Fig. 1.—Fig. 2. Figures of early Sumerians, engraved upon fragments of shell, which were probably employed for inlaying boxes, or for ornamenting furniture. Earliest period: from Tello.—Déc., pl. 46, Nos. 2 and 1.
A third characteristic consists of the different forms of dress worn by Sumerians and Semites, as represented on the monuments. The earliest Sumerians wore only a thick woollen garment, in the form of a petticoat, fastened round the waist by a band or girdle. The garment is sometimes represented as quite plain, in other cases it has a scolloped fringe or border, while in its most elaborate form it consists of three, four, or five horizontal flounces, each lined vertically and scolloped at the edge to represent thick locks of wool.[36] With the later Sumerian patesis this rough garment has been given up in favour of a great shawl or mantle, decorated with a border, which was worn over the left shoulder, and, falling in straight folds, draped the body with its opening in front.[37] Both these Sumerian forms of garment are of quite different types from the Semitic loin-cloth worn by Narâm-Sin on his stele of victory, and the Semitic plaid in which he is represented on his stele from Pir Hussein.[38] The latter garment is a long, narrow plaid which is wrapped round the body in parallel bands, with the end thrown over the left shoulder. It has no slit, or opening, in front like the later Sumerian mantle, and, on the other hand, was not a shaped garment like the earlier Sumerian flounced petticoat, though both were doubtless made of wool and were probably dyed in bright colours.
Fig. 3—Fig. 4—Fig. 5—Later types of Sumerians, as exhibited by heads of male statuettes from Tello. Figs. 4 and 5 are different views of the same head, which probably dates from the age of Gudea; Fig. 3 may possibly be assigned to a rather later period.—In the Louvre; Cat. Nos. 95 and 93.