Uruk or Telloh (Fara-Ur I period, Ur I Phase) : Statuette of Diutu (or Salack, or Sa'ud), c. 2460 BC

Purchased on market. Eyes, etc., lack inlay. Diutu, whose inscription is engraved on the back of the figure, calls himself grandson of Lugalkisalesi, King of Uruk. This means that he probably lived at the time of Lugalzagesi, i.e. at the end of Ur I phase shortly before Sargon (Sharrukin) of Agade. His statuette is still entirely in the style of the Fara-Ur I period. This work, the only example of sculpture in the round certainly dating from a late stage of this period, is of importance as it shows a certain stiffening of the forms. See also : Andre Parrot, Sumer, translated by Stuart Gilbert and James Emmons, London, Thames & Hudson, 1960, Figure 261, p. 212. -- limestone, h : 28 cm (Louvre, Paris AO 5681)