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Lyre Fragment

Plaque

This object is On Display
284890

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284903
287854
287855
287856
Object Number:B17694A
Current Location: Middle East Galleries
Currently On Display
Provenience: Iraq
Ur
Archaeology Area: PG 789
Date Made: ca. 2450 BCE
Section:Near Eastern
Materials:Shell
Bitumen
Length: 31.5 cm
Width: 11 cm
Depth: 1.5 cm
Credit Line:British Museum/University Museum Expedition to Ur, Iraq, 1928
Other Number:U.10556 - Field No SF

Description

Plaque from the Great Lyre.

CBS Register: Bull's gold head, and shell inlay plaques. Harp of the king. Reconstructed. PG 789

(A is the Plaque, B is the Head)

Shell inlayed plaque found just beneath the gold bull's head in grave 789 of the Royal Cemetery at Ur. This plaque was also affixed to the original wooden lyre and its imagery appears to depict the sequence of decent into the underworld. The upper register displays the hero struggling with mythical beasts; below this, animals serve a funerary feast while in the next register other animals play music (notably, one plays a bull-headed lyre). Finally, there is a depiction of the scorpion man who is thought to guard the underworld itself.

Current & Past Exhibitions:

Ancient Mesopotamia: The Royal Tombs of Ur (1983 - 1998) View Objects in Exhibition
Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery ( Oct 2009 - Jan 2017) View Objects in Exhibition
Middle East Galleries (21 Apr 2018) View Objects in Exhibition

Bibliography:

[Book] Dorling Kindersley Limited. 2014. History of the World in 1,000 Objects.. London. Dorling Kindersley Limited. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 22View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] Olbrantz, John, and Kawami, Trudy S. 2013. Breath of Heaven, Breath of Earth: Ancient Near Eastern Art from American Collections.. University of Washington Press. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 35/1.17View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] Quick, Jennifer. 2004. Magnificent Objects from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. ed. 1st. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 149View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Catalogue, Exhibition] Aruz, Joan. 2003. Art of the First Cities: The Third Millenium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus.. New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 105View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] de Schauensee, Maude. 2002. Two Lyres from Ur.. Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. pg. 125 Actual CitationView Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Article] Adams, Liliana O. 2003. "Sumerian Harps from Ur". The American Harp Journal. The American Harp Society, Inc. Vol. 19. no. 3. pg. 9-13 Actual CitationView Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Catalogue] Horne, Lee C., and Zettler, Richard L. 1998. Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur.. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: 53, 55View Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] Polin, Claire C. 07 Apr 1954. Gifts of Jubal: Musical Instruments from the Ancient East.. Philadelphia. The University Museum. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: plate I, IIView Objects related to this Actual Citation
[Book] Galpin, Francis W. 1937. The Music of the Sumerians and their Immediate Sucessors the Babylonian and Assyrians.. Cambridge University Press. Actual Citation : Page/Fig./Plate: Plate VIII:2View Objects related to this Actual Citation

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