The largest of the plaques[42] is sculptured with two separate scenes, in each of which Ur-Ninâ is represented in a different attitude and with a different occupation, while around him stand his sons and ministers. In the upper scene the king is standing; he is nude down to the waist and his feet are bare, while around his loins he wears the rough woollen garment of the period,[43] and upon his shaven head he supports a basket which he steadies with his right hand. The text engraved beside the king, in addition to giving his name and genealogy, records that he has built the temple of Ningirsu, the abzu-banda which was probably a great laver or basin intended for the temple-service, and the temple of Ninâ; and it has been suggested that the king is here portrayed bearing a basket of offerings to lay before his god or goddess. But the basket he carries is exactly similar to those borne by labourers for heaping earth upon the dead as represented upon the Stele of the Vultures,[44] and baskets have always been used in the east by labourers and builders for carrying earth and other building-materials. It is therefore more probable that the king is here revealed in the character of a labourer bearing materials for the construction of the temples referred to in the text. The same explanation applies to the copper votive figures of a later period which are represented bearing baskets on their heads. In a similar spirit Gudea has left us statues of himself as an architect, holding tablet and rule; Ur-Ninâ represents himself in the still more humble rôle of a labourer engaged in the actual work of building the temple for his god.
Fig 43.—Early Sumerian figure of a women, showing the Sumerian dress and the method of doing the hair.—Déc., pl 1 ter, No 3.
Behind the king is a little figure intended for the royal cup-bearer, Anita, and facing him are five of his children. It is usually held that the first of these figures, who bears the name of Lidda and is clothed in a more elaborate dress than the other four, is intended for the king's eldest son.[45] But in addition to the distinctive dress, this figure is further differentiated from the others by wearing long hair in place of having the head shaved. In this respect it bears some resemblance to an archaic statuette, which appears to be that of a woman;[46] and the sign attached to Lidda's name, engraved upon the stone, is possibly that for "daughter," not "son." It is thus not unlikely that we should identify the figure with a daughter of Ur-Ninâ. The other figures in the row are four of the king's sons, named Akurgal, Lugal-ezen, Anikurra and Muninnikurta. A curious point that may be noted is that the height of these figures increases as they recede from the king. Thus the first of the small figures, that of Akurgal, who succeeded Ur-Ninâ upon the throne, is represented as smaller than his brothers, and it has been suggested in consequence that he was not the king's eldest son,[47] a point to which we will return later. In the scene sculptured upon the lower half of the plaque the king is represented as seated upon a throne and raising in his right hand a cup from which he appears to be pouring a libation. We may probably see in this group a picture of the king dedicating the temple after the task of building was finished. The inscription records the fact that he had brought wood from the mountains, doubtless employed in the construction of the temples, a detail which emphasises the difficulties he had overcome. The cup-bearer who stands behind the throne is in this scene, not Anita, but Sagantug, while the figure facing the king is a high official named Dudu, and to the left of Dudu are three more of the king's sons named Anunpad, Menudgid, and Addatur.
A smaller plaque, rather more oval in shape than the large one figured on the plate facing p. 110, but like it in a perfect state of preservation, gives a similar scene, though with less elaboration of detail. According to its inscription this tablet also commemorates the building of Ningirsu's temple.
Plaque of Ur-Ninâ, King of Lagash (Shirpurla), sculptured with representations of himself, his cup-bearer, Anita, and four of his sons.—Déc., pl. 2 bis, No. 2; Cat. No. 9.
Here the king carries no basket, but is represented as standing with hands clasped upon the breast, an attitude of humility and submission in the presence of his god. In other respects both the king and the smaller figures of his sons and ministers are conceived as on the larger plaque. A small figure immediately behind the king is Anita, the cup-bearer, and to the left of Anita are the king's son Akurgal and a personage bearing the name Barsagannudu. In the upper row are two other small figures named Lugal-ezen and Gula. Now from the largest plaque we know that Lugal-ezen was a son of Ur-Ninâ; thus the absence of such a description from Gula and Barsagannudu is not significant, and it is a fair assumption that both these, like Lugal-ezen, were sons of the king. But it is noteworthy that of the four figures the only one that is specifically described as a "son" of Ur-Ninâ is Akurgal.