This bull is one of a series of statuettes depicting animals (such as pigs, boars, leopards, and lions) found at the same site. It was most likely kept for protection against evil or to bring good fortune.
Henri Frankfort, Field Director of the Iraq Expedition
Excavated by The Oriental Institute 1933-1934
Black, Jeremy and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.
Frankfort, H. and H.A., John A. Wilson, and Thorkild Jacobsen. Before Philosophy: The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1946.
Roaf, Michael. Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Facts on File, 1990.