelfth Century B.C., took the trouble to remove a large number of
them (including even this unfinished example) to Susa as booty. (Moortgat, p. 100)
Special Qualities
This kudurru, although unfinished, is considered by many to be the finest known example of Kassite relief in both
subject matter and style. Its representation of the structure of the cosmos is developed in particular detail using
the entire surface of the block, rather than one or two faces, and is unusual in limiting the inscription
(unfortunately never completed) to the register representing the earthly palace. The presence of two serpents,
symbolizing the celestial ocean and the river of the underworld, provides a unique visual and conceptual frame
for the entire composition, and the inclusion of the register containing gods and goddesses of wild beasts and the
hunt is unique.
Material or Technique
Relief: yellow limestone
Measurement
Height, 21 1/4 in. (54 cm.)
Provenance
Iran; Susa [originally from Iraq, probably Babylon)
Repository or Site
France: Paris, Musee Louvre, SB 25
References
Haussig, Hans Wilhelm, Gtter und Mythen im Vodereren Orient (Stuttgart, 1965).
Jacobsen, Thorkild, The Treasures of Darkness (New Haven and London, 1976).
Moortgat, Anton, The Art of Ancient Mesopotamia (London and New York, 1969), pp. 100-103, pl. 231-232.
Seidel, Ursula, "Die babylonischen Kudurru-Reliefs," Baghdader Mitteilungen 4 (1968), pp. 74, 169, 207; No. 40,
pl. 18a, fig. 4
(Source:Mesopotamien Subhi Anwar Rashid & Louvre, Departement des Antiquites Orientales, Paris,
France)
(Source:Mesopotamien Subhi Anwar Rashid & Louvre, Departement des Antiquites Orientales, Paris,
France)