Ancient Sumeria
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 17 artefacts from the southern Ancient Sumerian civilization, also known as the Early Dynastic period. These date from 2750 to 2350 BC. This collection includes statues, furniture fittings, inlays and amulets, and also a votive plaque, foundation figurine, model axehead and pot-stand. A group of objects related to temple worship include rare stone worshipper statues, which were dedicated votive offerings by officials, the best preserved of which is inscribed in Akkadian. The collection also contains a fragment of an alabaster votive plaque with relief decoration, a copper peg representing an early example of a protective figurine buried at a temple’s foundation, and an amulet or inlay possibly representing a typical temple sacrifice. Further items are a votive or cultic stone modelled on a bronze original found in southern Iran, a furniture fitting possibly representing a mythological Sumerian hero, several objects in the form of bulls – one bearded to indicate divinity – and a stone pot-stand decorated to imitate the engaged reed columns used in buildings. The Sumerian civilization existed during the 3rd millennium BC in southern Mesopotamia. It is named after the language recorded in cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets.
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