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Beaker with humans, serpent and lion

Near Eastern, Iranian
Early Dynastic Period
2800–2200 B.C.

Medium/Technique Chlorite
Dimensions Legacy dimension: H. 7"; W. 5"
Credit Line Egyptian Special Purchase Fund
Accession Number1980.71
ClassificationsVessels

DescriptionBeaker fragment carved on the outside with a continuous frieze of struggling leopards, snakes and heroic or supernatural figures. Though probably made in Iran, the object is believed to be from Mesopotamia. An archaic Sumerian inscription roughly scratched into the surface states that it was dedicated by "E-amagu, mother of Abzu-kidug," a ruler of the city of Nippur in the Early Dynastic IIIa period.
Provenance1976, private collection, Geneva [see note 1]. 1980, sold by Nicholas Koutoulakis (dealer, b. 1910 – d. 1996), Geneva and Paris, to the MFA. (Accession date: February 20, 1980)

NOTES:
[1] According to Pierre Amiet, "Antiquités du désert de Lut. - II," Revue d'Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale 70, no. 1 (1976), p. 6.