Sumerian Stele Of The Vultures: Oldest Known Historical Records Carved On Limestone

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The Stele of the Vultures is the Sumerian historical and literary work dated to the Early Dynastic III period (2600–2350 BC).

Also known as Eannatum’s Stele of Vultures, the artifact is fragmentary but it was once carved out of a single slab of limestone. The stele was commissioned by Eannatum, a powerful Sumerian ruler of Lagash around 2460 BC.

Sumerian phalanx, c. 2500 BC. A block of foot soldiers, standing shield-to-shield and presenting spears, advances in a dense mass typical of the phalanx. From the Stele of the Vultures, limestone bas-relief, c. 2500 BC. In the Louvre, Paris.Giraudon/Art Resource, New York. Image via Britannica

The king of Lagash, Eannatum, conquered all of Sumer and established one of the first verifiable empires in history. Eannatum even expanded his enormous influence beyond the boundaries of Sumer and during his reign, many palaces and formidable temples were built, especially in the city of Lagash.

It contains only seven pieces; the first three fragments were unearthed during excavations in the early 1880s by the French archaeologist Ernest de Sarzec (1832–1901) credited with the discovery of the civilization of ancient Sumer.

The place of the discovery is the mound of Tello (ancient Girsu) in what is today southern Iraq.

The excavations of 1888–1889, revealed another three fragments and finally, the last fragment was also discovered and later determined to be part of the Stele of the Vultures, the oldest known historical document.

One fragment of the victory stele of the king Eannatum of Lagash over Umma, Sumerian archaic dynasties. Image credit: Sting - CC BY-SA 3.0

The Stele of the Vultures commemorates a victory of the city-state of Lagash over its neighboring city of Umma and depicts several religious, mythological, and historical scenes, and battles; the artwork was created during the time when the Sumerian artists commemorated important military victories, are celebrated on stone monuments.

The stele’s name relates to the vultures depicted in one of these scenes. The vultures are depicted with severed human heads in their beaks and a fragment of cuneiform script.

A fragment of the Stele of the Vultures showing vultures with severed human heads in their beaks and a fragment of cuneiform script.  Image credit: Sting - CC BY-SA 3.0

The only seven fragments are known today and they are on display in the Louvre.

As reconstructed, the complete monument – decorated with carved reliefs on both sides - was probably 1.80 meters (5 ft 11 in) high, 1.30 meters (4 ft 3 in) wide, and 0.11 meters (4.3 in) thick and had a rounded top.

A very similar monument is the Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, created during the Akkadian period that followed on the Early Dynastic III period.

Unfortunately, the inscriptions on the Stele of the Vultures - written in the Sumerian cuneiform script - are not well-preserved and much of Sumer’s historical data is missing.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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