More Monkey Business
It is with great pleasure that I dedicate this short piece to Dr. Barnett. It was his original article, entitled “Monkey Business”, that led to this attempt to find out a little more about monkeys in ancient Mesopotamia.In the collection of terracottas from Ur now in the British Museum there appear three types of moulded relief plaque depicting a man with monkeys. As far as I am aware, except for one plaque without a provenance, all the known examples come from Ur.All the plaques clearly show a…
Read More ↓Summary
It is with great pleasure that I dedicate this short piece to Dr. Barnett. It was his original article, entitled “Monkey Business”, that led to this attempt to find out a little more about monkeys in ancient Mesopotamia.In the collection of terracottas from Ur now in the British Museum there appear three types of moulded relief plaque depicting a man with monkeys. As far as I am aware, except for one plaque without a provenance, all the known examples come from Ur.All the plaques clearly show a man with either one or two monkeys.Type 1 (Pl. XXIVa) shows a bearded man facing right. He wears a close-fitting cap with a wide band and a wraparound skirt down to the calf, with a fringed side edge and a belt. He is bare-chested. In his left hand he holds a lead which is attached to the neckrings of two monkeys, one on his shoulder, the other seated in front of him playing a flute. In his bent right hand the man holds a folded-over object, perhaps another musical instrument (?clappers), possibly to be played by the second monkey which sits on the man's shoulder clutching his cap with its head snuggling down on the head of the man. Both monkeys are long-tailed.There are three examples of this type of plaque in the museum, one almost complete and two fragmentary.
Read More ↓Edition Statements
- Publication Date:1983
Publication Statements
- Publisher(s):Cambridge University Press
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:1983
Edition Identifiers
- ISSN:0066-1546
- doi:10.2307/3642695
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