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

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The Stele of the Vultures is a 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 from a single slab of limestone. The stele was commissioned by Eannatum, a powerful Sumerian ruler of Lagash around 2460 BC.

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 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 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 Sumerian civilization.

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See also: 

How Did Mesopotamia Change The World?

Nippur – Holy City Of God Enlil And One Of The Oldest Cities Of Sumer

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