Bassetki statue
Artifact: Copper monument
Provenience: Bassetki
Period: Old Akkadian (ca. 2340-2200 BC)
Current location: National Museum of Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq (IM 77823)
Text genre, language: Royal inscription; Akkadian
CDLI page
Description: This unique statue is the largest bronze object from the ancient Near East. It was found during street works north of Mossul near Bassetki. The statue depicts the lower half of a Lahmu, a mythological figure often found on contemporary cylinder seals. The inscription on the pedestal is the main source for the deification of the Old Akkadian king Naram-Sîn, who managed to fight against rebelling kings. As a result a temple was erected for him in Agade. (Klaus Wagensonner, University of Oxford)
Editions: al-Fouadi. 1976. "Bassetki Statue with an Old Akkadian Royal Inscription of Naram-Sin of Agade (2291-2255 BC)," Sumer 32, 63 - 76; Farber, W. 1983. "Die Vergöttlichung Naram-Sins," Orientalia NS 52, 67 - 72; Frayne, D. 1993. Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334-2113 BC). The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Early Periods 2. Toronto, RIME 2/1.4.10.
