Fig. 28. Stamped terra-cotta figure of a bearded god, wearing the horned headdress, to which are attached the ears of a bull. Period of Gudea.—Déc., pl. 39, Fig. 3.
In the period of Gudea, the mould was definitely used as a stamp, thus returning to the original use from which its later employment was developed. Interesting examples of such later stamped figures include representations of a god wearing a horned headdress, to which are added the ears of a bull, and of a hero, often identified with Gilgamesh, who holds a vase from which two streams of water flow.[42] The clay employed for the votive figures is extremely fine in quality, and most of them are baked to a degree of hardness resembling stone or metal.
Fig. 29. Scheme of decoration from a libation-vase of Gudea, made of dark green steatite and originally inlaid with shell. Déc., pl. 44, Fig. 2; cf. Cat., p. 281.
The art of inlaying was widely practised by the Sumerians, who not only treated metal in this way, but frequently attempted to give more expression or life to stone statues by inlaying the white of the eye with mother-of-pearl or shell, and representing the pupil and iris by lapis-lazuli or bitumen. A similar method was employed to enrich votive stone figures of animals, and to give a varied and polychrome effect to vases carved in stone. The finest example of this class of work is a libation-vase of Gudea made of dark green steatite, which was dedicated by him to his patron deity Ningishzida. The vase has a short projecting spout running up from the base and grooved, so as to allow only a small stream of liquid to escape during the pouring of a libation. Its scheme of decoration is interesting as it affords an excellent example of the more fantastic side of Sumerian art, inspired by a large and important section of the religious belief. The two intertwined serpents, whose tongues touch the point where the liquid would leave the vase, are modelled from nature, but the winged monsters on each side well illustrate the Sumerian origin of later Babylonian demonology.
It is probable that such composite monsters, with the bodies and heads of serpents and the wings and talons of birds, were originally malevolent in character, but here, like the serpents, they are clearly represented as tamed, and in the service of the god to whom the vase was dedicated. This is sufficiently proved by the ringed staffs they carry,[43] their modified horned headdresses, and their carefully twisted locks of hair. They were peculiarly sacred to Ningishzida and in Fig. 12 they may be seen rising as emblems from his shoulders. The rich effect of the dark green steatite was originally enhanced by inlaying, for the bodies of the dragons are now pitted with deep holes. These were no doubt originally inlaid with some other material, probably shell, which has been found employed for this purpose in a fragment of a vase of a very similar character.
