*Lyre with Bearded Bull's Head and Inlaid Panel,
Royal Cemetery, Ur, Iraq
BCE 2500
Sumerian
[Wood, lapis lazuli, gold, silver, shell,
bitumen]
Found in Puabi’s tomb
“The imagery used in the lyre represent significant parts of
Early Mesopotamian funerary rituals. The front panel of the
lyre tells the story of the funeral ritual itself. At the top, the
nude hero grapples with two rampant human-headed bulls,
representing royal control over nature. Beneath are three
scenes that show the ritual with otherworldly actors. A hyena
carries butchered meat on a table. Behind his is a lion,
holding a jar and a pouring vessel identical to ones found in
the graves. The third register depicts music-making: an
equid plays a lyre while a bear supports it, nearby a small
animal shakes a rattle. The lyre depicted is similar to the
very lyre to which it was attached. On the bottom is the last
stage of the ritual, where the deceased meets the scorpion
man, the guardian of the entrance to the underworld.
Showing this ritual in the symbolic language of animals acting
as humans was borrowed from the Elamites in Iran. Taken
as a whole, the lyre imagery shows the human cycle of the
kings’ control over nature, the funerary ritual and entry into
the underworld. All of this is presided over by the god of
judgment and destiny, the sun god Shamash.” | 
