Ancient Near East, Sumer, reign of Gudea of Lagash, ca. 2010 BCE; reign of Ishme-Dagan of Isin, ca. 1953 BCE. A fine pair of clay foundation cones, each with a conical body, with one boasting a discoid head and the other a flat head. The cones have either twelve or ten lines of inscribed cuneiform characters, respectively, which are formed by impressing a sharpened reed or stick into the still-wet clay just prior to being placed inside a kiln. The translation of the cone bearing the discoid head reads, "For Ningirsu, mighty warrior of Enlil, his lord Gudea, ruler of Lagash, who built the Eninne (temple) of Ningirsu, (also) built his Epa, the temple of seven sectors." The translation for the flat-headed cone reads, "Ishme-Dagan, mighty man, King of Isin, King of the Four Quarters (of the world) when he exempted the tax of Nippur, the city beloved by Enlil and took its populace away from forced labor, he built the wall of Isin, naming it 'Ishme-Dagan, with Enlil, the might of the great god'." Size of largest (flat head): 4.75" L x 2.125" W (12.1 cm x 5.4 cm).

For similar examples of both foundation cones, please see "Beloved by Time: Four Millennia of Ancient Art." Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, 2000, pp. 18-19, figs. 28-29.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#138556

Small loss to tip of smaller cone. Probe hole to top of larger cone. Both cones have minor nicks across heads, bodies, and tips, fading to some inscribed cuneiform characters, and light encrustations. Nice earthen deposits throughout.