Small tablets of brownish limestone, let into the wall or affixed to its surface by terra-cotta pegs, and decorated with inscriptions, represented in a more or less artless fashion the figure of the sovereign officiating before some divinity, while his children and servants took part in the ceremony by their chanting. Inscribed bricks celebrating the king’s exploits were placed here and there in conspicuous places. These were not embedded like the others in two layers of bitumen or lime, but were placed in full view upon bronze statues of divinities or priests, fixed into the ground or into some part of the masonry as magical nails destined to preserve the bricks from destruction, and consequently to keep the memory of the dedicator continually before posterity. Stelaa engraved on both sides recalled the wars of past times, the battle-field, the scenes of horror which took place there, and the return of the victor and his triumph. Sitting or standing figures of diorite, silicious sandstone or hard limestone, bearing inscriptions on their robes or shoulders, perpetuated the features of the founder or of members of his family, and commemorated the pious donations which had obtained for him the favour of the gods: the palace of Lagash contained dozens of such statues, several of which have come down to us almost intact—one of the ancient Urbau, and nine of Gudea.
To judge by the space covered and the arrangement of the rooms, the vicegerents of Lagash and the chiefs of towns of minor importance must, as a rule, have been content with a comparatively small number of servants; their court probably resembled that of the Egyptian barons who lived much about the same period, such as Khnûmhotpû of the nome of the Gazelle, or Thothotpû of Hermopolis. In great cities such as Babylon the palace occupied a much larger area, and the crowd of courtiers was doubtless as great as that which thronged about the Pharaohs. No exact enumeration of them has come down to us, but the titles which we come across show with what minuteness they defined the offices about the person of the sovereign. His costume alone required almost as many persons as there were garments. The men wore the light loin-cloth or short-sleeved tunic which scarcely covered the knees; after the fashion of the Egyptians, they threw over the loin-cloth and the tunic a large “abayah,” whose shape and material varied with the caprice of fashion. They often chose for this purpose a sort of shawl of a plain material, fringed or ornamented with a flat stripe round the edge; often they seem to have preferred it ribbed, or artificially kilted from top to bottom.*
* The relatively modern costume was described by Herodotus,
i. 114; it was almost identical with the ancient one, as
proved by the representations on the cylinders and monuments
of Telloh. The short-sleeved tunic is more rarely
represented, and the loin-cloth is usually hidden under the
abayah in the case of nobles and kings. We see the princes
of Lagash wearing the simple loin-cloth, on the monuments of
Urninâ, for example. For the Egyptian abayah, and the manner
of representing it, cf. vol. i. pp. 69, 71.
The favourite material in ancient times, however, seems to have been a hairy, shaggy cloth or woollen stuff, whose close fleecy thread hung sometimes straight, sometimes crimped or waved, in regular rows like flounces one above another. This could be arranged squarely around the neck, like a mantel, but was more often draped crosswise over the left shoulder and brought under the right arm-pit, so as to leave the upper part of the breast and the arm bare on that side. It made a convenient and useful garment—an excellent protection in summer from the sun, and from the icy north wind in the winter. The feet were shod with sandals, a tight-fitting cap covered the head, and round it was rolled a thick strip of linen, forming a sort of rudimentary turban, which completed the costume.*
*Cf. the head belonging to one of the statues of Telloh,
which is reproduced on p. 112 of this volume. We notice the
same head-dress on several intaglios and monuments, and also
on the terra-cotta plaque which will be found on p. 330 of
this volume, and which represents a herdsman wrestling with
a lion. Until we have further evidence, we cannot state, as
G. Raw-linson did, that this strip forming a turban was of
camel’s hair; the date of the introduction of the camel into
Chaldoa still remains uncertain.
It is questionable whether, as in Egypt, wigs and false beards formed part of the toilette. On some monuments we notice smooth faces and close-cropped heads; on others the men appear with long hair, either falling loose or twisted into a knot on the back of the neck.* While the Egyptians delighted in garments of thin white linen, but slightly plaited or crimped, the dwellers on the banks of the Euphrates preferred thick and heavy stuffs patterned and striped with many colours. The kings wore the same costume as their subjects, but composed of richer and finer materials, dyed red or blue, decorated with floral, animal, or geometrical designs;** a high tower-shaped tiara covered the forehead,*** unless replaced by a diadem of Sin or some of the other gods, which was a conical mitre supporting a double pair of horns, and sometimes surmounted by a sort of diadem of feathers and mysterious figures, embroidered or painted on the cap. Their arms were loaded with massive bracelets and their fingers with rings; they wore necklaces and earrings, and carried each a dagger in the belt.
* Dignitaries went bareheaded and shaved the chin; see, for
example, the two bas-reliefs given on pp. 105 and 244 of
this volume; cf. the heads reproduced as tailpieces on pp.
2, 124. The knot of hair behind on the central figure is
easily distinguished in the vignette on p. 266 of this
volume.
** The details of colour and ornamentation, not furnished by
the Chaldæan monuments, are given in the wall-painting at
Beni-Nasan representing the arrival of Asiatics in Egypt,
which belongs to a period contemporary with or slightly
anterior to the reign of Gudea. The resemblance of the
stuffs in which they are clothed to those of the Chaldæan
garments, and the identity of the patterns on them with the
geometrical decoration of painted cones on the palace at
Uruk, have been pointed out with justice by H. G. Tomkins
*** The high tiara is represented among others on the head
of Mardukna-dinakhe, King of Babylon: cf. what is said of
the conical mitre, the headdress of Sin, on pp. 14, 169 of
this volume.
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the bronze figure in the
Louvre, published by Heuzey-Sarzec, Découvertes en
Chaldée, pl. 14.