The representation of Ningirsu clubbing his enemies forms only a portion of a larger scheme which occupied the whole of the upper part of the Stele of the Vultures. Though his is the principal figure of the composition, it is not set in the centre of the field but on the extreme right, the right-hand edge of the fragments illustrated on p. 131 representing the actual edge of the stele. On the left behind the god and standing in attendance upon him was a goddess, parts of whose head and headdress have been recovered upon a fragment from the left edge of the stele.[16] She wears a horned crown, and behind her is a standard surmounted by an emblem in the form of an eagle with outspread wings. She is sculptured on a smaller scale than the figure of Ningirsu, and thus serves to indicate his colossal proportions; and she stood on a fillet or lintel, which cuts off the upper register from a second scene which was sculptured below it. The fragment of the stele in the British Museum[17] preserves one of Ningirsu's feet and a corner of the net with the prisoners in it, and both are represented as resting on the same fillet or lintel. This fragment is a piece of some importance, for, by joining two other pieces of the stele in the Louvre,[18] it enables us to form some idea of the scene in the lower register. Here, too, we have representations of deities, but they are arranged on a slightly different plan. We find upon the fragment from the right of the stele (C) part of the head and headdress of a goddess very like that in the register above. Here she faces to the left, and on another fragment (F), which joins the British Museum fragment upon the left, is a portion of a very complicated piece of sculpture. This has given rise to many conjectures, but there appears to be little doubt that it represents the forepart of a chariot. We have the same curved front which is seen in the chariot of Eannatum upon the reverse of the stele, and the same arrangement of the reins which pass through a double ring fixed in the front of the chariot and are hitched over a high support. Here the support and the front of the chariot are decorated with a form of the emblem of Lagash, the spread eagle and the lions, and we may therefore conclude that the chariot is that of Ningirsu; indeed, on the left of the fragment a part of the god's plain garment may be detected, similar to that which he wears in the upper register. He is evidently standing in the chariot, and we may picture him riding in triumph after the destruction of his foes.
A close analogy may thus be traced between the two scenes upon the front of the stele and the two upper registers upon the back. In the latter we have representations of Eannatum on foot leading his warriors to battle, and also riding victoriously in a chariot at their head. On the front of the stele are scenes of a similar character in the religious sphere, representing Ningirsu slaying the enemies of Lagash, and afterwards riding in his chariot in triumph. It may also be noted that the composition of the scenes in the two registers upon the face of the stone is admirably planned. In the upper register the colossal figure of Ningirsu with his net, upon the right, is balanced below on the left by his figure in the chariot; and, similarly, the smaller figure or figures above were balanced by the ass that drew Ningirsu's chariot, and the small figure of a goddess who faces him.
There are few indications to enable us to identify the goddesses who accompany Ningirsu. If the figures in both registers represent the same divine personage the names of several goddesses suggest themselves. We might, perhaps, see in her Ningirsu's wife Bau, the daughter of Anu, or his sister Ninâ, the goddess of the oracle, to whose service Eannatum was specially devoted, or Gatumdug, the mother of Lagash. But the military standard which accompanies the goddess in the upper scene, and the ends of two darts or javelins which appear in the same fragment to rise from, or be bound upon, her shoulders, seem to show that the upper goddess, at any rate, is of a warlike character. Moreover, in another inscription, Eannatum ascribes a success he has achieved in war to the direct intervention of the goddess Ninni,[19] proving that she, like the later Babylonian and Assyrian goddess Ishtar, was essentially the goddess of battle. It is permissible, therefore, to see in the upper goddess, sculptured upon the face of the Stele of the Vultures, a representation of Ninni, the goddess of battle, who attends the city-god Ningirsu while he is engaged in the slaughter of his foes. In the lower register it is possible we have a second representation of Ninni, where she appears to welcome Ningirsu after the slaughter is at an end. But though the headdresses of the two goddesses are identical, the accompanying emblems appear to differ, and we are thus justified in suggesting for the lower figure some goddess other than Ninni, whose work was finished when Ningirsu had secured the victory. The deity most fitted to gladden Ningirsu's sight on his return would have been his faithful wife Bau, who was wont to recline beside her lord upon his couch within the temple E-ninnû. We may thus provisionally identify the goddess of the lower register with Bau, who is there portrayed going out to meet the chariot of her lord and master upon his return from battle.
