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"Lady of Uruk" back to Iraq's National Museam
Iraqi's most cherished antiquity, the 5,000-year-old Warka Mask, returned home Tuesday safe and sound after being looted during the anarchy that accompanied Saddam Hussein's fall in April. Captain Vance Kuhner said the mask was found after an intensive search by US troops and Iraqi police which led them to a farm just north of Baghdad where it was discovered buried under six inches (15 centimetres) of dirt. "A tip-off came to the museum, we were given an address that led us to a juvenile, then an older man and eventually the culprit. Then it took a week of negotiations," Kuhner, from the 519th Military Police Battalion, said.
"What'll yez gimme for it?"
"Maybe time off for good behavior..." |
"It's pretty much untouched. We believe it changed hands several times after its theft. It is still in excellent condition." Also known as the "Mona Lisa of Mesopotamia," the 20-centimetre (eight-inch) high limestone sculpture, dating from 3,100 BC, depicts the head of a woman. It is also known as the Lady of Uruk or the Warka Head. It was returned to Iraq's National Museum in a formal handover. It was fashioned in the southern city of Warka [Uruk] during the Sumerian period, and was among the five most precious pieces still missing since the museum was ransacked after the April 9 fall of Saddam. Historians believe the mask, unearthed by a German expedition in 1938, most likely represents the goddess Inanna, or one of her priestesses.
| I think the Lady is believed to be a representation of Innana, and she's commonly referred to as The Lady of Uruk. I can't recall ever having heard of her referred to as "the Mona Lisa of Mesopotamia," though I guess it's possible. I'd have to dispute the fact that she's "Iraq's most cherished antiquity." That would probably be the gold headdress of Queen Shub-ad that Sir Leonard Wooley found at Ur in the 1920s (the world's oldest funny hat), or perhaps the gold-covered harp from the same excavation. They might be at the University of Pennsylvania, though, so they probably weren't looted. There's also several beautiful statues of Gudea of Lagash (the best one is in the Louvre), some representations of Gilgamesh, and a few others that rank higher as works of art and which do remain in Iraq... |
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-09-24 |
