Cup with Hero and Animals
Stone
Tell Agrab
15.2 cm x 12.6 cm
A17948
Oriental Institute Museum
Cup with Hero and Animals
This elaborate cup was discovered in a temple in the city of Tell Agrab, where it may have been used to place offerings before the god Shara. The decoration of its carved support shows a hero, naked except for a double-strand belt, grasping the rumps of two lions in his hands. The curling tails of two additional lions are tucked under his arms, and all four lions stare at a bearded bull at the opposite end of the stand.
Collected by
Henri Frankfort, Field Director of the Iraq Expedition
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1935-1936
Multimedia
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Web Links
Highlights from the collection of the Oriental Institute Museum; Cup
Suggested Readings
Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.
Kramer, Samuel Noah. Cradle of Civilization. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1967.
Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.
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