Sale: CNG 61, Lot: 2728. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2002.  Sold For $820. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SUMERIA. Gugaea, ruler of the kingdom of Lagash. Circa 2250 BC. (12.5 cm) Terracotta broad-headed, nail-shaped foundation cone with dedicatory cuneiform inscription: : Gudaea, the Mighty of Enlil, Ruler of Lgash, acted spendidly and built and restored for Ningirsu the great temple of E-Ninnu, for his shining Imdugud bird'. ($500)

Foundation cones were placed in the hollows of walls of important buildings, built by kings so that future generations would know who built them.

Gudaea of Lagash (modern Telloh) is one of the best known rulers of the 23rd century BC in Mesopotamia. He was patron of architecture and art, and neumerous statues of him still exist in the Louvre and the British Museum. The site of lagash, located almost midway between the Tiris and tge Euphretes rivers, was excavated between 1877 and 1933 by French missions.

Enlil was one of tthe most important gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon and various described as king, father, crator, 'raging strom' and 'wild boar. his cult center was at the temple of Ekur at Nippur, Close to the northern end of Sumer and to the Zagros mountains.