Text, The Uruk Trough

This stone was found at Uruk, the largest city so far discovered in southern Mesopotamia, and dates to about 3300 - 3000 B.C. If it is raised high enough for the relief decoration on its sides to be seen, it cannot easily be used as a trough or basin - it was probably a cult object in the temple of the goddess Inanna. Inanna or Ishtar was the Sumerian goddess of love and fertility and also supreme goddess of Uruk. This object is one of the earliest examples of formal religious art from Mesopotamia. The carving shows sheep approaching a reed hut from which lambs emerge. The meaning of the scene is uncertain, but it probably reflects the fertility of flocks under the protection of Inanna. The high volutes on either side of the hut and elsewhere are symbols of the goddess. Rosettes, depicted on the ends of the trough, also seem to have been associated with Inanna and they feature prominently in Sumerian art. Late Uruk period, 3300 - 3000 B.C. From Uruk. ME120000