Perhaps the scenes which are sculptured upon the back of the Stele of the Vultures are of even greater interest than those upon its face, since they afford us a picture of these early Sumerian peoples as they appeared when engaged in the continual wars which were waged between the various city-states. Like the scenes upon the face of the stele, those upon the back are arranged in separate registers, divided one from the other by raised bands, or fillets, stretching across the face of the monument and representing the soil on which the scenes portrayed above them took place. The registers upon the back are smaller than those on the face, being at least four in number, in place of the two scenes which are devoted to Ningirsu and his attendant deities. As might be expected, the scenes upon the back of the stele are on a smaller scale than those upon the face, and the number and variety of the figures composing them are far greater. Little space has been left on the reverse of the stone for the inscription, the greater part of which is engraved on the front of the monument, in the broad spaces of the field between the divine figures. Of the highest of the four registers upon the reverse four fragments have been recovered,[20] one of which (A) proves that the curved head of the stele on this side was filled with the representations of vultures, to which reference has already been made.[21] The intention of the sculptor was clearly to represent them as flying thick in the air overhead, bearing off from the field of battle the severed heads and limbs of the slain. The birds thus formed a very decorative and striking feature of the monument, and the popular name of the stele, which is derived from them, is fully justified. In the same register on the left is a scene representing Eannatum leading his troops in battle.[22] and we there see them advancing over the bodies of the slain; while from the extreme right of the same register we have a fragment representing men engaged in collecting the dead and piling them in heaps for burial.[23] We may conjecture that the central portion of the register, which is missing, portrayed the enemies of Eannatum falling before his lance. In the register immediately below we find another representation of Eannatum at the head of his troops. Here, however, they are not in battle array but on the march, and Eannatum, instead of advancing on foot, is riding before them in his chariot.[24]
The sculptured representations of Eannatum and his soldiers, which are preserved upon these fragments, are of the greatest importance, for they give a vivid picture of the Sumerian method of fighting, and supply detailed information with regard to the arms and armour in use at this early period. We note that the Sumerians advanced to the attack in a solid phalanx, the leading rank being protected by huge shields or bucklers that covered the whole body from the neck to the feet, and were so broad that, when lined up in battle array, only enough space was left for a lance to be levelled between each; the lance-bearers carried as an additional weapon an axe, resembling an adze with a flat head. From the second register, in which we see the army on the march, it is clear that no shield was carried by the rank and file for individual protection; the huge bucklers were only borne by men in the front rank, and they thus served to protect the whole front of an attacking force as it advanced in solid formation. In the scene in the upper register two soldiers are sculptured behind each shield, and in each gap between the shields six lances are levelled which are grasped firmly in both hands by the soldiers wielding them. The massing of the lances in this fashion is obviously a device of the sculptor to suggest six rows of soldiers advancing one behind the other to the attack. But the fact that each lance is represented as grasped in both hands by its owner proves that the shields were not carried by the lance-bearers themselves, but by soldiers stationed in the front, armed only with an axe. The sole duty of a shield-bearer during an attack in phalanx was clearly to keep his shield in position, which was broad enough to protect his own body and that of the lance-bearer on his right. Thus the representation of two soldiers behind each buckler on the Stele of the Vultures is a perfectly accurate detail. As soon as an attack had been successfully delivered, and the enemy was in flight, the shield-bearers could discard the heavy shields they carried and join in the pursuit. The light axe with which they were armed was admirably suited for hand-to-hand conflicts, and it is probable that the lance-bearers themselves abandoned their heavy weapons and had recourse to the axe when they broke their close formation.
Both Eannatum and his soldiers wear a conical helmet, covering the brow and carried down low at the back so as to protect the neck, the royal helmet being distinguished by the addition at the sides of moulded pieces to protect the ears. Both the shields and the helmets were probably of leather, though the nine circular bosses on the face of each of the former may possibly have been of metal. Their use was clearly to strengthen the shields, and they were probably attached to a wooden framework on the other side. They would also tend to protect the surface of the shields by deflecting blows aimed at them. The royal weapons consisted of a long lance or spear, wielded in the left hand, and a curved mace or throwing-stick, formed of three strands bound together at intervals with thongs of leather or bands of metal. When in his chariot on the march, the king was furnished with additional weapons, consisting of a flat-headed axe like those of his soldiers, and a number of light darts, some fitted with double points. These last he carried in a huge quiver attached to the fore part of his chariot, and with them we may note a double-thonged whip, doubtless intended for driving the ass or asses that drew the vehicle. It is probable that the soldiers following Eannatum in both scenes were picked men, who formed the royal body-guard, for those in the battle-scene are distinguished by the long hair or, rather, wig, that falls upon their shoulders from beneath their helmets,[25] and those on the march are seen to be clothed from the waist downwards in the rough woollen garment similar to that worn by the king. They may well have been recruited among the members of the royal house and the chief families of Lagash. The king's apparel is distinguished from theirs by the addition of a cloak, possibly of skin,[26] worn over the left shoulder in such a way that it leaves the right arm and shoulder entirely free.
PORTION OF THE "STELE OF VULTURES," SCULPTURED WITH A SCENE REPRESENTING THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD AFTER A BATTLE.—In the Louvre; photo, by Messrs. Mansell & Co.