We are not dependent solely on what we can gather from the inscriptions themselves for a knowledge of Ur-Ninâ. For he has left us sculptured representations, not only of himself, but also of his sons and principal officers, from which we may form a very clear picture of the primitive conditions of life obtaining in Sumer at the time of this early ruler. The sculptures take the form of limestone plaques, roughly carved in low relief with figures of Ur-Ninâ surrounded by his family and his court.[39] The plaques are oblong in shape, with the corners slightly rounded, and in the centre of each is bored a circular hole. Though they are obviously of a votive character, the exact object for which they are intended is not clear at first sight. It has been, and indeed is still, conjectured that the plaques were fixed vertically to the walls of shrines,[40] but this explanation has been discredited by the discovery of the plaque, or rather block, of Dudu, the priest of Ningirsu during the reign of Entemena. From the shape of the latter, the reverse of which is not flat but pyramidal, and also from the inscription upon it, we gather that the object of these perforated bas-reliefs was to form horizontal supports for ceremonial mace-heads or sacred emblems, which were dedicated as votive offerings in the temples of the gods.[41] The great value of those of Ur-Ninâ consists in the vivid pictures they give us of royal personages and high officials at this early period.
PLAQUE OF UR-NINA, KING OF SHIRPURLA, ENGRAVED WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF THE KING AND HIS FAMILY—In the Louvre; Déc. en Chald., pl. 2 (bis).
PLAQUE OF DUDU, PRIEST OF NINGIRSU DURING THE REIGN OF ENTEMENA, PATESI OF SHIRPURLA.—In the Louvre; Déc. en Chald., pl. 5 (bis).